The y-b. chat was refound slightly west of the aspen grove late this afternoon. He was vocalizing--relatively quietly, for him--at brief intervals, along the shrub line on the south side of the path. He was first heard in the sumac directly in line with the power stanchion, but moved slightly east to where the first, short, single aspen appears among the bushes. Initially he kept low and deep in the cover. After a long time, he flew over the path, into the shrubs on the north side of the trail, giving just enough of a look to see the dark uppers, the yellow breast and belly with white anal area, and the darker markings around the face. It was too quick a view to get the binoculars on the broken eye ring, because he dropped immediately into the bushes, but there was no doubt about his identity.
There were Bell's vireos singing nearby, in some shrubs in the field, but they were not seen. The pair near the first power stanchion made almost no sound today. Since they were building a nest last week, perhaps they no longer advertise their location; or perhaps the time of day, coupled with heat and humidity, kept them quiet. All the other usual residents were present also, but much less was heard from any of them. Linda Whyte
