Today is a dreary, rainy day in Columbia, Missouri, with no possibility for getting new video or audio. So Lang and I worked on editing material from previous trips. When Lang saw this video, which was shot last summer in Jefferson City, he was keen to go there himself. But Painted Buntings are not always there, and now it’s a bit too early and much too cool to invest in a search for them. So we are soon off to the Ozark Plateau of Missouri, where we hope to see Cerulean Warblers and other nesting warblers that reside along the beautiful spring-fed streams of that region.
This is my second blog entry and provides a study in contrast with my first one of a Mourning Dove: a calm fellow with a modest demeanor and a subtle beauty (Mourning Dove Portrait). The Painted Bunting a gaudy fellow who hardly ever pauses singing a rapid series of sweet notes. I recall seeing a male for first time when I was a teenager in Georgia, and for the first time I was impressed with an animal that was not a reptile or amphibian.
click range map for larger version
