Nemesis Bird Nabbed

My birding friends have looked at me with disbelief many times when I tell them that I do not have Sedge Wren on my life list. I've been in their prairie range countless times, but some birds are just like that, and we pin the term "nemesis bird" upon them.

On Wednesday, May 6, all of that changed. I heard the recognizable call just before I saw the tiny bird flutter to a small tree in the midst of the tall grass prairie species. I knew immediately what it was, but I thought that it must be a fledgling, as it was hardly a master of flight. It seemed to limp from grass to grass, never flying more than 10 feet, with legs awkwardly spread out between grass stems. The camera of my friend Marvin DeJong clicked away to document our new found lifer.This spring, I have been privileged enough to see both the old Short billed Marsh Wren and its cousin, the Long-billed Marsh Wren. Here are a couple photos I took of my new lifer.Down the road a bit, we located the rarest Missouri birds of the day, two female Yellow-headed Blackbirds. The two were leisurely feeding in an agricultural field. My records indicate that it's been 14 years since my last Missouri YHBL.All of this on a big day that netted 105 species. More reports to come.