Today, Ingrid and I drove down to Kennebunk, Maine to visit a lovely beachfront community.   Our mission was to find the Blue Grosbeak that has been seen moving through the landscaping in this eye-catching neighborhood.

Imagine if you lived in one of these beautiful homes and looked out your front windows to see strangers with powerful binoculars and long lens cameras staring back at you.   Yep, that’s what birders do!!!

The Blue Grosbeak breeds in the southern USA and spends the winter in Central America.  This particular bird got mixed up and flew north instead of south.

After a half hour of searching, the Grosbeak came out of hiding . . . moving back and forth from small tree to small tree giving Ingrid, two other birders and little old me great views of the bird and another tick for the year.

And that tick was Ingrid’s 300th Maine Bird in 2023.  Three hundred birds in a year is an achievement that only 8 birders have ever achieved.   This was the second time Ingrid has reached 300.  In 2021 she identified 303 birds.

Congratulations, Ingrid!!!