Yellow-breasted Chat – Bald Eagle SP

On June 10th, Joe Verica found a singing male Yellow-breasted Chat near the Frog Pond at Bald Eagle State Park. Chats are fairly uncommon in Centre County, with rarely more than 2 or 3 reported per year. I was lucky enough to get my first Centre County chat on September 3rd, 2010 when we captured one while bird banding in Big Hollow, but I really wanted to see one in the county that wasn’t captured in a net. So last evening, I drove out to BESP and walked out the Butterfly Trail to search for the chat. As soon as I got near the area it had been reported in, I could hear it singing. I sat down next to a bush and hid in some tall grass, with the setting sun at my back. I figured I had the perfect position to get some nice photos of the chat in the golden light of the setting sun. Unfortunately, the bird did not move close to me until the sun was already down behind the ridgeline and so I had to use the flash on my camera to get the following shots (birds never cooperate). Nonetheless, I am very happy I got to see this species especially considering it was at one of my favorite birding locations in the county!

Yellow-breasted Chat – adult male at Bald Eagle SP (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)

Yellow-breasted Chat – adult male at Bald Eagle SP (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)