I have wanted to see this bird for about 15 years. My first attempt at seeing this bird was at Blue Mound State Park near Pipestone Minnesota. They used to put on the play by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow called The Song of Hiawatha which was a poem performed as a play. This was performed in an outdoor amphitheater on a small lake. When the poem said that the princess got in her canoe and paddled across the lake the actress would get in the canoe and paddle across the lake. This was a very nice performance but for many reasons they stopped performing this play in 2007. The performance was approximately the third week in August. The ranger told me that the Bird had left the week before.
Here is a link to a MPR story about he play in Pipestone.
http://www.mprnews.org/story/2007/12/21/hiawathawraps
A few years later I tried at the Blue Mountain State Park again in August and again the bird had left the week before.
Recently this bird had been reported near Spring Green Wisconsin. Quite a rarity for Wisconsin. I was there yesterday at a beautiful Sand Prairie and Savanna owned by The Nature Conservancy at the foothills of the bluffs. It was a beautiful day. In the afternoon some thunderstorms passed near this area. Shortly before and after the thunderstorms the Blue Grosbeak became out and was quite active, I got to see it fairly well. It is indeed a beautiful bird.
