Date: 5/30/26 9:39 pm From: Yang, Bobinyu <000011d835fbb54b-dmarc-request...> Subject: New Site in JoCo for Painted Bunting
I am happy to report that my wife and I have discovered today, 5/30/2026, a new location in Johnson County harboring a painted bunting. The place is near NWCFD Sunflower Fire Station., W 99 St @ Lexington Ave, De Soto, KS. (38.948831, -94.992925). We were parked on the west side of Lexington Ave. The bird could have come from the pasture on the east side of the road. It was a truly brilliant male deserving the title of being the most beautiful bird in North America. Two photos taken at 7:26 p.m. may be viewed here:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S349840891 For the past couple of weeks, we have been checking locations where painted buntings were found last year. Our observations showed this species to reliably return to the same haunts year after year. On the outing today, we first went to Sunflower Nature Park. This time, the reliability failed. A painted bunting was there on 8/12/2025, but nothing today. Just for grins, we drove 1.4 miles eastward along Lexington Ave and stopped at this seemingly "birdy" spot. And we got lucky. How abundant are painted buntings in Johnson County? I wonder.
Bob I. Yang
<yangb...>
Overland Park, Johnson County
