A few days ago I posted some pictures of the male Rose-breasted Grosbeak. We knew the female would show up and indeed she has. Except for the beak, she doesn’t look like the male Grosbeak at all.
While I’m at it, here’s today’s view of ‘our’ Goldfinches—
Being home from the office allows me to catch more sightings of attractive birds availing themselves to our feeders. About this time every year, we get to see Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. Here is the male Grosbeak enjoying our sunflower seed this afternoon—
In the past, we’ve had Northern Flickers in our backyard trees and scavenging for food on the ground, but never on our upside down suet feeder.
These pictures taken this morning—
January 2016 was the last time I saw a Pileated Woodpecker. But just the other day, I spotted one while driving. I pulled my car over to try to get whatever video I could from my iPhone. (Apple clearly won’t use my video to sell their phone.)
It’s a truly splendid creature to see and its red color is much more vivid than shows in this video. The size is also impressive, larger than some hawks.
It’s been five years, almost to the day, that we were treated to seeing Indigo Buntings in our backyard and on our feeders. Incredibly beautiful in color – they’re transient visitors, at least to our backyard. (I believe they prefer open fields with tall brush/grasses.)
They’re difficult to photograph – the slightest movement inside the window seems to scare them away. I was lucky to get 3 pictures the other day. They were back this morning, but I unable to get the camera working before they disappeared. The last time around, they were here for only two days. The photo color was not enhanced… this is really their color!
The Indigo Buntings returned this evening. They look like different male Buntings from those seen a few days ago.
The females are yellowish tan and look like finches. I’m sure they’re also around but I haven’t realized they are Indigo Buntings.