Himself

A few days ago, I posted the female Rose Breasted Grosbeak (HERE) as my 19th yard bird of this year - today I had to go with the male.  As you can see, he is aptly named with that big splash of rose on his breast.  What you can't see here is that his underwing also has a big splash of rose - if you look very closely you can see the hint of rosy colored feathers just under the top of his wing.  These lovely birds, closely related to our cardinals, breed in the area so every spring they arrive to fuel up before the nesting season begins.  Today there were three males in the garden, as well as the single female who showed up almost a week ago. And the first Oriole of the year was also on hand - stay tuned!

I met up with three of my birder friends this morning and we had a fabulous 4 mile walk filled with birds.  By the time we got back to our cars, we'd racked up 63 species.  I believe this may be a record for me in a single day and I would never have spotted all of them if it weren't for my more experienced friends.  The highlight for all of us was spotting a Prothonotary Warbler, a species that doesn't usually come this far north.  In fact, it has been several years since one was last reported in this part of the state.  You can see him HERE on Flickr - what a beautiful creature!  We saw him right at the start of our walk, which was a really fun way to kick off the day.

Further along the trail, we watched an osprey dive into the lake and come up with a small fish (no, I didn't get a shot).  No sooner did he clear the water and gain some altitude when a Bald Eagle came out of the trees after the osprey.  Or, more accurately, after the osprey's meal.  An impressive aerial chase ensued with the eagle finally giving up.  I managed to get a few decent shots, in spite of the distance and have posted one HERE.

I was exhausted when I got home and also more sore than I'd expected.  I guess I hadn't considered that my lady parts would get jostled around a bit during the hike.  So, I dipped into the stronger stuff and am now feeling just fine.  And if the weather cooperates tomorrow, I plan to get out again.  You can't beat this time of year with all the migrant birds coming through.

So, a good day.  

Stay safe, be kind, eat chocolate.

xo
Debbi