Well, the two grosbeaks came back today, to munch away and give me some through-the-kitchen-window photo ops, so I figured I should update the pix.  Here is a grab bag of grosbeak images:

That’s it!  Hope you like ‘em and that some grosbeaks come your way soon!

Lan

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Just now, as I plod through my morning, taking care of email chores, contemplating a digging project outdoors in the boorish weather and hoping for clear birding skies later on, I caught a glimpse of strong black & white at the tail end of a bird at the back side of my biggest feeder, when I went into the kitchen for a coffee update.

My jaw dropped.  Had to be an Evening Grosbeak! I went to my office for the camera.  When I got back, there was a Cardinal at the feeder.  Up in the apple opposite my view was a male grosbeak.  I snatched a couple of shots, then saw the female outlined against the sky, also perched in the apple tree.  A couple more shots.  Then everything took off in a flurry.  Maybe, likely, an accipiter.  Whew!  And Whoopieee!  I hope the alert has worn off.  I’ll go back now and find out.

No big birds back yet.

Terrible photos, through the window glass, no light.   So who’s looking?!

Monsieur:

Madame:

Past visits of this great species here at my home have been infrequent, to say the least, but I would rather have a view like this one from a couple of years back, in the spring:

That’s more like it!  Stoked.  Evening Grosbeaks are a big deal on the Vineyard and the arrival is right in line with all the PUFIs and siskins and RB Nuts that we have had this fall.

While I have your attention, I should mention that there has been a hatch year male ruby-throated hummer up in Chilmark, coming to a feeder the last few days.  Things are rockin’, if your eyes are open!

Lan

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Sometimes the falcons  exert what seems from my vantage point like a lot of energy acquiring a meal, like chasing down a Sanderling, maneuvering one out over open water and cutting off its climb for height or an escape back to the  flock.  Recently I have been noticing, instead, some almost casual chases.  The falcon will gain considerable height and then soar headed into the wind, waiting for a tired landbird to approach the coast from off the sea.  The capture of these hapless migrants is usually accomplished with a minimum of effort, sometimes in only a couple of passes at the prey.  It’s not casual at all for the victim, I am sure, but the odds against evasion are high.  After the stoop for capture, it’s a ho-hum glide down to the beach or an easy row against the breeze to settle on a suitable perch right on the sand.  In the photos that follow, the falcon’s meal was a Song Sparrow, definitely in the wrong place at the wrong time!

The stoop:

The look:

The getaway:

Tidying up:

Headed for the next course:

Speeding Bullet birds are very cool!  Lan

I have a list of folks who get an emailed notice from me with a URL to click on when I have posted a new blog.  There are also times when I just send out photos to that list (which is totally non-commercial) without bothering to blog about them or post them to a listserve.  Not on the list?  Want to be? Just contact me  saying you want to be on the list .  Also, please subscribe to this blog using the Feedburner sign up field above – it’s really easy -  in the right side column for automatic blog feeds to your email.  Getting off the list is just as simple.

These images and Lanny McDowell Avian Art fine art prints are available for purchase. Contact me or View my gallery.

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This was a sweet surprise for six of us this morning, up at the Gay Head Cliffs.  We observed this guy for almost an hour.  It was a lifer too for some in our group, a bonus prize and surely unanticipated, just the way it ought to be.

I have a list of folks who get an emailed notice from me with a URL to click on when I have posted a new blog. There are also more frequent times when I just send out photos to that list without bothering to blog about them or post them to a listserve.  Not on the list?  Want to be? Just contact me  saying you want to be on the list .  Also, please subscribe to this blog using the Feedburner sign up field above – it’s really easy -  in the right side column for automatic blog feeds to your email.  Getting off the list is just as simple.

These images and Lanny McDowell Avian Art fine art prints are available for purchase. Contact me or View my gallery.

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