Watching Jr. Grosbeak

There is an ongoing parade of colors in the yard.  Sometimes it is butterflies, often it is flowers, but recently it has been in the form of avian life.

Baby Grosbeak (male)

The Rose-breasted Grosbeaks have nested and are currently raising young in our yard. This peachy-colored male has been visiting the feeder on a regular basis.  Early on his father brought him in and carried sunflower seeds to him. Now he comes all on his own. 

The awkward age. Who knew grosbeaks went thought a spotted-breast phase?

But sometimes the feeder is a bit crowded.  The local cardinals and titmice are busy gathering seed and bringing their own young to the feeder.  We won't even talk about those pushy House Finches and House Sparrows, both noisy, boisterous lots.

Jr. Grosbeak gleans from the squirrel baffle.

 This young grosbeak is a smart one, though.  Rather than dealing with the pushing and shoving, the standing-room-only at the feeder, he shops the bargain basement. Before now, I have never seen a bird meticulously glean seeds from the top of the squirrel baffle. He has the whole place to himself!

Bird watching arrangement.

My bird feeders have limbs attached to them- all the better to perch on , my dear. It is also better for photography.  The birds come and go in good numbers, and many wait their turn on the limbs attached right to the feeder.  The surrounding area is filled with native plants and much of my window is partially obstructed by vegetation. It makes a very natural looking blind. Those are Common Milkweed leaves you see peaking into the lower left side of the photo.

The "inside view" of my birding blind.

 The window treatment is a blind consisting of large wooden slats.  They create enough of a barrier that the birds pay very little attention to me as I stand and watch them feed and practice my photography. The top window is open; the camera lens sticks out between two of the slats. This arrangement presents very little distraction to the birds as they go about their daily lives..

Male Rose-breasted Grosbeak

This is a photo of Jr. Grosbeak's proud papa.  The male grosbeak would come into the feeder and check things out, with the juvenile 'beak close behind.  Because of my window "blind" and the perching limb, I am able to take some rather striking "natural" shots of the birds.  In actuality, the bird feeder is but inches away, but one could never tell from this uncropped shot.

This window set up also allows me to take some close-up shots without using much of my camera's zoom copasity.  Therefore, the resolution and quality is the shot is much better than one gets in the wild.

Hopefully, you have enjoyed meeting this wonderful grosbeak family as much as I have enjoyed filming them. It has been a profound experience for me!