Good Evening Grosbeak!

I took this photograph yesterday with Rick's camera. It's old, but has an awesome zoom lens, which was great because this bird was way up on a tree in the backyard. This is a male Evening Grosbeak. These birds have been hanging around our property and are pretty much regulars every spring and summer. The females and chicks aren't nearly as colorful as the males, but that's usually the case with birds.

Evening Grosbeaks make a sharp, piercing sound. If you'd like to hear what they sound like, click here. It's funny because they seem like really social birds. When one lands in the feeder, he or she chirps to call the others. And if there's a whole bunch of them in the feeder, they talk to each other as they eat. A few weeks ago I saw a big, fat, fluffy one that was being fed by a male that looked just like the one in this picture. It always cracks me up how big and doofy the chicks look. I've been seeing more chicks, but they seem to be eating on their own now.

Speaking of the feeder, it's outside on the lawn turned upside down. I got distracted writing last night and hadn't brought it in when a black bear jumped on the deck and knocked it off. She ripped the screws out of the holder and everything, so now I can't hang it up. I need to go get it. We didn't want to do it in the dark last night with bearzilla creeping around.