Warning: this post contains explicit images of Pine Grosbeaks. Please only continue if you are aware of the consequences of viewing such material. It may get expensive.
They came from the heavens, perching up on the highest trees:
Then these huge, thrush-sized birds, would swoop to descend to branches overlooking the feeding site. Females and young birds are bronze and grey:
Adult males are stunning in vivid raspberry red:
The Grosbeaks ("large bills") were only focused on the seed and were typically approachable. This apparent tameness and reluctance to fly is responsible for their old Swedish name of "silly fool". In Newfoundland, they are locally known as "mopes". Some birds dropped down to feed 2 -3 meters away from me. Other birds, when squabbling with each other, flew so close to my face, I could feel the wind from their wings on my cheek.
30-40 birds were in the area, with up to 15 feeding together at one time. To sit quietly by feeding flocks of Grosbeaks was a huge thrill, they are fabulous birds. Naturally there was some interaction between birds, both Grosbeak on Grosbeak and Grosbeak on Redpoll action. I captured a little of the latter at the end of this video:
No comments:
Post a Comment