Tuesday was a light-weight shirt day, with the temperature in the mid-seventies, by the time Mary Laura Lamont called in the A.M., to alert me to the lone, probable female, Evening Grosbeak she had at her feeders.She was quite excited about her good fortune, for it had been 30 years since this specie had last stopped at her property !
Due to an operation on my right foot on 4/11, I'm still in a special boot, and while able to walk, I am unable to drive. So, having to wait for my busy chauffeur (wife, RuthAnn) it wasn't until 1420 before "speed-canning" to a halt in front of "the" sunflower feeder, which at that moment was only nourishing the likes of woodpeckers, finches and tits ! Mary Laura then delivered the dreaded news, "the bird hadn't been seen or heard in over an hour" ! We then settled into a pair of Adirondack chairs and had a nice "catching up" conversation, while being kept busy checking out the 11 common species flitting around the Lamont's bustling backyard. After about 20 minutes, ML heard the EVGR call (a single grating note) a welcomed sign that it hadn't moved out ! Although continuing to call, it took ~ another 20 minutes to locate the bird, which was a good 60 yards away. It remained there a short time before moving ~ 10 yards closer, only to disappear 5 minutes later. While never getting within my camera's range for a good shot, Mary Laura had, earlier getting a few nice photos of the bird at the feeder ! I, of course, was thrilled with hearing and seeing this species - the last time being on the GD of 4/21/07 in East Quogue, when a single, male GG flew over at a height of ~ 50 feet...while being bathed in GL ! Cheers, Bob -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
