As Tom Fiore mentioned in his New York County summary this morning, a very cooperative male Painted Bunting has been visiting a feeder at 77 Webwood Circle in the town of Greece, Monroe County. A stakeout hotspot has been created: stakeout Painted Bunting, Webwood Circle, Greece (2021), Monroe, New York. Equally important, the homeowners and adjacent landowners are thrilled and welcoming and have been showered with (at least) gifts of seed and suet and gift certificates to Wegmans. My ebird search for other Painted Bunting sightings in the state this year did not reveal any chaseable downstate reports from last winter so I thought a few added details posted to this website could be useful to potential chasers from farther afield. The bird has been cooperative, but with a caveat. That is, if you happen to catch it while it is visiting one of the the backyard feeders, which are, by the way, most closely accessed by walking around the left side of the house, consider yourself lucky. Once at the feeder, the bird tends to stay for 10-15 minutes, chowing down on millet. Then, satiated, it flies to the back of the backyard into a thick tangle of vines, shrubs and fallen trees and can disappear for hours. The tangle is not very far but a scope can be very useful for catching glimpses and for sharing those glimpses with others, since perspective is everything. The bird can stay hidden or mostly hidden for hours before re-emerging. The density of the tangle should help keep the bird alive as winter settles in, so that is a plus. And finally, the Rochester CBC is this Sunday, December 19 and the yard is in the circle, so there should be plenty of people at the site trying to get the bird for count week or on count day. Pat Martin
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