It was back bright and early this morning, in the 15 degree frosty weather, and even came out to eat a few sunflower seeds on the ground! I was able to observe the size (much closer to a White throated sparrow than a goldfinch) and markings up close. He is beautiful!
11 comments:
Such a lovely spring surprise!
Deb- I'm so excited for you! That's one the prettiest birds I've ever seen. Good job on the quick ID!
Great shots, Deb! What a beautiful bird. That's so cool. I'm absolutely delighted for you.
How very cool! Have you reported it to the MOU yet?
Deb, I'm glad it stayed! Good pictures. I never thought, Mike H. and Kim E. just might be out of town guiding. Give Jim Lind of Two Harbors a call at 218-834-2858. He's in charge of the Duluth hotline. Also call Tony Hertzel at 763-780-8890. He's in charge of the statewide hotline. Also send an e-mail to the mou listserve. You may or may not want to give your address. It all depends on you. Do you want people with binos and spotting scopes and cameras in your yard? Most people are ok with it. But some are not. Think about it. Great find! I wish gas was cheaper, I'd be there!
Cindy
How great that it returned for a better photo shoot. Those rare sightings are so exciting.
Adele- It certainly was a surprise!
Lynne- He is a beauty, isn't he? I'm almost embarrassed sometimes at how I seem to have memorized certain parts of Golden Guides Birds of North America when I was young. :)
Pam- Thanks. I am so lucky to have had the opportunity!
Tracy- Just did tonight. I was waiting to see if I would see it again this evening.
Cindy- After much thought, I put it on the listserv tonight. I asked people to email me for information, that way I could let them know if it was still here and decide if I wanted people coming here or not. The place is kind of a mess, our driveway is a mud hole, and we'll be doing roof construction on our new house on Thursday. And, most likely, Westy will fly on a calm night.
Jan M- I'm still giddy about it!
Hi Deb,
I saw your bird posted in the Explore Minnesota Birding list just this afternoon. I'm so far behind in my blog reading and was truly surprised to see your name listed there, then figured I'd better get over to your blog and find out the whole story.
What a beautiful tanager. I have never seen one, but I'm happy you got to experience a rare bird in your yard! Very cool!!
RuthieJ- I was not aware of the Explore Minnesota birding report- thanks for pointing it out! Luckily, I have not gotten any additional emails about the bird.
I am taking it for what it is, one of those blessings that happens just when you least expect it.
That's fantastic! I drove across the state just to see one of those.You sure are lucky-lay the lotto!
Larry- I should have played Powerball last week; there was a 180 million dollar winner from Minnesota. But, it was really great to see that bird!
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