Wednesday, February 18, 2009

It must be almost Spring....

Welcome to my blog and to my first Bird posting.

I have been interested in birds for some time now and I often display pictures of them on my main blog.
Over the past couple of years I have gained a rather extensive collection of photos of birds I have seen in my travels.

Through my resource material with Sibley Guide to Birds being my bible I have been able to identify many of the birds I photograph. But even sometimes after using Sibley's, and a few other local birding books and the internet I am still not confident that I have identified the bird in which I have spotted. Being able to spot a bird and photograph it is one thing but then to be able to identify it is another.

So I thought I would start this blog for amateur birders. I will post a picture of a bird I have seen tell you what I think it is or maybe not...and let you tell me what you think it is. I think this is a great opportunity for all of us to learn more about the wonderful world of birds.

With Spring on our door step and the birds returning to the feeders and nesting I am seeing an abundance of birds. This morning was no exception. Out my kitchen window I spotted these bird.....I think it is a Black-headed breeding Grosbeak male.
Note the obvious black head, the white and red breast and the speckled wings.....
Do you also see the red around their eye? Now I don't believe this is common with the Grosbeak but there are hybrids..... what do you think....