Male Rose-breasted Grosbeak
The grosbeaks are here since May 3rd, a little later than usual. Most of them will move on but we always have some that raise their offspring in our woods. They winter in central and northern South America. Many of our migrators, like orioles, tanagers, and the grosbeaks have been here in large numbers during the last few days. It was relatively chilly and the birds use our feeders very frequently, which makes it easy to make a click or two during their presence. It is supposed to get warmer next week and I expect to see less birds.
Female Rose-breasted Grosbeak
The Rose-breasted Grosbeak is a good bird to practice long lens photography. They provide mostly good contrast to focus on and even with 600 mm focal length a shutter speed of 1/80s or even slower can be managed.