Here is the dramatically colored male Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea). The bird had smacked

into a window and knocked itself silly. It didn't kill itself, but was definitely injured, and I used

the opportunity to get these close shots. It is a bird that I seldom see and rarely have the

chance to photograph, because they don't like to ever leave the middle of the woods, and my

house is too much out in the open for them. Plus, they like to hang out way up near the tops of

the tallest oak trees, so it’s rare when one comes close enough for a decent shot. Happily, he

sat there for over an hour, and then got up and flew off, seemingly none the worse for wear.

And, speaking of luck, some days it just flies

down and sits there for a minute. This is an

Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens).

It looks a lot like the Eastern Phoebe, above, but

has two white wing bars, and lacks the Phoebe’s

eye ring and black bill, so it’s easy to tell them

apart once you know what to look for.

This one landed about 5 feet away and posed

just long enough for me to snap a pair of photos,

as if he had planned to sit for his portrait all

along...”Okay, Bob, you’ve got your two mug shots,

one like this, and one like this, now I’m outta here!”

On 14 September 2007, I got these two shots

of an Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe). It

didn’t use the feeder it perched on, so I was

just lucky to be looking at the right time.

Phoebe’s usually perch on the lower branches

of a tree and grab insects as they see them.

It’s a cute little bird.

Phoebes, like some other birds, nest almost exclusively in manmade structures. They

must look upon humans as really convenient creators of good nest sights! My sister

has a pair that build their nest, and raise their broods over and over again on top

of the light fixture above her garage door. Below are the nestlings of 9 May 2007.