Early morning birds
MajorOz
some lovely, leafy trees. The elm serves as a way station and watch
point for transients and some regulars who just like to strut their
stuff.
This morning, as I lay watching a pair of red bellied woodpeckers, a
largish (slightly larger than a robin) black bird with a red head
alighted near them. Grabbing the binocs, I saw a fuzzy black bird
with a fuzzy red head -- what appeared to be a recently fledged chick
of some black bird with a red head.
Problem: I know of no bird in North America with black body and a red
head. Neither did any of my books.
Anybody ???
While puzzling this out, he / she took off.
............and then what appeared to be a long skinny cardinal came
to rest on the uppermost branch of the elm. Looking through the
glasses, I found a REALLY RED bird without a tuft.
"Some kind of tanager" says I.
"Summer Tanager" said two reference works. Positive ID
A first for me. Seen lots of other tanagers. First Summer.
Hurrah !
cheers
oz, who has had indigo buntings coming to the feeders this yearfor the
first time, even though they have nested at the tree edges for years.
Cheryl Isaak
ecf998e7-f36e-43ec...@b14g2000yqd.googlegroups.com, "MajorOz"
<Maj...@centurytel.net> wrote:
Wow!
Ray
> Problem: I know of no bird in North America with black body and a red
> head. Neither did any of my books.
>
> Anybody ???
How red was the head? In certain light, brown-headed cowbirds can look
reddish.
--
Ray
(remove the Xs to reply)
Martini
> MajorOz <Maj...@centurytel.net> wrote:
>
>> Problem: I know of no bird in North America with black body and a red
>> head. Neither did any of my books.
>>
>> Anybody ???
>
> How red was the head? In certain light, brown-headed cowbirds can
> look reddish.
Good point, Ray. Otherwise, Red-headed Woodpecker from the back.
Steve.IA
september.org:
Indeed. And the dead elm is a classic hangout for the RHWP.
Steve
SouthIowa
MajorOz
> "Martini" <hawkey...@comcast.net> wrote innews:h2m8fq$i7t$1...@news.eternal-
> september.org:
>
> > Ray wrote:
> >> MajorOz <Majo...@centurytel.net> wrote:
>
> >>> Problem: I know of no bird in North America with black body and a red
> >>> head. Neither did any of my books.
>
> >>> Anybody ???
>
> >> How red was the head? In certain light, brown-headed cowbirds can
> >> look reddish.
>
> > Good point, Ray. Otherwise, Red-headed Woodpecker from the back.
>
> Indeed. And the dead elm is a classic hangout for the RHWP.
>
> Steve
> SouthIowa
Numbers of redheads about, but not in the numbers of the red bellies.
Haven't seen the "chick" since, so defer to more experienced folks.
Was morning sun, from behind me, so full on the chick.
Are red head chicks black or dusky?
Have seen the summer tanager only once since then, but have identified
his distinctive call and have heard it often from the deck over the
pond.
Sprinkling now -- life is good; and wasn't that one hell of a men's
final ??
cheers
oz, who thanks the responders
jadel
I missed the tennis, but I did put in some time watching paint dry.
J. Del Col ( who discovered the joys of 20/20 cricket while across the
pond)