Sometimes They Come to You: Black-headed Grosbeak...in my backyard.

I've been documenting the arrival of some incredibly beautiful tropical migrant birds in our region, species like Hooded Orioles, Bullock's Orioles, Blue Grosbeaks, and Lazuli Buntings. I've had to do a lot of walking along the Tuolumne River in order to see some of them. But one of the last of the special birds on my "list" (the species I really wanted to see again) surprised me but good; it came to me.

Two days ago I made a cursory glance towards the sunflower seed feeder on the back porch. It's usually populated by House Sparrows and House Finches, and occasionally by a California Scrub Jay. But that morning I did a double-take. It was a female Black-headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus) grabbing a morning snack.

The Black-headed Grosbeak migrates out of Mexico and spreads throughout the western United States, and just over the border into British Columbia. I've seen them a fair number of times on the Tuolumne River over the last few years, and I saw one last week up in Yosemite Valley, but they've been scarce so far this year. It was nice to have one come to me for once

If the pictures seem to have a dark streak running across the image, it's because I was taking the pictures through some Venetian blinds.

The picture below is a male Grosbeak that I saw in Yosemite Valley last weekend.