Bunting & Sparrow

Hi all. Noah and I are enjoying a quiet afternoon in beautiful Wilmington, NC. I'll get a "people blog" of our trip posted soon but at the moment all I've got is birds. I've had two much anticipated lifers this week. Kind of a study in contrast: the first is one of North America's most colorful and easily recognized songbirds while the second is very nearly uniform gray-brown and totally unknown except to die-hard birders.

This may be the worst photo ever taken of a male PAINTED BUNTINGAnd finally... my long-time nemesis, the BACHMAN'S SPARROWLife birds #467 and #468. My somewhat lofty goal was to reach 500 this year... only 32 left to go! Year list is also doing well with lots of new migrants. Check it out here.