Bird feeder saves the day

Well, at least it saved the Blip part of the day... :)

It went from 80(F) 23(C) degrees yesterday to 43(F) 6(C) degrees today. This has been the nuttiest spring weather. It's rainy and windy to go along with the cold. Not really a day that I want to spend outside. Virtually every critter seems to be in hiding today, but they still have to eat. :) My hike produced nothing and I was about to get in the car to scout out other areas when this rose-breasted grosbeak male hopped onto the feeder. It was very overcast, so lighting was an issue, but eventually I got a few that were sharp.

If you pop this open in large, you can see the seed in his mouth. That large beak seems to allow him to shell the seeds right in his mouth. Other smaller birds have to pluck a seed from the feeder and move to a branch to shell the sunflower seed. (They hold the seed with their claws and peck at it to free the good stuff inside.) Mr. Grosbeak must have a talented tongue and can manipulate the seed without leaving at all. I learn something new every day...

I did see a few more birds today, but they were on the oranges. Now, I'm sure you've had enough of the bird-on-oranges images, but this one made me chuckle.

Pretty soon, I'll be out covering all of those flowers I just planted. :( June 1st is usually the safe-to-plant-by-date to avoid frost around here. But, low 30(F) is expected tonight. Burrr.