I didn’t get beyond the Ashland city limits today.  But you’ve already seen the great Western Tanager portrait.  Well, the garden here on Granite Street was gross with Grosbeaks.  A major gros out, or is that gros in?  It sorta gross on you, or grows on you…

And here’s a mother grosbeak at lunch:

I mentioned their loud peeping sound, a domestic chicken chick on steroids.  And how they eat the sunflower seeds I offer.  They will pluck one off the feeder as the female is doing in the above picture.  Then they’ll sit upright and chomp upand down with those gross mandibles.  Small flakes of the sunflower husk will spew out the corners of the beak, leaving only the seed inside.  What I don’t have they also crushed the sunflower seed itself by this time of dothey simply swallow it whole?  It seems to take them less than ten seconds per sunflower, in the shell.  Note how easily these two males share food and position.  You could never get two jays or Juncos to sit that closely on this small feeder.  It is difficult for two male Black-headed grosbeakto share the whole platform.  I;’ve seen up to eight male and female Evebings on the smae4 platform at one time.

This is crap photogrpahy by me but interesting image:  Two Evenings, a female Black-headed with her striped face and a Pine Siskin over in the far corner of the feeding tray:

Left to right: Siskin, female Evening, female Black-headed, male Black-headed.

On the feeder, solo male Black-headed Grosbeak:

At one time today there were sixteen Black-headed Grosbeaks in the garden.  Yes, there are still Steller’s Jays and Juncos.  Eventually I must take another photo of the Steller’s but they’re everywhere, everyday.   The Grosbeak season is fleeting and thus sweeter to behold. 

 

 

 

This little guy persists, blowing his tiny tinny horn in the treetops: