Birds and Butterflies

As soon as we got up this morning we noticed a new bird at the feeder, or at least one that neither of us had seen recently enough to remember.  I knew enough to guess at Grosbeak (they have a big beak, but had to resort to the book to be sure they were Rose Breasted Grosbeaks.  We have had at least 3 visiting all day, two males and one female.

Behavior

These chunky birds use their stout bills to eat seeds, fruit, and insects. They are also frequent visitors to backyard bird feeders, where they eat sunflower seeds with abandon. The sweet, rambling song of a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak is a familiar voice of eastern forests; their sharp “chink” calls are also very distinctive.

Habitat

Rose-breasted Grosbeaks breed in eastern forests; you can find them among both deciduous trees and conifers. They are most common in regenerating woodlands and often concentrate along forest edges and in parks. During migration, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks frequent fruiting trees to help fuel their flights to Central and South America.

We went out to do errands this afternoon (after a pretty nice walk on the beach, and we stopped at Chesapeake Bounty for some tomato plants for Georgia to tend.  I found this first American Painted Lady for the year in the flowers there.

The tiny white spot totally surrounded by orange on the forward pair of wings is the easy diagnostic check that differs from the otherwise very similar Painted Lady; it's visible from both the top and bottom. A first for the year.

When I arrived home, this Silver-Spotted Skipper was hanging around the upper garden.  This is the easiest skipper to identify, from the bold silver "spot". Again, a first for the year.