Unexpected Visitor Today

Today was the first day it has felt like fall for the entire day. I went out for a walk early and had to dig out a light jacket. It was really nice to walk without the constant buzz of mosquitoes.

I was walking quietly and before either of us were aware of each other, I was up on this doe. I stopped to watch her when I spotted her offspring close by. She was not very happy with me just standing and watching. She would raise her leg and stomp it down then snort. She did this a couple of times then the fawn tried to imitate her. It was so cute I had to laugh out loud. At that point they both took off.

After finally getting rain, grass cutting was the activity of the day. I noticed a bird at the feeder that I did not recognize. At first I thought it was a large sparrow or a finch of some sort but it was larger than any I had ever seen . When it flew, I saw the yellow under the wings and a yellow tint to some of the under feathers. It was extremely skiddish but I was able to finally get a couple of pictures so I could determine what it was. A Rose-Breasted Grosbeak. In 20 years of living here, I have never seen one in the yard. I wondered about the male since I thought it was odd a female bird was by herself. After I found the picture in the bird book, I realized it had also been there. Because of similarity of coloration to the Towhee, I did not give it a close look thinking it was a Towhee.

Maybe this is an indication this will be a good birding fall. It is getting that time of year when the migratory birds are coming through.