A moment to appreciate the Pine Grosbeak

There's a decent movement of Pine Grosbeaks along the north shore this week. We have a dozen or so visting our feeders. Along the Lake Superior coast, they can be seen and heard flying northwest on most days.

Last year we had a bumper crop of Mountain-Ash fruit and we enjoyed an abundance of Pine Grosbeaks through the winter. This year during our drought, very little fruit was set and all of that has been eaten. I'll be surprised if any Pine Grosbeaks remain here for the winter.

The first photo was taken today - I've never noticed pink in the wing bars before. The others are older. What a beautiful creature...