All photos © Bill Kominsky, used with permission. The Painted Buntings are back in South Florida. I had a male on the feeder at Green Cay last week and a female on the feeder today. This is a gorgeous bird and one that is often overlooked by the walkers at Green Cay. I tried pointing it out to this guy on the boardwalk this week. He had a Sibley guide under his arm so I thought he would be interested. The bird was about 10 feet away and in clear view. He studied it for awhile and said he wanted to look it up. So I helped him find the page in his field guide and when he saw the bird he exclaimed "I don't think I saw that bird!" And of course the bunting was gone by that time. I really don't know how he missed it but it reminds me how little people actually see things when they're walking out here. It doesn't help that half of them are talking on their cell phones or have their Ipods plugged in their ears. He said he would have to find it next time and walked off. Maybe these birds get me excited more than the average person but come on, it's blue and red and yellow and green. How much more exciting can a bird be?
7 comments:
Maybe he was color blind? Only way I can think of that someone with even a hint of an interest in birds could miss a male Painted Bunting!!
I think he just couldn't see well...the feeder wasn't far away but he seemed to be having trouble finding the bird. He said he saw it but then couldn't match it up with the book.
Great pix! I'm not much of a birder, but I'd love to see one of those. My favorite bird in East Tennessee is the indigo bunting. My best sighting was a scarlet tanager in an early spring wood on English Mountain. Thanks for sharing.
Those are beautiful! Amazing colours!
I always resist the urge to call them Rainbow Buntings, a mistaked learned from my childhood, when I was obsessed with both birds and rainbows. By the way, I not long ago wrote of the females.
Wow maybe he was out trying to seem cool by looking like a birder.
The times they are a changing.
Lovely shots - what an amazing bird to have at your feeders.
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