A bird we'd never seen before (2 pics)...

and it decided to hang out near our feeder all day! A painted bunting.

Canon Rebel XTi, Canon 70-200mm F4.0L IS lens.

Oooooh how lucky are you!!!! Seeing one of these has always been a dream for me, what a gorgeous thing!! We have the Indigo buntings year 'round here.

Outstanding shots Joan!!!

He is a beautiful Painted Bunting!

Absolutely stunning, Joan.

Oh wow...what a beautiful shot of such a gorgeous bird! I keep hoping one will show up in our yard...you are very lucky!! I had no idea they would be that far north...you just never know with birds! Congratulations!

Beautiful photos. I wonder, is it not a bit early for the buntings in MN? That could be a harbinger of spring for you!

Oh, dang, I forgot to say. We're still in Florida (we're birds ourselves, snowbirds). We're in the Ocala National Forest, 60 miles west of Daytona Beach. I wish I'd would have thought to say that up front. NOT in Minnesota!

LOL, that's okay Joan. Still tremendous shots.

LOL...now I can take off my green with envy hat!! They are wonderful shots wherever they were taken!! Last year we did have one about 60 miles south of us so I am still helpful!!

LOL ~ double lucky you!!! Seeing the painted Bunting AND enjoying the milder winter in FL. It IS a great pair of photos! 8 )

You are the luckiest person to see this beautiful bird!! It's just incredible and you got excellent photos of it. Congratulations!!

OOOOHH could you please tell them to head to Houston when you are done with them?

Nice shots. I have had some more moving through, headed North. The Painted Buntings that wintered here have left, but some stopover for some food on their journey.

Boy untill I got to where you are still in Florida...I was just dying here...LOL!!

I think one was spotted once in Illinios maybe it was ....

I only get the snow buntings in the dead of winter so cute they go after the salt so I put some out on the deck to rock kind whenever I see them but those are just gorgeous

That second picture is beautiful! What pretty colors. Do you have room in your suitcase for him?

So colorful and beautiful.

Nice photo, Joan. A male Painted Bunting was viewed (not by me) several times this week at a backyard feeder, in the Columbia, MD area. Last year, I saw my first Painted Bunting in a local resident's backyard after several attempts. So, you never know where one might show up.

I'm happy to see that you had put this photo in the birding forum too, It really is a very nice photo of this beautiful bird!
I have seen the indigo Bunting in my area ( Which is beautiful) But, the painted bunting just has so much more stand out color!

Hi Joan, Have you considered submitting that 2nd photo anywhere?

I'm not a photography expert, but that 2nd photo seems like professional quality.

Maybe it should be in a 2010 Bird Calendar?

I would consider submitting it to Birds & Bloom magazine...

I would consider Cornell.

I did submit it to Birds and Blooms. Will check out Cornell. thanks! (um, Cornell what?)

This message was edited Mar 28, 2009 12:52 PM

I would d mail Linthicum to ask about suggestions on places to submit the photo. He would probably know of a few places.

http://davesgarden.com/members/linthicum/

This is the site where I was talking about but Linth would know more than I would.

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds

What great pictures and a special bird to see! I've only ever seen one and that was probably 3 or 4 yrs. ago on Mother's Day.
Yes, you should definitely submit that wonderful picture wherever you can.

beautiful pic!

Beautiful pics. I'd never seen a painted bunting in OK until a few years ago. I had a pair show up at one of my feeders in the spring. I had a few for the next few years, but they always passed through, never spent the summer. We downsized about a year ago and moved into a villa. I had a heckuva time drawing in some birds from the creek across the street. But about this time last spring, I looked out on my study steps and saw a painted bunting! Didn't get a shot of him, though. One of my neighbors says he has Indigo buntings behind his house on the creek. I saw one immature one on one of my feeders last year. Buntings are a rare sighting around here.