This post has changed a bit. First, I had a subject that I realized would fit better later on in the year, and so I rescheduled it. Then I chose another subject, but as I was finalizing that draft, I noticed that it was going to post on a holiday, and thought I might be able to find something more appropriate, and pushed that one to next week. So at least we now have something red for Valentine’s Day, which is probably as close as I’m going to get.
This is a summer tanager (Piranga rubra,) and I probably would have missed it entirely had I not twigged onto the calls that I didn’t recognize, right behind the car as Mr Bugg and I arrived at the lake for a photo session. I could have stalled this for the first day of summer, which is also when I photographed it, but I didn’t have anything else that seemed to fit for today. Though if I find something later on, I’ll use that for the first day of summer. No, that’s on a Friday this year – never mind.
Jordan Lake has a tendency to feature more bird species than I see in my immediate area, despite being only about 12 kilometers away, though if we maintained a well-stocked bird feeder here, that might be different. My attempts to establish some plants that attract more birds have never panned out, but I blame that on the seed companies…