New bird

[altivo]

And at the library of all places. I've heard Eastern Wood Pewees before. They have a distinctive sound and can often be heard around here in the spring. Like most of the flycatchers, though, they are small, mostly brown and gray birds who tend to stay up in the leaf canopy where they eat insects captured on the wing.

This morning we had a small, mostly gray and brown bird perched above the hummingbird feeder behind the library. We weren't sure what it was until it opened its mouth and demonstrated that it was a Pewee. First time any of us had actually seen one, though most of us knew the sound. This one stuck around for much of the day, returning to the same perch and flycatching from it repeatedly so that we all got to see the behavior.

Oh, and it didn't rain today. (This is news? Seems to be of late.)

Comments

[avon-deer.livejournal.com]

You have hummingbirds at the library? ;)

[altivo]

I think this is the first year we've seen them there, but yes. It started with bluebirds several years ago, and since then we've attracted nesting kildeers, tree swallows, and this year orioles, hummingbirds, and the pewee. Oh, and we had a psychotic red-winged blackbird for a couple of years. He sat on a windowsill and spent a lot of time talking to and fighting with his own reflection in the glass.

[songdogmi.livejournal.com]

Oh, not a really new bird, like the blue-headed hobbitfinch (only passerine with feathered metatarsals). But an eastern wood pewee is still cool. They're pretty sweet; I like their voice.

[altivo]

(Photo added now, I was too lazy to do it last night.)

Yes, I've known their sound and loved it for years, but this is the first time I've ever seen one close up. Interesting note, they have a two-tone beak. The upper jaw is olive-grey, but when they open their mouths to sing you can see that the lower is a pretty bright yellow-orange. None of my guides even mentioned this.

[songdogmi.livejournal.com]

Nice photo. What a bold little pewee (by their standards).

I never knew that about their beaks, either. Very interesting.

[altivo]

*ponders how to make a feeder for flycatchers and swallows*

Um, maybe not. The obvious ways are pretty disgusting.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

Ooo lookit him, what a lovely specimen....hmm lunchtime...um..could you just look the other way for a moment.

[altivo]

Watch yourself kitty or you'll be taking another dip in the water trough.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

*humphs and fluffs himself out as he sulks* You horses and your water troughs. I swear you made those just for dunking cats.

[altivo]

Hardly that. After all, who wants to drink cat-flavored water? We have to drain, scrub, and refill the tank each time a cat falls in. The floating furballs are quite unpleasant really.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

Then why Mr Long nose do you keep dropping me in it :P
Just because I refused to eat Mr and Mrs Squeaks

[altivo]

Obviously it's an act of last resort, used when I can't get your kitty mind back in focus any other way. ;p

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

How dare you, my kitty mind has never been in focus :)