Oooo, they are so pretty, Becky. Nice photos!

I've only seen a painted bunting once in my garden. Tell them to come visit me, would you?

Fabulous Becky!!!!!

Oh my Becky how beautiful are they!! I would love to see one!

Thanks Elaine, Ann, and Ronnie!

Both of these birds were banded at my location almost a year ago. Amazing that they can find my exact yard when returning south for the Winter. They go to North FL, GA, SC, or NC for breeding season in the Spring/Summer so they don't travel quite as far as the hummingbirds do. Hummers are known to breed in Canada.

It just amazes me that they can return to the very same feeder hundreds and thousands of miles away in a year!

Becky, that's great! They are pretty birds with good memories, they know where the free lunch is.

Margaret - Thanks! I think they also know where it is safe to hang out. There is wooded areas around my yard as well as a well-stocked feeder and a clean bird bath.

I'm so excited! So I was making my usual Starbucks run and I didn't take my camera because I get too tempted to pull over and I think Dad will only haul me out of a ditch so many times. I saw a Cormorant with his wings spread so that his back was facing the sun and I thought that looked cool. He was on the grate where I found all those Apple Snail eggs. Other than that, not much going on.

Until I got home. I pull in, and I'm gathering my stuff when something catches my eye. The Red-Shouldered Hawk is sitting on top of my entryway! Now, I was trying to get into the Halloween spirit last night and read Poe's "The Raven" so I must admit it seemed like a weird coincidence. Granted, my entryway isn't a pallid bust of Pallas and that's a hawk, not a raven, but still! All I had was my cell phone so I took a few pictures with it. I thought for sure it would fly away as soon as I opened the car door but it sat there. I even stared up at it and said out loud, "You're not afraid of me, are you?" They usually hate when you stare directly at them. I walked underneath it and into the house and it still didn't fly away! Pretty weird, but awesome!

Becky, I am so happy for you with the return of those beautiful Painted Buntings! I miss seeing those rainbow birds around here and I hope I will see them in my yard once we move to Sebastian! I'm not sure why they don't visit my feeders here but it's probably because we don't have enough wooded, hiding spaces for them. These are pictures I took at our old house where we had lots of tree/shrubbery cover for them:

April 5, 2010 ............................................ April 11, 2011

Melanie, great shots of that beautiful hawk on your roof! Isn't it amazing how sometimes they don't seem the least bit afraid of us humans?

Melanie!!!!!!

I was sure when I stood there and stared at it for over a minute it would fly off. They really don't like when you look them in the eye. I like having the hawks around - cuts down on the critters. Plus, I can tell Mom they eat snakes and she likes that.

I have had some brazen hawks in the yard too, I love to see them but sadly they also eat birds so I chase them away.

Melanie - Lucky opportunity to capture the hawk in photos!

I have been seeing more and more of them and they are brazen. I see them in the most unlikely spots like on top of street signs. They just sit there looking down at cars as they drive by. Ha!

Lin - The bander thinks Sebastian area might be about the farthest north they over-winter at here in FL. Most go further south to Miami. All I know is that she has banded 21 Painted Bunting birds at my location and she did NOT capture all the birds we saw. So there were a number of them that like my yard, seed feeder, etc.

One of my banded males is the only bird (so far) to be spotted during the breeding season when they migrate north for Spring/Summer. He was photographed in Georgia this past summer. The bander has banded 561 Painted Buntings so far in Florida. Makes one wonder where all the rest of the birds went.

Becky, I forget how long it took them to figure out where the Monarchs were going each winter but I'm pretty sure it was decades of tagging before they found out. Technology is getting smaller all the time so maybe soon they'll have little GPS units on them!

Becky, I sure hope since I'm going to be living right near you next year that I will see Painted Buntings in my yard ... I love and miss those little beauties so much!

Melanie, that will be so cool if bird bands eventually have little tracking devices attached!

We need a tracking device small enough for hummers! THOSE are the birds who I want to know where they go!

Well another banded male showed up at my feeder after I got home from work. This one was also banded on 11/10/2014. It was the last Painted Bunting banded on that day.

Banded male Painted Bunting with band colors KSRY:



I am amazed that 3 Painted Buntings that were banded almost a year ago are back! 1 female and 2 males so far.

I just realized that my first sighted MALE Painted Bunting returnee is the one that was sighted at Skidaway Island State Park in Georgia on June 25, 2015. He's back!!! NOW THAT IS EXCITING to me!

http://garden.org/thread/view_...

That is so exciting!! I always wonder what their northern destination might be before they turn around and head back south! It would be so amazing to have the ability to track them via GPS!