Pine Grosbeak male / Pinicola enucleator

A blurry, grainy shot of a beautiful male Pine Grosbeak, seen yesterday morning when we were on a walk in Weaselhead. This lone Grosbeak was in the trees near the parking lot. The temperature was around -27C (plus windchill) and I was already feeling cold and a little shivery, which made it impossible to hold the camera still. Looking into the darkness of this tree didn't help, either : ) I don't often get a chance to photograph a Pine Grosbeak, so wanted this photo as a record in my Birds of Alberta set.

"One of the larger members of its family, the Pine Grosbeak is a bird of the boreal forests, found across northern Eurasia and North America, and south into the mountains of western Canada and the United States. A large, unwary finch, it makes periodic winter irruptions into southern Canada and northern United States. It is the largest and rarest of the "winter finches."

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pine_Grosbeak/id/ac

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_Grosbeak