A great winter for Pine Grosbeaks

This photo was taken on 4 February 2016, when I was on a 3-hour birding walk with friends, in Weaselhead. Unfortunately, it was heavily overcast - though there was no sign of the sun, it wasn't that cold. Many of our temperatures this winter have been so ridiculously mild. It's supposed ot get up to PLUS 15C this afternoon (9 February 2016)! Whatever happened to the -20Cs and -30Cs? Makes you wonder what our summer is going to be like!

It was a good day for Pine Grosbeaks and I just caught this beautiful male with barely enough feather detail. Like most of my photos from that day, this one came out grainy, but I just loved his colour.

"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." From AllAboutBirds.

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pine_Grosbeak/id

The following is a list of the species seen:

FFCPPSoc. BIRDING, Weaselhead Natural Area, Calgary, 0915-1215, Thu, 04Feb2016. Heavy overcast, NW wind 15kph, -2 to 3°C. Combined results, 2 groups.

1. Bald Eagle-1 ad
2. Downy Woodpecker-5
3. Hairy Woodpecker-2
4. Northern Flicker-1
5. Blue Jay-3+
6. Black-billed Magpie-3
7. Common Raven-5
8. Black-capped Chickadee-20
9. Boreal Chickadee-3
10. Red-breasted Nuthatch-1 heard
11. White-breasted Nuthatch-2
12. Bohemian Waxwing-1
13. Pine Grosbeak-40+
14. House Finch-8+
15. White-winged Crossbill-1
16. Common Redpoll-150
17. Pine Siskin-50
18. American Goldfinch-1

Coyote-1
Red Squirrel-8
White-tailed Deer-4+