Painted Buntings are uncommon this far inland, and a little research indicates that they're somewhat in decline these days, too. My dad used to see them regularly when he was a boy living on the coast in Murrell's Inlet, South Carolina and I knew he'd be excited to hear about our visitor. I've taken a bunch of pictures over the last few days, and this is the best one I was able to get considering I'm sitting several feet away, behind the screen on the porch, and all I had was my camera phone. The focus isn't great, but you can really see this male's coloring at least.
We've also seen a yellowish-green female but not as often. The little male is at the feeder all day long.
Yesterday morning we got more surprise visitors at the feeder: two male and three female Rose Breasted Grosbeaks! That was a first for us. They also spent all day yesterday flying to and from the feeder, feasting on seeds. I think they're probably just migrants passing through and getting refueled as they journey North for the summer. Here's a photo of one of the males:
Isn't he dashing, with his sharp black and white coloring and then that blood-red splash of color on his breast?
And finally, I was able to film some of these feeder visitors in the clip I'm sharing below. You have the Painted Bunting who's joined by a Carolina Wren, a female Rose Breasted Grosbeak (sadly, neither of the males showed up during these few minutes....the girl is the dull colored bird with a streaky breast), and finally, a Red Bellied Woodpecker made an appearance!
