Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Anytime I am home, every one in a while I take a quick look outside to see if anything is around. I looked out yesterday and saw a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak. It is the first time I've ever had one in my yard before and it was nice to get a decent photo. I kept looking into the evening and eventually the male showed up too and they took turns feeding.

May has been a great month for birding. So far I'm up to 95 species although I checked and last year I got up to 107. This is doable however as I've yet to see a few species that I'll eventually see for much of the summer (ex. Eastern Kingbird, Common Nighthawk, Least Sandpiper). I'm up to 134 for the year so I'm already just 31 away from beating last year's total!

Ring-necked Pheasant, Yellow-rumped Warbler

Today I finally saw a Ring-necked Pheasant well enough to get a photo. I actually saw one, but it went into the woods before I could get out my camera. Just a few more minutes down the road, there was another bright male.

Today I also finally saw a Yellow-rumped Warbler. Up until this afternoon, I had found four Black & White Warblers (in four different locations), but still no Yellow-rumped. When I got home from birding for about an hour, of course there was also one in my yard!

Brant

Thanks to more people in Carleton County posting what they are seeing, I got to see a Brant for the first time today! It was spotted right in town yesterday and I was very pleased that it was still around today. I couldn't get over the size difference between it and the Canada Goose. They were the only two geese around and it was interesting to watch them hang out together. I didn't want to scare it off so I didn't get very close, but right when I stepped out of my van, it went right under the Canada Goose. This brings me up to 103 in NB for the year and 194 for life.