Evening Grosbeak

A new bird for me today! At least, I can now say that I have properly seen an Evening Grosbeak, not just a very distant silhouette or movement that a friend put a name to! I was relieved that one photo turned out sufficiently well to keep and post. Was having strange problems with my camera all day and when I got home, discovered that I had accidentally pressed the Manual button, LOL. We saw this gorgeous bird at a lady's property south of 22X, south of Calgary. Will post the only photo I managed to get of the female another time. Once again, I have had a day out, so will be so short of time to "play" : (

These birds are uncommon, but erratic, year round in Alberta. Everyone was really happy to see them, as it seemed a pretty special sighting.

"The Evening Grosbeak's bill can exert an incredible force per unit area - it might be the most powerful of any North American bird." From Birds of Alberta by Fisher and Acorn.