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It has been a busy few days and I haven't had much time to watch the feeders. Last week I had a mystery bird that at first glance, seemed might be a brown headed cow bird but something wasn't quite right so I tried to see it more clearly when I managed to empty my hands. It was definitely not a cow bird! I kept watching and once got a really good look so went to grab the camera not far away. It flew away. I set the camera near the window so when It came back I tried another photo and totally missed it. What I saw was this......... cowbird shaped bird with a heavy (gros beak) dark bill. The back was dark and fit well with Blue gros beak markings which is all very well. A blue gros beak hung around awhile prior and after but the strange thin is the chest was almost the colour of a robin's and extended further down the body than that of a Rose breasted Gros beak. The wing patches were that muddy red as well. The head was totally black as was the beak. Through the week, over several days, I had Evening Gros beaks, Rose breasted gros beaks and the Blue Gros beak male and females and maybe even immature, all in the run of the day. (really cool) This strange one is still an unknown, possibly a hybrid?? I don't know. Things were fairly quiet on the hummingbird front. I was thinking maybe they are just going to settle but today old dicken's broke loose. There are the most amazing battles out there and as I was walking back from the greenhouse, one male pinned another (initially I thought "oh! mating?" ) but when after a minute (possibly longer) another male came through and the "winner" went after him, a female appeared from the shrub just beside us and she and the other perched on a feeding support for a second before more battles started up with another male maybe the first. Anyway it is dangerous out there at the moment. A body could loose an eye!! Marg in White Point, Queens http://margmillard.ca
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