I found an unexpected Christmas present this afternoon. Not under the tree in the house, but in the holly (and under the juniper hedge, and on the feeders...) in my backyard. A new species for my yard list--a Dickcissel. I get a horde of House Sparrows at my feeders every winter (~65 today) and have been feeding birds for 17 years, so I guess it was inevitable I'd get a Dickcissel eventually. Still, it was an exciting find. The bird was quite aggressive when at one of my hanging feeders, giving loud, harsh call notes and lunging at House Sparrows that crowded too close. Photos of the bird (an apparent first-winter male) can be seen here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jgluth_brb/6571604173/in/set-72157626094030203 -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
