Thanks for the reply.
Fair point, unless the other one was different. I only caught one in the open.
Subtle differences existing between the two would have been impossible.
The much reduced breast and flank streaking ... very fine to almost absent.
The buff-yellow wash on the flanks.
The darker dusty upper beak compared to the female RB Grosbeak that is light all over.
Black-headed have been known to appear in the east as accidental right into the Great
Lakes area. Smithsonian guide book. I guess I'll never know for sure.
A juvenile male is not impossible since there may be variation but the dark upper bill doesn't fit.
They were gone the next day and bird activity plummeted after the rain/hail storm.
The trail heading east just past the conservation building.It starts on your left just as
you enter the open area previously planned for overflow zoo parking. Where they removed
all the sphagnum moss covering previously frequented by Savannah sparrows.
The trail skirts the field (clearing) and enters a woodlot for a short distance and then
opens up again near the observation platform. The tree just beyond the fence visible while
walking through the darkened woodlot is where they were. It is before the observation platform.
Shot of fence.
