Just happened to be looking out the kitchen window, and a colorful bird landed on the back yard fence. In our south Eugene hills neighborhood, we see a lot of different birds - some here year-round, some seasonal visitors, and a few just passing by, rarely seen. This particular Evening Grosbeak Finch (Hesperiphona vespertina) probably spends most of its time at higher elevations, in the forested woodlands of the High Cascade Range to the east. What for us here in the low lands is a long steady rain, accompanied by cooler temperatures, would be a fairly heavy snowfall up in the mountains; and this backyard visitor is most likely on the move from one climate zone to another.
The Grosbeak stuck around for a short while, looked around, went to one of the suet feeders we have set up, and then, after having a few quick bites, took off again through the rain, heading west.
