Eastern Bluebird on our back deck feeder station, Kennebunk Maine

We have lived here in Kennebunk, in this house, for over 20 years, and yesterday we had a new yard bird. That is always exciting. A small feeding flock that included at least 4 Eastern Bluebirds came to the back deck feeding station. Bluebirds are primarily insect eaters, so they don’t generally visit feeders (unless you have live mealworms out), but they were with a group of American Goldfinches, and Bluebirds have been known to supplement their diet with sunflower kernels (and fruits and berries). I suspect the Bluebirds were foraging on the fully opened and half eaten sunflower seeds the Goldfinches were dropping. A few did come up to deck level and perch on the railings and on the apple branches bolted to the deck for perches around the feeding station. I stepped out on the back deck with my camera and stood quietly until  both Goldfinches and Bluebirds got comfortable enough with me there to perch 8 feet away. It was a cold, clear, winter day and the light was great. It does not get any better than that! 

Sony Rx10iii at 600mm equivalent field of view. 1/250th @ ISO 160 @ f4. Processed in Polarr on my iPad Pro. I edged as far out on the deck as I dared but I was still shooting under a branch that came up and to the right over the Bluebird’s head. I removed it with TouchRetouch, also on my iPad Pro. If you want to explore the feather detail you can look at this image, and others of the Bluebirds and Goldfinches, on my WideEyedInWonder site. This link takes you to this image.