About the Cover…
About the Cover…
Betsy Cross
Each April I’m delighted to see my first Painted Bunting of the season. But by tax day this year, when I hadn’t seen or heard one, I began to worry. Then on April 21, I finally heard him. He visited my bird bath the next day. Whew!
It’s even more fun to see what these beautiful birds are doing “in the wild.” I hear them as I’m walking the trails, but they’re often hard to spot in the canopy. So when a female landed 20 yards in front of me, I stopped to watch her.
She began to gather grasses in her bill, and all the while, she was calling—a series of short chip…chip…chip…chip.
Then the male arrived and perched on a branch just above her. I can only imagine that her constant calling was a request for her mate to oversee her safety while she focused on selecting the perfect grasses.
After she had a full bill of nesting material, they went on their way.