Rose-breasted Grosbeak

There will be no more pathetic poems nor 'Odes' at this site - hopefully - except some dragonflies. (order Odonata)…
~ Unless I go quite far northwest, and then perhaps “Ode on an Aleutian Tern,” (using pen name John Tweets?)
Thank you, I’m here all year.
This is a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Pheucticus ludovicianus (I’m wishing I’d taken Latin instead of French in school. I do know “gros-” indicates the large or heavy bill of the bird.)

The female grosbeak looks kind of like a very large sparrow.

This species only passes through our area during migration, summering in northern Ohio, surrounding states (to summarize) and into Canada. My photos are from May, but I brought them up because I’m sure I heard a rose-breasted grosbeak in the yard this morning. They have a subtle yet distinctive (He does make me think of red wine) sharp, squeaky call “like sneakers on a gym floor” as Sibley describes it. Works for me! That’s exactly how I located the male in our tree this past spring.
This morning though - come to think of it - might have been the neighbors’ swing set that was squeaking.

Darby Creek

I’m not ashamed to say I was not in the yard (much) today! I had to go north of town just to find natural toothpaste and sustainable fish oil. ( ; But everyone was exceptionally friendly today, which was odd - I thought people were supposed to be meaner in hot weather. As usual I then drifted down to Darby Creek where birds were feasting on bugs! I watched a tufted titmouse in hot pursuit of a cicada, which ended with some buzzing, ripping, and mashing sounds. I saw a cedar waxwing fly out over the creek for some winged tidbit. Fish were jumping. And I had the undivided attention of a deer fly, which I thought was because I smelled nice, but now I think the deer fly was actually trying to hide behind me.
Twenty treehoppers (Enchenopa sp.?) disguised as thorns were hoping to go unnoticed, but failed miserably - at least with me. For one thing, I saw twenty “thorns” on one branch of a tree otherwise thornless. And there were bright white patches that looked like fungus but are actually the treehoppers' egg masses, which they are guarding. Split up and branch out next time ladies!

Fall is wonderful because we get to see migratory birds passing through, having a rest in our yard before they continue their journey. I photographed this thrush last October. (I'm not sure, but I'm guessing it's a hermit thrush, in which case it might not be going much farther south for winter.)
And of course the colors of the changing season: My favorite is the nannyberry, Viburnum lentago, (I must confess to occasional watering to try to keep it happy.)