Subject: Amazing Finches
Date: May 20 20:47:42 2001
From: MEYER2J at aol.com - MEYER2J at aol.com


Hi Tweets:

Early Sunday evening I witnessed something amazing. Amazing perhaps only
because I'd never seen anything like it before. Purple Finches have been
feeding regularly at my feeders for a couple of months. This particular
evening a male was dancing. He had is back arched, tail raised, wings
aflutter, and the red feathers on the crown were raised, much like a Cassin's
Finch's, all while he pranched and "danced" back and forth along a branch of
the Red Cedar tree next to my patio. He paraded for three to four minutes.
The female Purple Finch bounced from limb to limb, maintaining what appeared
to be visual contact with the male. A little while later, the male was
dancing on the ground, near a rhodie, while the female stayed perched on a
tree limb. In between these events were spurts of flight and pursuit. A
half hour later I could still see them courting.

It was truly a wonderful event to witness.

Joyce Meyer
Woodinville, WA
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