Well, that didn't suck

 

   Yesterday I went to Avondale in Westerly, RI to hopefully see the Western Tanager ( there were actually two at some points) that had been hanging out there for over a week. I wanted to go on Christmas Eve and/or Christmas but the weather was bad. I spent three and a half hours looking for the Western Tanager(s) without any luck.

   Western Tanager would be a state bird for me. I've seen them in South Dakota but never in Rhode Island. Since the weather forecast for today was just clouds I decided to go back and try again. When I got to Avondale I came across my friends Tim Metcalf and Bill Thompson. We all walked to the area the tanager had been seen. Tim had to leave pretty quickly leaving Bill and I. Soon after Dianne Auld showed up. 

  About an hour after I got there, I spotted the Western Tanager in what I have been told is one of its favorite trees, a Cedar full of berries. I called Bill over and another guy I had never met. The three of us watched it hop into multiple trees. Dianne came around a corner and we waved her over. 

   The bird put on a fantastic show for fifteen minutes. The sky was overcast and nasty white. However, the bird stayed low in the green background. The light was absolutely perfect as long as we didn't have to point our cameras into the sky. The Tanager was absolutely amazing for us. When it finally flew out of sight, Bill remarked "Well, that didn't suck".  I couldn't have worded it any better.