Blue Bunting bonanza

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I got to see the rare male Blue Bunting at Frontera Audubon today for my 5th and 6th times. The first time I refound it this morning it was calling, giving a very strong 'chip' call (which did not sound to be like a Blue Grosbeak chip as I have been told). I spotted it foraging about 30 feet into the native vegetation where it was foraging. Then it sang briefly, a nice warbled song. No photos then. But I found it again about 20 minutes later and 100 or so feet further away where I got this series of pics of it foraging on the ground in the leaf litter.

I was less than 20 feet away as it foraged. I carefully moved away to go get a couple from Manitoba who had been looking for it and it was still foraging when we returned.
The pic above shows it with what looks like a piece of leaf in it's bill.
The pic above here shows it with a seed in it's bill.
This indepth observation is the type of birding I enjoy the most. I got to watch this tropical bird for almost 30 minutes as it foraged first on the ground then several feet above the ground. The following very short video clips (sorry but I took the videos with my Canon 60d dslr which makes you look thru the lcd screen during video shooting and it is really hard to follow a bird in vegetation thru an lcd screen) show the bird flying between vines and branches, even briefly hovering, as it fed.  Probably best watched in full screen mode. SeEtta
BlueBunting, rare tropical bird, at Frontera Audubon in So Texas from SeEtta Moss on Vimeo.

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