I think that grosbeak was injured. I found her this afternoon hanging around my [frozen] pond. I probably just about stepped on her when i was putting up the Christmas lights. :-/ Anyway, she couldn't seem to fly, though i thought i saw her flying yesterday. She was around for awhile, but i was busy (we were putting in a new kitchen window!), and later when i looked for her she was gone. I'm hoping that she got away somewhere and that the dog didn't get her.

I think this would be a very difficult ID without a picture. Could you try to get a picture of this bird? A white dot on the breast may or may not be an identifying mark. It could be a HOSP with a few white feathers. It would really help to get a picture to see the shape, beak, leg color, etc.

Hi Rachel, Sorry - I live in eastern Massachusetts, 7 miles north of Boston and I live in a suburb with a little wooded area bordering my backyard, and a wildlife reservation and ponds about 1/2 a mile away (I am very fortunate!). It has been very cold here the last few days and we got our first dusting of snow yesterday. I have seen different kinds of birds here within a mile of the house - woodpeckers, hawks, swans, geese, the common feeder birds, we even have a heron who flies back and forth over our neighborhood every day - so we do get a variety of birds. We definitely do have house sparrows, but these little guys I saw yesterday were not those. They were just about a solid brown from where I could see. No striping or definitive marks. They just hopped around eating stray sunflower seeds. I've gone through photos of species, both genders and juvenile appearances, on the internet and in my books, and I am not sure what this bird was. The only even remote possibilities I could come up with were: field sparrow; junco; and female indigo bunting. If you have thoughts on this I would be most appreciative. Thanks, Donna P.S. Your last set of photos was, as always, astounding. Congrats on your new lifer!

hmmm..okay, maybe I will leave it for a while. I have transplanted some phlox from some of my other beds but never really recorded where I transplanted. If that is it, do you reckon it will bloom this summer?