There is no blue bird marked like this guy, so I really think the lighting just fooled you a bit. And he isn't blue in these pictures, really. He's definitely a slate gray, which is exactly right for a mockingbird in the shadows. I have showed your photo to my "expert" birding friends, and they have all said it is a northern mockingbird. Isn't it interesting how the look of a bird can change, based on where you are observing him? BTW, no blue birds are really blue looking in the shade, just as a tidbit. There is no blue pigment in bird feathers. The blue your eyes see is refracted light, and varies hugely from sun to shade. Bluebirds in shade will often look almosts black, depending on how much ambient light is hitting them. Just a useless bit of trivia for ya, but it does make me remember that in comparison, a gray bird will often look MORE blue in the shade, rather than less. Marcia

CONGRATS!!! It is soooooooooooooooo exciting to see a new bird, and especially one as gorgeous as the Blue Grosbeak. I have lived in the South all of my life, and I have seen one of them. I was living just SW of Atlanta at the time.~Angie

The large white wing area, with the brown head, suggest an immature red-headed woodpecker. (In adult plumage, the heads of both sexes are entirely red.)

I'm sorry, but I have to say I don't like the navy (or the camel). The rug color is more a royal blue, i.e.: a warm blue and the navy is a whole other blue, and IMO, they clash. I also, again, think it is just too much saturation of blue. Like NSM's chandy and think it would look great in your dining alcove. I do think you should paint those French doors the same color as the trim, regardless of what color you paint the walls. If you go with the chocolate brown, consider painting the chairs silver. If you go with a light color, I'd paint them black. The silver will compliment the glass top, and the black will go with the base. Btw, it is sounding to me like you have made up your mind and that you really want to do it in the Midsummer Night. It's not a lot of wall area, so you're not investing a whole lot in paint here. You can paint it in the color you want, get it all set up with the new chandy, painted chairs, artwork, live with it for a month (or some agreed-upon time limit) and if your husband (or you, for that matter) still really doesn't like it, you can always repaint it.