Painted Bunting 2007

Today I was sitting on the porch and saw a movement in my right peripheral vision. I looked and there, not 20 feet away, sat a male painted bunting. I almost fainted but instead got still and awestruck. He sat there several seconds and then flew to the feeding tree. He sat there several more seconds and then flew off playfully with a drab, reddish brown bird. Perhaps it was a juvenile since the female counterpart would be green, so who knows?! My first thought was that it was a female cardinal

What a joy and a wonder in my own yard!