A foraging dark-eyed junco

In the lawn near the Pisgah Inn, along the Blue Ridge Parkway, there were juncos foraging on dandelion seeds.

We were tagging along on a birding preview, with our friend George Ellison, a well-known naturalist in this area, and his friend, Rick Perry, an amazing birding expert (and a retired local physician of long tenure).

We had fun trying to hear the birds that they did, and looked them up on our birding apps (iBird Pro is my favorite).

Amid a LOT of great birds, I actually enjoyed seeing these dark-eyed juncos eating dandelion seeds the most "blog" worthy.

A dark-eyed junco foraging on weed seeds

I don't see many juncos, as they're not normal feeder birds in our ravine, so it was fun to see them in a naturalized habitat off the parkway.

Of course, this image (from my iPhone on a rainy day) is quite sub-par -- but the real thing was fun to see.