Visually, call it the last kiss of summer: A bright male indigo bunting singing his heart out on a fully blooming sunflower.
It won’t be too long before the indigo buntings migrate south, flying about 1,200 miles to reach wintering grounds from southern Florida to northern South America, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Last month, amateur photographer Jake Dingel noticed the Pennsylvania Game Commission planted sunflowers in several fields at a state game land near West Sunbury, Butler County.
The resident of Clay Township, who lives near the game lands, kept checking back to catch the showy flowers in full bloom.
In early August, he heard indigo buntings calling near the sunflowers, so he set up his camera, hoping to capture one of the males singing from one of the sunflowers.
It wasn’t as easy as it sounded.
He spent several days, spending three to four hours each day, watching and waiting.
“Most of the time, it would land where I could not get photos of it,” Dingel said in an interview with the Tribune-Review. “Or, if it landed on a good perch, it would fly off after a few seconds.”
But, finally, his patience paid off with a shot of the bunting singing full force while perched atop a perfect sunflower.
