This banding session at Carolina Beach State Park was a little different because a photographer from NC Wildlife magazine was once again trying to get photos of adult male and female Painted Buntings.  She was able to take a lot of pictures of adult female Painted Buntings and juvenile male Painted Buntings (green birds), but the adult male Painted Buntings were a bit trickier.  The adult males would fly in and land near the feeder trap, or cling to the side of it, but refused to enter.  I think they are a bit smarter than the green males, because it is harder to capture an adult male Painted Bunting.  The photographer was very excited when we finally captured an adult male Painted Bunting.  His multi-colored plumage was visible from her vantage point and she made sure her camera was ready.  Unfortunately, his feathers were quite scraggly looking and the back of his head was partially bald.  Dr. Rotenberg identified him as being an older, previously banded, male Painted Bunting that has had persistent problems with his head feathers.  He did not photograph well at all!  A short while later, a glossy-looking, beautifully colored adult male Painted Bunting landed on a branch near the feeder trap, but he absolutely would not go into the trap.  I joked that his colors were so fresh and perfect that everyone would think that the photographer had photo-shopped the bird into the picture anyway, but I was hoping that she would get a chance to photograph him.  We did not capture any more adult male Painted Buntings after the bedraggled-looking, partially bald one, and the photographer was once again disappointed.  I hope that she has better luck the next time she drives down for a banding session.