Busy, busy yard!

Hello to all! Sorry for the infrequent posts, but we have been so busy with our other blog that the time just slips away. No more excuses though! I vow to post at least 3 times a week! Yep, you heard it here first. 3 times a week. I expect you all to hold me to it, too!

Anyway, the Varied Thrush showed up today! That is the latest in the year that we have seen him in the yard. Exciting stuff! Other than the Thrush we have seen; Warblers abound, Finches a plenty (House, American, Lesser and Siskin), Junco-Mania and a Robin-Go-Round. It's been a great time to be a birder! Here are some photos for your entertainment (hopefully).

The male Varied Thrush hanging out with some unsavory characters!


Such a gorgeous bird and such an unexpected visitor near the end of February.


The Spotted Towhee was hanging out all day long. Another rare occurrence. Usually, he comes in the yard for an hour our two in the morning and the evening, but not in the middle of the day.


Towhee looking pretty photogenic on the fence.


Then, the Towhee hopped up in the Curly Willow for some even better pics.


A well camouflaged Golden-Crowned Sparrow.

A White-Crowned and Golden-Crowned Sparrow just hangin' out.

The Lesser Goldfinches are looking as beautiful as ever!

Here's another Lesser just waiting for a spot to open up on the thistle sack below.

A Downy Woodpecker grabbing some suet. It's hard to tell from the photo, but this Downy had a yellow spot on the back of the head, instead of the normal red coloring.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get the male Anna's Hummingbird to come around the other side of the feeder so I could get a better pic. Such amazing colors!

One of the 6 different Song Sparrows that were in the yard today.

Another Song Sparrow...

...and another...

Varied Thrush

We had our First of the Season Varied Thrush today! This snow storm has given our yard a big boost. We have had 5 First of the Season birds and one Life list bird in the last 2 weeks. We are very excited! The Varied Thrush is supposedly a very shy bird, but don't be fooled, he has lots of friends.

Here he is having a friendly chat with the House Sparrow.


The Thrush isn't as close to the Lesser Goldfinch, but they are still on speaking terms.


Here he is having lunch with a couple of Juncos.


Here he is scouting for food for his buddy the Scrub-Jay.


He and the House Finch are "acquaintances". Personally, I think that they are just jealous of each other's colors.


And sometimes, he just likes his quiet time.


Just a little time to sit back and reflect on the situation.


But after a while in solitude, he gets a little lonely and starts calling for his friends. See, not so shy after all!

Photos from last week

First off, we would like to thank everyone who visits our blog! We hope you all enjoy the blog and the photos. If you could, please let us know you stopped by.

The Great Backyard Bird Count is over (you can still turn in your counts here http://gbbc.birdsource.org/gbbcApps/input until March 1st) and it looks like the best year for, not only Portland, but all of Oregon as well! Portland has turned in over 200 checklists, so far! That's the first time Portland has turned in over 200. Thanks to all those who counted.

Update on #92 (injured Pine Siskin) and #118 (injured Steller's Jay). I am sad to say that they have both passed away. We don't have all the details yet, but no matter what, it's still disheartening.

On to happier things. Here are some more of the pics we have taken over the last week. Again, we hope you enjoy and good birding!


American Robin and Varied Thrush

Steller's jay

Flickers in the fog at Mt. Tabor

Mourning Dove at Jackson Bottom

Male Wood Duck at Laurelhurst Park

Lesser Goldfinch

Dark-Eyed Junco

House Finch

Mallards at Jackson Bottom

Black-Capped Chickadee

Just an update

First, I called the Audubon Society to see how little #92 (our injured Pine Siskin) was doing. They said he's doing great! Eating and maintaining his weight, moving around a lot and in the next couple of days, they will move him to a rehab cage so that he can have more room and exercise his broken wing. Good for him!

Still on the lookout for those wrentits. A fellow OBOLer is going to come over and do his great imitation of the wrentit. I guess he has had quite a bit of success calling these little guys out. So, we are crossing our fingers!

Other than that, it's been pretty normal in the yard. The Varied thrush and the Spotted Towhee seem to be getting more comfortable in the yard. They are getting closer and closer to the house and don't immediately fly off when we go into the yard. It's nice to see them up close.

I've posted a few photos taken recently (hopefully soon, we will be getting a much better camera). Most of the better photos on this site were taken with my sister's camera. We just have a little 3 megapixel, 3x optical zoom guy. I would love something with 12x or even 18x optical zoom! I'd be a pic snapping fool. Wishing you all the best and good birding!

Varied Thrushes

Yeah! The Varied Thrushes are finally starting to show up. We had one in the yard earlier this morning and then I looked out the window about an hour ago and saw 3 in the yard. I actually gasped. I snapped a couple of grainy photos before they flew off but how nice to see them again. There were a couple of robins hanging out in the same vicinity as the thrushes, too.