A few backyard photos

We finally had a sunny (read: not rainy) day here in Portland! WooHoo! It has been so wet and yucky lately that we haven't been getting many photos. So yesterday we decided to get a few. Nothing spectacular but fun to look at anyway. We hope you enjoy!

A Steller's Jay coming in for some of their favorite food!


A Scrub-Jay testing each peanut to make sure it measures up to his standards. If it doesn't, he puts it back and keeps looking until he finds just the right one. Sometimes they even bring a peanut back and exchange it for a better one.


Aha! I think we have a winner!


A Robin contemplating a bath.


The bath is a "GO", I repeat the bath is a "GO"!


A female Red-Breasted Nuthatch looking as pretty as ever.


The same Nuthatch deciding to grab a bite to eat.


A Pine Siskin trying to figure out how to crack a black-oil sunflower shell with it's tiny beak.


A Junco having an afternoon snack.


Another Junco looking for that perfect sunflower seed.


A Fox Sparrow singing away yesterday. There are two of them and this is the latest we have ever had them in the yard. Usually, they are here during the dead of winter and then they skedaddle. But this year, they have been hanging around and seem to be in courtship. We are hoping to see some baby Fox Sparrows in the near future!


A Flicker trying to decide what to eat next.


A female Downy Woodpecker grabbing some suet!


A male Downy doing the same thing on the same feeder.


Could Bushtits be any cuter?

More snow pics...

...here they are and we hope you all enjoy them!


A Pine Siskin through out dining room window, right on the ledge.


A Scrub-Jay on a shepherd's hook in the back yard.


A Red-Breasted Nuthatch hiding seed in the window frame above our bathroom. We have watched them hide seeds in the bark of trees, but we have never seen this before and we assume it's because of the storm.


The Lincoln's Sparrow is still hanging around. And this time, he brought a friend. There are at least 2 Lincoln's in the yard right now.


Another of the Lincoln's Sparrow.


Lesser Goldfinches waiting for a spot on a thistle sock to open up.


Taken through our office window, more Finches waiting for a turn at one of the socks. They line up on the grapevine and find the open spots.


Such beautiful little guys.


A House Finch through our front window looking onto our walkway.


Again, through our front window. They loved to eat at the little brick flower beds as the snow got heavier.


A female House Finch with a little snow on her bill.


A Golden-Crowned Sparrow on the same flower bed.


This is for you Laura! If you would like to visit Laura's birding site, just go here:
http://www.laurawhittemore.blogspot.com/


Finches in the front yard waiting to go into the back.


A Downy Woodpecker in our Mountain Ash tree.


A female Brewer's Blackbird in the local Fred Meyer parking lot. There was a flock of about 50 of them. We have never seen them in snow.


The male Brewer's Blackbird. Such striking eyes he has!


A Pine Siskin, Lesser Goldfinch (left), American Goldfinch (right) and a Dark-Eyed Junco on the brick flowerbeds. How fun!

long, winter nights

Here are some more photos from last weekend. You can bet that we are going to take a buncha, buncha pics this weekend, especially if it snows!! It doesn't sound like it supposed to get above 32 degrees until Thursday or even possibly Friday. Brrrrrrrrrr.


A hungry Cooper's Hawk sitting on our back fence. The feeder sat between she and I, so I thought "what the heck" and took the pic. As soon as I stepped around the feeder to take more photos, she took off. They are much more skittish than the Sharp-Shinned Hawks.


A Northern Flicker deciding to eat some black-oil sunflower seed instead of his usual suet. Variety is good!


Lessers, Lessers everywhere. The Lesser Goldfinches have really increased their numbers lately. We'll see if they stick with us through this arctic blast we are getting!


The Scrub-Jays are really hitting the suet hard. Much higher fat content (not to mention that it's chock-full of nuts) makes for happy Jays!

This is what a Pine Siskin looks like when it's 35 degrees and windy. He stayed there, fluffed out, for a while then flew to a feeder. I kept an eye on him to make sure that he wasn't showing signs that he was sick. He didn't seem to be at all. Just a chilly, little Siskin.

The Steller's Jays are increasing in number, too. They are also getting pushier and not scaring off so easily. Good for them!

Such great patterns on their feathers!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, it's been a busy week with Thanksgiving coming up so we haven't been doing too much birding. And, with the days getting shorter, we have almost no time during the week. We always scan the backyard when we get home but usually there's not a lot of activity (or daylight). But, we still see signs of birdie visits (empty feeders, no suet) so we know they are still with us. Tomorrow, we will give them a little extra so that they can enjoy a feast, too!

Here are a few photos that we have been lucky enough to grab this week. We hope you enjoy the picture and wish wish everyone a great Thanksgiving!



The Black-Capped Chickadees are visiting more and more.


The are coming in bigger groups, too.


The Sharp-Shinned Hawks are still visiting frequently. We see signs of them, too. After one of their visits there are sometimes feeders laying on the ground (we assume this is because they are using their "bumping" technique).


The Cooper's Hawks still like to swing by, too.


Waiting ever so patiently for a bird to happen by.


The Pine Siskin numbers have dwarfed all the other finches we get, but there is still quite a few Lesser and American Goldfinches hanging around. The Lessers stay with us all year long!

Siskins and Lessers sharing a dinner table.


The Squirrel and the Scrub-Jay.

More Sharpies

Well, the trend continues. After mulling it over, talking with fellow birders and speaking with the Cornell Lab, we have decided to leave the feeders up. It was a tough decision, but I think the right one.

So, our yard is now an airport for RaptorAir. We really do enjoy watching the hawks and they don't have a high success rate. Studying their behavior is extremely interesting. We still get quite a few birds in the yard, just not quite in such high numbers.

Here are some more photos of the hawks and one of a Northern Flicker as he was escaping said hawks. Hope you enjoy.




The Flicker is extremely fast and agile when the presence of a hawk is detected.


The Sharp-Shinned Hawks just lets us walk all around the yard and watch them.


Here is one of their favorite watch-points. Can you see him?


Here is another good vantage point for the hawk. This shepherds hook is right in the middle of the yard so the Sharpies (this one is a juvenile) can see everything. They can even watch squirrels try to climb the hook while they are sitting on it.


The squirrels seem to know that the Sharpie doesn't want them. This squirrel sniffed around for 5 minutes, waiting for the hawk to fly off. As soon as the hawk was gone, the squirrel climbed right up and started eating. The hawks will fly from feeder to feeder trying to flush someone out into the open.


Sitting on a platform feeder...

or above a thistle feeder... you get the idea.

Right after I took this photo, the Sharpie (another juvenile) shot off the fence for a bathing Pine Siskin. The Siskin was too agile for him, though, and got away!