A few photos

Sorry that we haven't been posting lately! We have been crazy busy with our suet company and our community organization. We are going to be gone all week, so we wanted to post a few photos before we went. We're traveling to New York City this week, so when we get back we will post some east coast birdies! Hope you enjoy!

Also Scott Lukens, the owner of the Backyard Bird Shop chain here in the NW, was on Garden Time TV this week and he mentioned NePo Suet! Thanks Scott! You can watch the short video here: http://www.youtube.com/v/QIt7tcKnaKk

One of our resident male Anna's Hummingbirds on his favorite feeder.


A Townsend's Warbler taking a quick bath.


A small flock of Bushtits bathing together!


A Brown Creeper in our Mountain Ash tree! This is a very rare visitor to the yard!



A Ruby-Crowned Kinglet taking a dip!

The first of season Spotted Towhee!

New yard photos!

Here are a few recent photos from our yard. The Rufous Hummingbird still comes around everyday. The Juncos, Pine Siskins, Towhee and Varied Thrush are still hanging around. Pretty late in the year for them to be around, but we'll take them!

Here is a very odd looking Bushtit. Notice how brown his head is and how distinctive the line between his head and body are? Is this normal?



A male Anna's Hummingbird at one of our feeders.



2 male House Finches eating some black-oil Sunflower Seed.

A Yellow-Rumped Warbler through our office window. I wish it was more clear, but the rain and double-pane glass wouldn't afford that.


A Townsend's Warbler feeding on the ground.


One of the many Hawks that come through the yard on a weekly basis. This one is a Sharp-Shinned Hawk.


A Robin getting ready to bathe.


A Robin bathing!


A small flock of Bushtits.

Around the yard

We have been watching the Flicker box with great interest! There have at least 3 different Flickers checking it out. This Flicker, a hybrid (see the red on the nape of the neck?), actually did a little excavating. He pulled out quite a few of the wood chips and spent some time drumming on the box itself. How cool would it be to have a Flicker family?!?!?!?


The Townsend's Warbler is still very active in the yard. There are 3 or 4 of them and they spend most of the day here.


I guess the squirrels gotta eat, too.


Bushtits! There have been some huge flocks (60-80) in the yard lately.

After the Great Backyard Bird Count

Hello everybody!

Here's hoping that you had a great weekend and, to those of you that participated in the GBBC, the best GBBC yet!

Here are a few of the photos we took over the weekend. We have been absolutely swamped since last Friday. Between counting for the GBBC and about a dozen other projects that we have going, it's been crazy!

Anyway, here are the photos. Hope you enjoy!

A Townsend's Warbler getting ready for a big bite!

This Townsend's couldn't figure out if he wanted to land on the suet or not.

Here is one of the 3 or 4 Red-Tailed Hawks along I-84, between Lloyd Center and 102nd Ave. We see them everyday so keep your eyes peeled!

A Cooper's stopping by for some lunch (luckily, the restaurant was closed)

14 days and counting...

...until the Great Backyard Bird Count of 2009! Starting February 13th and running through the 16th this is a great chance (and excuse) to get out and count some birds. Whether it's in your backyard, a local park or even your favorite Wildlife Refuge, you can count for as little as 15 minutes or as much as you want! Just check out the GBBC's website here and have a look around. Please see below for more information! Thanks and we hope you all are ready to count!


This little Townsend's Warbler wanted me to remind you to check out last year's Great Backyard Bird Count Top-10 lists. Just go here!


This beautiful Male Downy Woodpecker stopped by and told me (between bites of suet) to ask you if you would please participate in this years GBBC? What should I tell him you said?


Oh, the Townsend's Warbler is back and, again, wanted me to remind you that you can look up all the numbers from any state on the GBBC's website. You'll find that here.


Then, the Ruby-Crowned Kinglet swooped in for a bite of suet and to ask me to tell you that you can look up last year's Photo Contest Winners. Just check this out.


(voice of the Townsend's) ...you are getting very sleepy... you are so relaxed... so tired...now, I want you to count for the GBBC on Feb. 13th-16th... remember...you WANT to count... you NEED to count... that's it...so relaxed... now, when I click my bill...you will wake up feeling relaxed and rested...but when the calendar reaches the 13th of February...you will become a counting machine...you will count birds all day long and you will go to the GBBC website and enter your counts.... 'CLICK'

Snow...Round 2

Well, it snowed again here in Portland. About 2 inches fell last night, and boy, did it bring the birds in! We woke up this morning to a yard overflowing with birdies. The Lincoln's Sparrow was back (he hasn't been here since the last snow) and the Warblers were back in force. It's over half melted now but it was sure pretty while it lasted. Here are some photos from the yard. Hope you enjoy.

For the last week or so, we have only been seeing about 5-10 Juncos in the yard. Today, we easily had 40. We just need to snow to come in and fill the yard back up.


2 of the 5 or 6 Yellow-Rumped Warblers that are in the yard full time.


A Ruby-Crowned Kinglet was nice enough to pose for a close-up.


We are now getting 4-5 Townsend's Warblers in the yard during the day, too.


Such gorgeous birds.


The Yellow-Rumped Warblers feed more on the ground than they do on the suet.


The House Finches seem to be getting their breeding plumage.


A Chestnut-Backed Chickadee and a Red-Breasted Nuthatch sharing some suet.


We have been seeing more of the Bushtits recently. They weren't coming around very much in the last month or so.


This morning, there were dozens and dozens of Pine Siskins and Lesser and American Goldfinches on the thistle feeders. I know the thistle sacks look dirty, but I assure you that they are washed regularly.


A Song Sparrow, 2 House Sparrows, Golden-Crowned Sparrow and a White-Crowned Sparrow.


This morning, Michelle heard a loud crash against our living room window. A Pine Siskin had struck the window pretty hard. When I went out to get him, we were both sure that he wasn't going to make it. He was on his side and his legs looked mangled. We picked him up, put him in a box and gave him some food and water. After about 20 minutes, I opened the box to see if he was still alive and, WHOOSH, he flew out of it and into the garage. It took us about 10 minutes to catch him and release him in the backyard. He flew off and seemed to be completely recovered.


A Towhee, Golden-Crowned Sparrow and a House Sparrow.


As we were in the office watching birds through the window, we heard another crash against the window, but this time, the crash came from the inside. Apparently, our cat Gem didn't like the idea of a squirrel on our window ledge. So she threw herself against the window got tangled in the blinds and made one heck of a racket while doing it.


Then, one of our dogs, Black Top, got in on the action. At first, he didn't seem to know what it was or what to do.

Then, he threw himself against the window. The squirrel shot of the ledge and ran into a nearby tree, thankful to have made it out alive!

Warblers and Bushtits and Woodpeckers

I feel awful for not posting more the last couple of weeks. It has been a weird month. I was laid off (due to budget cuts) at the end of December and I have been scrambling trying to find a job. If I could be a bird blogger and get paid to do it, I would be just fine. But since that's not going to happen, I haven't spent much time birding lately.

So here are a few photos and I hope to post more in the next couple of days. We hope you like them and have a great week!

One of the many Townsend's Warblers we get on a daily basis.


They are such fun to watch.


A photo of our BirdCam taking pics of a Downy Woodpecker.


Bushtits have been swamping the yard lately. The ones with the light-colored eyes are the females.


We always enjoy their visits. You can't help but smile when you hear the little, high-pitched "peep, peeps" from a flock.

First day of winter...

Here we are, the first true day of winter. Wow! Ummm...yeah...it's definitely winter. We have about 8 inches of snow, followed by about an inch of freezing rain and now it's snowing again. We are expecting another 2-5 inches tonight. Crazy.

The yard has been extremely busy. It was a full time job today just making sure that the birds had fresh food and water. Even though we have a heater in the bird bath, it keeps trying to freeze over and the food got covered up every 30 minutes. Even the seed in covered feeders and on the porch were covered in snow and ice because the wind is blowing so hard. I can't remember seeing Portland this way. We have literally taken over 600 photos in the last couple of days. Here are a few and we will be posting (hopefully daily) for a while. Hope you all enjoy and take care!

p.s. 3 days 'til Christmas!!


We have seen hardly any Robins this fall, but since the snow, they come in frequently for the fresh water.

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Hoping to find one of those rare snow worms!

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Getting a quick drink before heading of to find some food.

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One of the local Anna's Hummingbirds at "her" feeder. The Hummingbirds were in the yard in force today. We had to keep changing feeders out because they got clogged with ice and snow.

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A female Red-Shafted Flicker chipping away at the frozen suet.

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She let me get pretty close to her. I have a feeling that she was a little hungry.

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Here is one of the male Flickers. This photo was taken through our office window.

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Another Flicker in the back yard.

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Finally, the Townsend's Warblers are starting to come back into the yard.

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A Junco and 2 Lesser Goldfinches just chilling on our grapevine.

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The Juncos were getting closer and closer to the porch as the day wore on.

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A Spotted Towheee amongst the small flock of Juncos.

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More Juncos and the Towhee snapping up the fresh seed just thrown out. There is also a Golden-Crowned Sparrow eating with them. Can you spot him?