A few backyard photos

The yard has definitely been getting busier over the last few weeks. Most of our regulars are in and the food is going quickly! Here are some photos from the last week. Hope you enjoy!

A female Anna's Hummingbird making herself pretty.

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She lets us get pretty close to her.

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The Anna's and the Rufous both enjoy all the flowers coming up.

A juvenile White-Crowned Sparrow on our roof.

This juvie White-Crowned Sparrow seems to have been adopted by our resident Song Sparrows. The juvie follows them around and seems to be begging from them. The Song Sparrows don't seem to mind a bit.

Here is the White-Crowned Sparrow asking for some food from the Song.

A male and female American Goldfinch with a House Finch sitting between them.

A Red-Breasted Nuthatch enjoying some suet.

We haven't seen very many Black-Headed Grosbeaks this year, but this female Grosbeak visits almost everyday. Here she is grabbing a drink from the drip line.

Here she is grabbing some black-oil from underneath a feeder.

This photo was taken from our Birdcam. The Flicker has just recently started using the birdbath.

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More photos from the yard

Here are a few photos from the last week or so. The Band-Tailed Pigeons are still hanging around. The most we counted at one time was 7! It was awesome to see so many at once.

The American Goldfinches are slowly starting to return, but they have lost most of their summer colors and are now the more muted yellows. They will winter with us by the hundreds.

Of note, this last week we saw, not only the Common Nighthawk (see post below this one) but a Pacific-Slope Flycatcher also stopped by! That's only the second Flycatcher we have ever had in the yard.

So, without further adieu, here are a few pics...

We have really enjoyed playing host to these Band-tailed Pigeons.


They are great fun to have around.


They are usually resting atop this telephone pole/wire in the mornings. This pole, strangely enough, is actually in our backyard. Here you can see 5 of them.


Here are four of them in one of our homemade fly-thrus.

One of the more colorful American Goldfinches stopping in for a quick drink. Once they get their bright yellow summer colors we usually don't see them again until the start of fall when their colors are a little more drab.

A female Bushtit. They are coming in the yard 20 or 30 times a day now.

A Lesser Goldfinch snacking on a sunflower leaf.

The Lessers decimate our sunflowers leaves during the summer. They seem to enjoy the leaves as much as they do nyjer seed.

A very friendly House Finch taking a sip.

Photos from the yard

It has been getting busier and busier in the yard lately! We have been going through a lot of seed in the last couple of weeks. But, that's a good thing!

Here are some of the photos we have taken this week. We hope you enjoy them all. Good birding to everyone!

The Rufous Hummingbirds are in all day now. We see both the male and female frequently. The one below is the male.


Here is the female Rufous. Such gorgeous little birds!


The Townsend's Warblers are still hanging around, too. We are hoping that they stick around for a while longer.


Here is a Yellow-Rumped Warbler that is getting his breeding colors. All of the Yellow-Rumped that we see now are fluffy and full of color!


One of our resident Song Sparrows. We have a feeling that she has built a nest on the side of our home. We scan the yard daily for juvenile Song Sparrows.


A rare (for us) Band-Tailed Pigeon decided to drop by for a while. We always enjoy their visits.


A male Lesser Goldfinch looking just about as pretty as can be!


A Downy Woodpecker checking out some home-made suet.


The American Goldfinches are really starting to show their breeding colors now! The bird beside him is a Lesser Goldfinch (female) and below him is a Pine Siskin.

Birds from the yard and around town...

It's been another busy week in the yard. We have been going through a ton of seed and suet lately (more so than usual). The Juncos, Siskins, Towhee and Varied Thrush are still hanging around, which is pretty late for this yard. Normally they are gone by now, but we will relish their continued presence! The Townsend's and Yellow-Rumped Warblers are still hanging around in good numbers, too.

No new spring visitors yet. We are keeping an even more watchful eye out though, as we are certain that we have heard a much-too-early Black-Headed Grosbeak singing lately. I have tried in vain to find him a few times, but alas, nada.

We have been seeing the Red-Tailed Hawk again over the house. She has been flying right over our home and very low. We assume it's a female because she is so large. From a distance she looks she has the wingspan of an Osprey. She's huge!


I found this Ruby-Crowned Kinglet in a small tree just singing away. I have never heard one singing so loud or so much. It was great fun to listen to.


A Townsend's Warbler and a Bushtit sharing a bit of suet.


Another Bushtit. This one is a male (females have light colored eyes).


At a local pond the other day, I found a Great Blue Heron fishing along the shore line. What a sight to see! He had to jab the water a few times before he was successful, though.


All the way down! Maybe going for a frog?


I combed over this photo to try and tell what he had caught, but no luck. He shook the ever loving crud out of it, though.

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.