Chickadees, Olive-sided Flycatcher and Swainson's Thrush

I was only able to spend about an hour in the yard today but it was productive, both from a birding and photography standpoint. From a photography standpoint I managed some good photos of the female Black-headed grosbeak, both male and female Northern Flickers and both of our more common chickadees in the area, the Chestnut-backed and the Black-capped. Here are a couple of photos of the chickadees which readily depict the differences between the two species.

While sitting in the yard the biggest discoveries were two bird species I heard but never saw. The first was an Olive-sided flycatcher calling (according to the books), “Quick, three beers.” I hear it differently… “I need you.” Whichever method you use to identify the bird, its call is quite distinctive. I heard two in Washington Park on my Monday morning walk, and one was in exactly the same area as last year.

My other big discovery was apparently a Swainson’s thrush, a bird whose call I can mimic very accurately. It had apparently flown unobserved into my water coarse but I was sitting on the wrong side of the feature to see it. However it called numerous times. I watched carefully to see if it would appear at the top of the water feature and it apparently flew while I was distracted and when it was disturbed.

I probably won’t update my blog again until sometime in early June. Thanks for stopping by!

Bonanza of Spring Migrants

With the improved weather I’ve been spending more time outdoors watching and photographing birds. Thus far I have been somewhat disappointed in the number of spring migrants, both in the yard and on the North American Migration Count in which I participated last weekend. However as they say, “Hope springs eternal” and today (Saturday, 5/15/2010) that little saying was brought to fruition.
For the past several days we’ve had a Black-headed grosbeak singing constantly in the vicinity and about two days ago I was finally able to confirm that it was a grosbeak and not the ‘sound-alike’ American robin. Mid-morning I hung my platform feeder for it but was disappointed that I didn’t see it on the feeder… until about 6:30pm when it spent several minutes on the feeder. It will be back and I’ll be around to photograph it, but it wasn’t going to happen today.

I spent the major part of the afternoon in the yard. After having relatively little success at my brush pile location I moved across to the other side of the watercourse in hopes of getting photos of the female Rufous hummingbird bathing. Although she approached her preferred bathing spot several times, and once even perched within about three feet of me, she never landed in the water course. For whatever reason I didn’t see a male Rufous hummingbird the entire afternoon.
The afternoon was beginning to wear on me when I had a couple of visits by a male Wilson’s warbler. On its second visit by some miracle I managed to pick it out of the blooming Golden Chain tree (laburnum) and a tree full of male American goldfinches. (I’m still patting myself on the back for that accomplishment!) For the second year in a row I had the opportunity to photograph a male Wilson’s warbler in the Golden Chain tree but wasn’t able to do so. However the bird did approach the watercourse but I just managed to miss getting a photo. However on its third foray into the yard I managed to get two nice photos of it sitting on a metal sculpture of a Belted kingfisher.

A short time later a female Wilson’s warbler entered the yard and I was attempting to try for a photograph all the way across the yard when the bird flew. I lost it and was just in the process of lowering my camera when I realized that a male Western tanager was sitting in the water course directly in front of me! It was just unbelievable… and I hadn’t even seen it fly into the yard! I took about 6-7 photos of it at close range before it flew, but then it re-entered the yard a few minutes later and I took more photos of it across the yard. It hung around the second time for several minutes, first exploring the brush pile and later the fir tree canopy.

After not seeing a single California quail last year they are back. We also have at least one Dark-eyed junco (Oregon Race) and a pair of Golden-crowned sparrows left over from winter. Red-winged blackbirds are using the feeders… the only time of year they come to the yard. We have one or more pairs of House finches who have fledged young and are feeding them.

May Yard Birds

I was able to spend a couple of hours in the yard bird-watching yesterday afternoon. The big news is that my wife told me she saw a Wilson’s warbler at one of the bird baths. While the Wilson’s is one of the more common warblers this time of year it’s still an exciting sighting when it appears in the yard. I hadn’t been in the yard very long when it (or another) flew into a very small bush about six feet from me. I thought it was on its way to the watercourse but it worked its way around the yard to the far bird bath before accessing any water. I attempted to get near enough for a photo but was unsuccessful. However I did get a good photo of a Wilson’s warbler look-alike… an American goldfinch.

It appears we have one Dark-eyed junco left (at one time this winter I estimated that we had about 20 in the yard). They’ve all left to breed at higher elevations and can usually be seen at Washington Park and Mount Erie.

It wasn’t a good day for the ground feeders. Also missing were the Golden-crowned sparrows. I only saw one White-crowned sparrow (which I heard long before it arrived in the yard) and a single Spotted towhee. I’ve counted up to five Pine siskins at the feeders and an almost overabundance of American goldfinches. Both male and female Red-winged blackbirds are flying up from the sewage treatment plant for a quick feed (presumably to minimize their time off the nest) and we have both a Downy woodpecker and Northern flickers utilizing the suet feeder.

As far as the small clinging birds are concerned, we have the Red-breasted junco (utilizing both seed and suet feeders), Chestnut-backed chickadees and Black-capped chickadees. I usually have difficulty finding a Black-capped chickadee in the yard but we must have a pair nesting nearby because I’m seeing them more often than the Chestnut-backed… not the usual state of affairs during the rest of the year.
We have the usual compliment of Rufous hummingbirds and it’s impossible to determine how many, but I’m fairly sure we have at least two pairs and possibly more. Both the hummingbirds and goldfinches are split between our feeders and ones maintained at neighbors’ houses.

It’s a good time of year for photography and I’m still hoping to catch a few of the more unusual spring migrants!

Yard Birds and Loon

On Wednesday I was driving by the Cap Sante Marina on my way to do errands when I spied a loon in the NW corner of the basin. I had almost taken my camera with me but since I hadn’t I made a quick trip back to the house to retrieve it. By the time I returned the loon had disappeared. I finally found it once more but was unable to get any photos before it again mysteriously disappeared. All told I had at least an hour and a half of search time with nothing to show for it but a couple of close-up photos of a White-crowned sparrow… but it was sitting on a marina cart which reduced my appreciation of the photograph.

I’ve spent considerable time on at least two afternoons this week watching and photographing birds in the yard. The biggest news with respect to yard birds is that the quail are back. I had a male and female fly into bushes only about eight feet from me on one occasion but they quickly left when they realized I was so near. We’ve seen a total of four so far (and possibly more this Sunday morning) and are hoping for a successful breeding season. The quail have been quite scarce for the past many months, possibly due to the presence of one or more coyotes in the Cap Sante area.

The next biggest piece of news is that we still have at least three Golden-crowned sparrows (see photo) on the premises with no apparent effort to leave for their breeding grounds north of here. Two of these individuals are in full breeding plumage and the other is either in transition or possibly a female. The usual course of events is that the birds leave just about the time they are acquiring their breeding plumage.

One of the neighbors, who is a jogger notified me last week that she had found a ‘bird’ in the street by my house and left it for me. It turned out to be a White-crowned sparrow and I had seen only one in the yard up until that time. It worried me that I might have none this spring, but in watching my brush pile yesterday I discovered that I had at least four, a record for this location.

Other birds visiting the yard or feeders: American robin(s) (whom I suspect are nesting in the forest nearby), Rufous hummingbirds, Northern flickers, a Downy woodpecker, a single Bushtit (a rarity in terms of sightings in the yard and whom I again suspect must be nesting nearby), one or two Pine siskins, American goldfinches (my sunflower seed versus the neighbor’s thistle seed), crows, Rock pigeons (I need to be more proactive in sending them on their way), House sparrows and House finches. Unfortunately I’m still waiting to see some spring warblers. I should also probably mention that we had a Douglas squirrel in one of the fir trees this week, a welcome change from the Eastern Gray squirrels.

I continue to refine my yard habitat, mostly with the goal of obtaining better photos of the visiting birds. Yesterday I was utilizing a special feeder I’ve made for photographic purposes and I have to say that it is working perfectly and exactly as designed/intended. However I do plan some enhancements to it.

This was such a good photo of a male Rufous hummingbird that I couldn't help but post it, despite the fact that it was sitting on a feeder.  I waited a long time for it to come to the water feature but it didn't during the time I waited. 

Female Rufous hummingbird in water feature...

White crowned sparrow...

Golden-crowned sparrow...