Downer for Yard Birds

Last week my wife spied an accipiter in the yard.  In this case it was on the ground, examining the various clumps of bushes in the yard for prey. 

Yesterday afternoon we returned from running errands and I climbed up to my office to check my email.  When I sat down I immediately noticed a new bird in the landscape... an accipiter!  Like most of those we see here this one seemed to be a sub-adult.  I raced downstairs, assembled my camera and sneaked out the front door.  I was able to take a lot of photos before the bird finally flew. 

The accipiters are known for their propensity to dine birds using the feeders and I'm sure that the large number of birds in the yard are what has been attracting it.  I'll send this photo to a couple of friends and see if they can tell me whether it's a Sharp-shinned hawk or a Cooper's hawk. 

Crested Crane

We're now temporarily WAY out of the 'yard bird' category, both in distance and subject matter! 

Yesterday afternoon I received an email from my sister in TX that friends of hers on Whidbey Island had discovered a Crested crane, the national bird of Uganda (and judging from a quick internet search, possibly other African nations).  Not long after this broke I was in contact with my sister's friends and on my way to Whidbey Island.  Upon my arrival I found the bird exactly where I was told it had been... in a pasture with cattle and Canada geese.  It didn't take me long to obtain about 40 photographs of the visitor.  

I was concerned that this wasn't a purely natural occurrence and, if I can believe third or fourth-hand information, my premise turned out to be true.  The bird is apparently an escapee from someone who had a pen of the birds.  So much for one of my sightings entering the county bird records sightings!  However I did obtain some nice photos of the bird, a few of which I'm sharing with you.