The sunshine I have been enjoying for my yard photography has ended for the time being so for this post I'll be dipping into my supplies of photography from my Southwest trip I took last April/May. 

These are all waterfowl photos that I took in the Bosque del Apache NWR just south of Socorro, New Mexico.  It's my favorite preserve for birding and photography and you'll probably see more photos from there soon.

This is a Double-crested cormorant in a limb over a small pond.  It was drying its feathers in the sun... something they have in abundance in that area of the country! (Sun, not feathers!)  The cormorants lack the oil coating that many other waterfowl have so they haul out from time to time to dry their feathers.  Lack of oil provides the cormorants with the capability to swim underwater without having to contend with so much positive buoyancy. 

This is an American coot with young. Depending on your point of view, these are either some of the ugliest chicks ever born to a species or they're some of the cutest.  I can't imagine how the chicks' coloring helps them survive.  It seems like it would just make them an easier target for frogs, snakes, turtles and other denizens that share their watery habitat.  You wouldn't catch me swimming in the areas they frequent! 

The American coot chicks, even at this young age, are remarkably independent of their parents, although you might not draw that conclusion from these photographs.  The chicks roam quite far from the parents and neither the parents nor the chicks seem concerned about the practice. 

Be sure to click on the photos to enlarge them for viewing! 

 

Even though it seems our very short summer might be over we are still having occasional interesting sightings in the yard as we move into days of overcast.  Last week we had two Dark-eyed juncos (Oregon) return to the yard.  They will be our most numerous visitors in another month or so.  We're hoping for the single Slate-colored junco that has been a winter visitor for the past four winters, but we'll probably have to wait awhile for it.  

We've apparently had a Bewick's wren visit the yard at least twice this week.  Yesterday we had a White-crowned sparrow, something we haven't seen since sometime last spring.  We also had a single Song sparrow last week.  The occasional fall warbler (usually Yellow or Wilson's) visits the yard and shows an interest in one of the water features.  And finally, someone's cage-variety parakeet remains in the yard after about a two-month stay.  It has changed location from it's original tree and apparently fancies itself  'Lord of the Yard'.  It fusses at anything it doesn't like... lawn mower (not ours!), leaf blower, cats, people or other activity.