First up, a male House finch. The males are transitioning into their breeding plumage leading many people to think they are seeing a Purple finch, but it's a mistake to try to identify the birds by color alone. The male House finches vary from a wine color (even deeper than this one pictured) to a light orange.
This is a Fox sparrow which, if history repeats itself, will soon disappear from our yard for the summer and won't return until late in the fall.
Finally, for the yard birds, this male American goldfinch is transitioning to its breeding plumage. This is the first winter that the goldfinches have over-wintered in our yard, but some can be found in the county during winter months. Compare this goldfinch to the males in one of your field guides to note the changes it is undergoing. (I think you can click on this photo to enlarge it.)
On Friday (today) I drove to Whidbey and Fir Islands. On the way I encountered this hawk on Fidalgo Island. When I photographed the hawk I thought it was a Rough-legged hawk due to its light color, especially on the head. My assessment was strengthened when the bird didn't fly when I stopped to photograph it as I've generally found the Rough-legged hawks to be more tolerant of vehicles. But the Rough-legged hawks have probably already left until next winter. After processing the photographs I'm fairly certain that this was a light-morphed Red-tailed hawk. It was a bonus to be able to photograph it in a natural setting instead of the usual power line or power pole!
Finally, here is a Northern shrike that was out on Fir Island. It's a fairly rare bird in the county... I only see two or three each season. The shrike is generally found in open areas and can be a fairly vicious bird for its size, even preying on small birds on occasion. Note the hook at the end of the upper mandible.
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