Those of you who follow my blog may remember that on several occasions I’ve mentioned a Slate-colored Dark-eyed junco that we’ve seen in the yard for each of the past 5-6 winters.  This winter has been a little different for a couple of reasons.  First of all, I’m fairly certain that we’ve had more than one.  In past years I thought the identification was certain, with the bird having both a dark head and gray body with no hint of chestnut.  This winter I’m certain I’ve seen two different ones… one matching the markings of those in prior years but in addition one that is lighter-colored.  And I finally obtained a photo of the lighter one that’s been visiting the yard this winter.

Here’s another photo of what I believe to be the same bird, and it exhibits some limited chestnut color in this photo.  (According to my Sibley’s, this color exists to a minor extent in the Slate-colored junco, but the darker bird has little or none of the chestnut color.)

There appears to be a very large variation in the color of the Oregon race, with the females and 1st year adults being substantially paler.  Here, for comparison, is a male of the Oregon race…

While I’m at it, I’m going to throw in a photo of a male Downy woodpecker which, along with a female, have recently returned to the suet feeder in our yard.

And finally, the same day I made yet another excursion to March Point.  I was watching a gull when it found something interesting on the beach.  It appeared to be already opened, so it didn’t need to drop the object on the rocks.  However it became wary of me and retreated to the water with its prize.