On Saturday, August 19, I was just settling into a chair in our living room about 12:10pm (after a morning nap) when motion on our back patio caught my attention. I looked out our west patio doors and saw a Stellar’s jay on our gas barbecue grill. It was quickly joined by a second jay and then quickly both flew off to the south. To my knowledge this is the first time in at least a couple of years this species has visited the neighborhood.  In a scenario that has become all too familiar lately, I ran for my camera and then for my birding chair in the yard. They were, of course, gone, but I was determined to give them a good opportunity to return.

At about 12:35pm I was rewarded when they flew over me and landed in one of my neighbor’s trees to the north. I photographed one at a distance and saw it and at least one other fly towards another neighbor’s house about two blocks north of us. I called that neighbor and he was able to see two of them in his yard before they flew off to the west!

Stellar’s jays, despite seemingly very good habitat in the neighborhood, are extremely rare visitors, appearing only every coupe of years for a few days at a time.

Warblers and other interesting species continue to visit the yard. It seems that many of the birds are juveniles. I missed getting photos of a Brown creeper and an Orange-crowned warbler but managed to photograph either a juvenile and/or a female Wilson’s warbler.

Here’s a Chestnut-backed chickadee that I also photographed…

On Sunday, August 20 I had two visits from one or more juvenile Western tanagers.  I’m fairly certain that this bird is a juvenile, and the very slight amount of color on its forehead might designate it as a male.

This female Bushtit, judging by its behavior, is probably a juvenile.

I’ve managed to get some good photos of Red-breasted nuthatches lately, a not very common occurrence.  It’s not that we don’t have nuthatches, it’s that they are always on the move and don’t present themselves that often.

And the Black-headed grosbeaks just keep coming.  (No photo…. I’ve published enough!)

The last species for the day appeared just as we were ready to leave to have a little fast food picnic.  I decided to look out the kitchen window one last time and there, hopping around the watercourse, was a female or juvenile MacGillivray’s warbler!  I invoked the routine that has now become so familiar… I ran for my camera, sneaked into my viewing chair in the yard and waited a few minutes but the bird was gone!

The only downstairs window in our house that overlooks our watercourse is located in the kitchen.  On many occasions lately I’ve looked out the window and seen a warbler in or around our watercourse.  I usually waste no time in going for my camera and trying to sneak out of the house to a viewing point.  However I’m almost always frustrated by the warbler’s lack of appreciation for my stealth mode and it almost always flees the yard before I can obtain any photos.  This has happened too many times lately.  So… you will see no warblers in this post.

Yesterday afternoon I spent about three hours in the yard and obtained some nice photos, although none were of unusual visitors.

I’ll begin by exhibiting three different birds of similar appearance about which I’m occasionally asked.  First, the Black-capped chickadee, a bird that prefers areas featuring deciduous bushes and trees.

Next, its “cousin”, the Chestnut-backed chickadee that prefers areas dominated by conifers…

Both of the chickadees are of similar size and shape.  The male common House sparrow is significantly larger but has colors that somewhat resemble the Chestnut-backed chickadee.

The next two birds are White-crowned sparrows, the first a bird exhibiting adult plumage and the second a juvenile.

We had an unexpected late-season juvenile American robin, accompanied by both parents, appear in the yard yesterday.  The question of where this bird’s siblings might be was answered by the appearance of an accipiter in the yard a couple of days ago, and indeed it took an unidentified bird from the yard.  I was able to obtain some bad photos of it eating its prey and while doing so observed (and photographed!) a Peregrine falcon landing in the top of one of the fir trees in the adjacent parkland.

We still have Black-headed grosbeaks visiting the feeder and females/juveniles visiting the watercourse.  I am unable to distinguish the females from the juveniles but this bird is clearly an adult male.

After an absence of several days our leucistic, juvenile American goldfinch returned to the yard.  Since it is the only goldfinch I can distinguish from the other 15 or so goldfinches in the yard at any one time it gives me some idea of the comings and goings of this species.

And finally, a juvenile Northern flicker making a rare visit to the watercourse.  While the watercourse is the most universal attractor to birds, not all birds use it with the same frequency.  Se have flickers visit the yard regularly, but they rarely visit the watercourse.

I spent more time in the yard today (8/9/2017).  The birds came and went but my only bird of interest was what I think was probably a male Wilson’s warbler, although I can’t be absolutely positive that it wasn’t a female.  The black cap seemed somewhat light… it might have been a juvenile male.  The bird was cooperative in that it flew around the yard for a while, giving me ample opportunity for photos.

Mid-afternoon I decided to run an errand and on the way back to the house decided to drive through the neighborhood, keeping in mind that a neighbor got a good photo of an owl in the neighborhood last week.  l had just passed through what I considered the prime owl habitat area when I spied a Barred owl in a cedar tree right beside the road.  I took many photos and even managed to alert several neighbors who also were able to view the owl.

It seems lately we’re seeing an early migration, or perhaps fledglings exploring the greater environment. Here are a few days of yard sightings from today and recent days…

Perhaps the most interesting sighting has been this leucitic, juvenile American goldfinch that visited the yard on two non-consecutive days.

We have two male Anna’s hummingbirds contesting control of the yard with each other and at least one female Rufous hummingbird.  The males don’t seem to be mortal enemies at all times and I’ve suspected that one might be the other’s offspring.  The adult male is probably the same one that over-wintered here this last season.

Just for good measure here’s a female Anna’s hummingbird feeding on salvia in the yard…

We’ve had two, and possibly three, batches of California quail this season.  (One of these years, if I live long enough, I’m going to figure out where these birds go in winter!)  Nature takes a heavy toll before these birds reach adulthood.  Just recently two of the coveys combined giving an extra set of eyes and ears for protection.

The yard is full of American goldfinches and they’re eating us out of house and home.  Here’s a photo of a male feeding a juvenile some of our sunflower seed…

This Orange-crowned warbler visited the watercourse late yesterday afternoon…

And finally, here’s a juvenile Western tanager that visited the yard and watercourse just this (8/7/2017) morning…