After a few heavy showers in the morning I glanced outside and saw the yard was filled with birds, so I took my binoculars outside to do a little bird watching. I immediately spied a male Varied thrush, our first of the season, sitting in a fir tree at the far edge of the yard. I retreated inside to get my camera and when I again emerged a female Varied thrush flew into the woods. I was now determined to wait long enough for them to return to the yard. That wouldn’t happen, but while I was outside there were plenty of other photographic subjects.
Next up was a Brown creeper heading for the watercourse. I managed a couple of photos of a very active bird which spent considerable time bathing. I spent the next 1.5 hours outside photographing birds and finally, when there was a little letup in the activity I went inside to process photos. I hadn’t even begun to download photos when I looked outside from my second-story office and saw a Townsend’s warbler in the front yard. I raced back down and began taking more photos. We see only one or two Townsend’s warblers a year and I found myself watching THREE that were in the yard at the same time!
At some point in my observations a rare (for the yard) Hermit thrush accessed one of our water features, and although wary, offered me the opportunity for a lot of photographs.
So here is a list of the significant birds I observed in the yard this day…
Six SPARROW species :
- Golden-crowned (3)
- White-crowned
- Song
- Towhee, Spotted (2)
- Junco, Dark-eyed — Oregon (>4)
- House
Three THRUSH species:
- Varied (m&f)
- Hermit
- Robin, American
Two WARBLER species:
- Yellow-rumped (many)
- Townsend’s (3)
Two WOODPECKER species:
- Downy (m)
- Flicker, Northern (m&f)
Two FINCH species:
- House
- Goldfinch, American
Creeper, Brown
Kinglet, Golden-crowned
Chickadee, Black-capped
Chickadee, Chestnut-backed
Nuthatch, Red-breasted
(Species in italics were photographed.)
And now for some photos:
