Waking from my morning nap (about 11am), which now has become something of a ritual, I decided to spend a little time outside photographing birds. The temperature was in the low 60s and the sky overcast so conditions were perfect for birding photography.
My first task was to fill the small platform feeder with the peanut/hulled sunflower mixture I use. Both species of chickadees (Black-capped and Chestnut-backed) were waiting around the feeder and I enticed one, and it another, to take food from the small container I was holding.
Next I began washing debris from the bird baths. As I was finishing my task I flushed a single bird from the watercourse. It appeared to be a House sparrow but had flown to a tree not frequented by the sparrows. As I was straining for a better look for identification purposes the bird flew back down by the watercourse and I realized it was a juvenile vireo!
I lost no time in entering the house for my camera! Upon my return to the yard I was greeted not by the vireo but by the sight of a bright yellow warbler! I immediately began trying to photograph it and while I was focused on the warbler the vireo returned!
The warbler left the yard too soon, but I was hopeful I got enough good photos for an identification. I later identified the bird as a Wilson’s warbler and it was my first of four sightings of the bird/species during the day!
The vireo was extremely active but I managed to get some good photos. Later, after a little research I concluded that the vireo must have been a juvenile Warbling vireo.
I resumed my bird bath servicing activities when a Rufous hummingbird flew up and wanted to flirt with the small jet stream coming from the hose nozzle. It “rode” the stream back towards me with its feet dangling in the water. It next flew to the far side of the bird bath I was filling and basked in the spray and waves that resulted from my filling of the bird bath… until a miscalculation on my part knocked it off the edge of the birdbath!
At this point I had an influx of House sparrows which were annoying in that they made it more difficult to identify rarities and they occasionally discouraged other birds from using the water features.
At 12:25pm the warbler (or a different one) returned to the yard, proving more opportunities for photos! About five minutes later I noticed two juvenile Golden-crowned kinglets beside me, interested in accessing water features. The kinglets remained in the yard off and on for most of the afternoon, giving me lots of opportunities for photos.
At 12:50pm I looked up to see two Brown creepers visiting the stone bird bath, their favorite. Then both the creepers and the kinglets were in the yard at the same time, and I was having a difficult time trying to decide which to photograph!
I was talking to a friend about 1:30pm when a leucistic Townsend’s chipmunk made an appearance in the brush pile in the front yard. I had one in the yard for several days a year ago and then again about a week ago (July 25, 2025). The chipmunk remained in the brush and gave me little opportunity for photographs. I have no way of knowing if this is a single animal that has miraculously survived for over a year or if there is more than one in the neighborhood.
At 2:05pm I had another Wilson’s warbler enter the yard and was able to obtain more photos.
I occasionally see a Bewick’s wren in the yard but it almost always is on the yard’s outskirts and keeps to the brush so that it is almost impossible to photograph. At 2:10 pm I looked up up see one fully exposed at the water feature nearest me and I was able to get a couple of quick photos before it left.
In between all the special visitors I’ve documented here, I passed the time taking photos of all my regular visitors. I had been in the yard for almost four hours, afraid to leave because of the wealth of relatively rare visitors. I had taken 420 photos and after processing retained 183.