I’ve had a lot going on recently so I’m not posting as often. (I need an assistant!) My birding activities (observation and photography) are continuing but posting has become secondary to several other projects. In addition I’m no longer “touch-typing” so narratives take longer.
I had an unusually robust yard birding day on October 1, 2025, so I’m posting some photos from that endeavor.
This male Hairy woodpecker first appeared several weeks ago but has been absent since an initial appearance. On this day it reappeared. A female has been here daily.
This was the second day in a row for one or more Yellow-rumped warblers. On this day I had several visiting the yard, apparently part of a migration. These two photos were taken at widely different times and are probably of different birds.
This is either an Orange-crowned warbler or a juvenile MacGillivray’s warbler.
The Dark-eyed (Oregon) juncos are beginning to make a return to the yard after leaving for the breeding season. It will probably be my most numerous bird in the yard (with the possible exception of House sparrows!) during the winter season. Based on the color of the mantels, this first bird is probably a female and the second bird is definitely a male.
House finches are attracted to my madrone tree which is full of berries this year. Interestingly, the finches don’t eat the berry whole but eat the flesh and/or seeds while the berry remains attached to the stem.
One of at least three (invasive) Eastern Gray squirrels that visit the yard on a regular basis, often disrupting my birding photography by scaring birds from water features.
A White-crowned sparrow, a hangover from our recent breeding season, They are usually absent from the yard in the winter.
A Golden-crowned sparrow, a thee-season (fall, winter and spring) yard resident. Our first of the season appeared September 11 and the second one arrived just a day or so ago. In a few weeks I expect to have 8-10 overwintering.
This is the third day in a row a female Varied thrush has visited the yard. It’s probably the same ‘first of the season’ species that visited about three days ago. It was probably initially attracted by the abundant crop of madrona berries in my trees but it’s now a big fan of the water features.
And my favorite images of the day, a juvenile Northern flicker (female) taking a leisurely bath. It’s unusual for me to see a flicker bathing although they often frequent the water features for a drink.
An American robin enjoying a cold respite in one of the water features…
And yet another visitor utilizing one of the water features, a Golden-crowned kinglet…
Just for the record, I had a relatively rare (for the yard) Hermit thrush show at one of the water features in the yard on September 13, but the photos I obtained were through double-paned glass and didn’t turn out well.
POSTSCRIPT (October 3, 2025): I had just finished posting to my blog on October 2, 2025, ending it with a note about the sighting (but no postable photographs) of a Hermit thrush I had seen on September 13, 2025.
On this day it was 7:45am, overcast and too dark for photographs. I looked out my kitchen window and noticed what seemed like an unusual amount bird activity for that time of morning. My attention was drawn to a bird with its back to me that I couldnt identify. As it turned, and using my binoculars, I identified it as a Hermit thrush!
I grabbed my camera and cautiously went outside, but the bird was gone. I decided to wait awhile and about 15 minutes later the thrush returned to my most distant water feature! I thought it too dark for photos but upped my ISO and took photos anyway.
Adobe Lightroom, as it has done so many times before, saved the day. This isn’t what I consider a good photo, but given the conditions under which it was taken, it’s certainly acceptable under my standards.
