While the numbers of my interesting fall visitors seems to have dwindled the run keeps getting extended. On October 3, 2026, it became obvious that the sun would be out and my opportunity for quality photographs would end. However for a short time just after noon I decided I would give things a try based on my success of the past few days. I hadn’t been out long before I noticed a perfectly posed Dark-eyed junco on one of my staging sticks. As I was photographing it I realized this wasn’t one of the yard-prolific Oregon subspecies, but a Slate-colored subspecies! The Slate-colored subspecies is apparently the most numerous/widely distributed subspecies of the Dark-eyed junco in North America, but it is a rarity in my yard.

Here, for comparison, is a male Oregon subspecies. This subspecies will soon be one of the most numerous species of birds in my yard for the winter with the possible exception of House sparrows or an influx of Pine siskins.

I haven’t seen the Slate-colored junco since my original sighting.