Bird sightings in the yard are, for whatever reason, somewhat less interesting this summer than last.  The Red crossbills which were with us all last summer and most of the winter have mysteriously disappeared and the Black-headed grosbeaks, normally frequent visitors to the yard and feeders are conspicuously absent this year… with a single exception which you’ll read about soon.  This year we have only a single male California quail that visits the yard… gone are the multiple covies of both sexes we’ve seen in prior years.  So that’s most of the bad news.

The good news is that for about the past week or so we’ve had both a single, apparently juvenile Mourning dove in the immediate vicinity and we’re now being visited by two Eurasian Collared doves.

Juvenile Mourning Dove

Earlier this month we were visited by a single male Black-headed grosbeak and instead of checking out the feeders it went for the watercourse.  I’m not sure I’ve ever seen one in or around the watercourse or one of the bird baths, but this bird’s visit gave me many opportunities for photographs with the bird out in the open… an opportunity I almost never get.

Male Black-headed Grosbeak

Male Black-headed Grosbeak

On the same day as the grosbeak’s visit we were visited by a family of five Bushtits, very rare visitors to the yard.  They also visited the watercourse and I also managed many photographs, although they were eventually discouraged by House sparrows.

Bushtit

And also earlier this month I had a visitor that, when processing photos, I realized I couldn’t identify.  After consultations with better birders than I, I have about accepted that this is a Song sparrow… although unlike any I have ever seen.  The beak appears unusually elongated and it’s possible that the bird is a juvenile.

Juvenile Song Sparrow?

And finally, I should mention that the crocosmia is now in full bloom which offers many opportunities for hummingbird photographs.  I use the word ‘opportunities’ because even though I can shoot a lot of photographs, it can still be difficult to obtain really quality photographs of the hummers in flight!  (This is truly a case of having to open a lot of oysters to find a pearl!)

Here are a few more photos taken in the Methow Valley on June 13, 2013.

First up is a female Red-winged blackbird, a bird that looks nothing like its male mate.  In the non-breeding season the sexes usually separate into their own flocks, pairing off again in the early spring.

Female Red-Winged Blackbird

A male Red-naped sapsucker removing cavity materials from an active nest…

Two unidentified fly-catchers.  Some flycatchers are identifiable only by vocalizations, far beyond my capabilities!

This, I believe, is a Warbling vireo…

And finally, another Cedar waxwing…

This concludes photos from the Methow Valley.  My original intent was to return to yard birds I photographed immediately after returning from the trip east of the mountains, but I had a rather bountiful day in the yard yesterday (July 3) and I’ll probably publish some of those photos next.

One of the highlights of the expedition, both this year and last, were a pair of Red-naped sapsuckers nesting in a tree along Beaver Pond.  This year they were in the same tree as last year, but this hole appears fresh and I think it is a few feet lower than the one they used last year… more about that in a minute.  The birds made repeated trips to the nest hole, bringing in insects and taking out wood shavings.

Female Red-Naped Sapsucker

Male Red-Naped Sapsucker

There were several House wrens around the pond and it was difficult for me to tell whether, over the course of several hours, I was observing one, a pair or more than one pair.  There was often one singing… presumably a male.

One of the pair of House wrens appeared that they might have a nest in the hole used by the sapsuckers last year, but House wrens are notorious for building more than one nest and for dismantling the nesting materials of other birds, both of which behaviors I have observed in my yard this year.

When we reached Washington Pass on the way over to the Methow Valley (Winthrop) we encountered a significant flock of Gray jays and Clark’s nutcrackers…. with ideal photographic conditions.

Clark’s Nutcracker

Clark’s Nutcracker

Gray Jay

Once in the Methow Valley we saw at least three, and possibly four, species of flycatchers.  Unfortunately some of these flycatchers are identifiable only through hearing their vocalizations (or DNA testing!) so I am unsure of the exact species.  However I was able to identify an Olive-sided flycatcher (not pictured).

Unidentified flycatcher 1

Unidentified flycatcher 1

Unidentified flycatcher 2

On the morning of Sun, June 9 I looked out our kitchen window and saw several hummingbirds in the yard.  This wasn’t unusual, but they seemed very interested in our watercourse and I saw more than one landing on ‘staging sticks’ I have positioned near the watercourse.  As I watched I also saw what was obviously a Golden-crowned kinglet in the watercourse, but it was significantly different from any I had ever seen.  It was lacking its signature golden crown.  But there was no mistaking the bird’s identity.

I grabbed my camera and headed out to the yard.  Before the dust had settled I had taken about 70 photos of the bird.  Unfortunately just about the time I got set up clouds rolled in and I had to shoot in poorer light (and therefore reduced shutter speeds) than I would have liked.  However I managed to keep too many photos… maybe 12-15 of the best.  And before it was over I realized that there were actually two of the juvenile kinglets in the yard.

We usually only see kinglets in the extended winter months, so this sighting means that there was a breeding pair somewhere in the greater neighborhood.  (There was no sigh of the parents, but the juveniles seemed to be doing very well on their own.)

Just to relieve the monotony I’m throwing in this photo of a Spotted towhee who had just taken a bath and was busy preening.