Suspecting that I have some proficiency in identifying birds, I’m often approached by friends asking me the possible identity of a “little brown bird” they saw in their yard.  This is a good time to address this question and demonstrate how I might have a problem with their question!

Birds come in a variety of sizes, colors and patterns.  Here are a few photos of little brown birds I’ve taken in our yard in late May:

The male House sparrow…

The female House sparrow…

A juvenile House sparrow…

A juvenile Dark-Eyed junco (Oregon race)…

A female House finch…

A Brown creeper enjoying a bath…

A juvenile European starling…

A female Brown-headed cowbird…

So how may of these birds do you think you could have identified from a non-birder’s description?

And finally (you’ll remember that I previously reminded you that there is always a “finally”), here is a bird that definitely won’t be included in the “little brown bird” category and should need no introduction… a male Painted bunting from my recent trip to Texas…

Interesting day on Monday, May 27, 2019.  Seen initially from the house:  a male Western tanager (our first male of the year), a male Yellow-rumped (Audubon’s) warbler and a female Black-headed grosbeak, each of which was in the watercourse.  Sadly, I managed photos of only the warbler when it returned to the watercourse for a follow-up bath.  I spent most of the afternoon in the yard with my camera at the ready, but these birds all waited until I was in the house for their visits which occurred separated by long time intervals.  The tanager was seen just after noon. the warbler mid-afternoon and the grosbeak just after 7pm.

Here is the male Yellow-rumped (Audubon’s) warbler:

I had another ‘bonus’ this day… a female Northern flicker came down to the watercourse.  They aren’t rare in the yard, only in the watercourse.

This male Rufous hummingbird had a bath but was vanquished from the watercourse by other bird traffic.  He spent a minute or two preening on this branch before again being displaced.  It’s a tough life when you’re the smallest bird in the yard.

And finally, for those new to birding, here are two photos which show the differences between the Black-capped chickadee…

…and the Chestnut-backed chickadee…

On Sunday, May 19, 2019, I sat in the yard hoping for some unusual visitors.  It was not to happen.  I spent considerable time doing what I do best… sitting around waiting for something interesting to visit.  While I was watching/photographing this Spotted towhee entered the watercourse for a bath.  What a mess!  Just looking at this bird you might think it would never be able to fly again!

I had just about decided to give it up for the day when a female Northern flicker flew into the yard and, in a relatively rare move, decided to visit the watercourse. The flicker is a relatively large bird and so I was able to get some rather good photos.

She had no sooner left than her mate decided to give the watercourse a try.

Shortly thereafter a female Rufous hummingbird entered the watercourse for a bath.  The hummingbirds often seem to want to access the very edge of one of the waterfalls for a bath but seldom get washed over the edge.

Since I’m highlighting size differences, I’ve decided to include one of my favorite activities… photographing flying hummingbirds.  This is a female Rufous hummingbird I photographed on May 22.

On the yard news front, the dearth of warbler visits for the past week or so seem to have ended and I’m now seeing a few more warblers, almost all Wilson’s.  On May 22 I had four Wilson warbler visits over the course of the afternoon and saw our first female late in the afternoon… too late for photos.

Our Black-headed grosbeak visits have declined but they are still visiting the yard.  On 5/22 we had two males in the yard at the same time, a first for this season.

And finally, we are absolutely overrun with House sparrows, with more coming!

It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted to my blog… for good reason.  In mid-April we traveled to Arizona (Madera Canyon and Tucson) to bird and then a week after arriving back in Anacortes I left for about nine days in Texas in an attempt to catch a part of the spring migration.   At the time I left for the AZ trip I was already at least three days behind in processing photos taken here in Anacortes (on one of those days I took 180+ photos in the yard!), I took almost 1200 photos in AZ and returned from Texas with another 800+ photos.  Upon returning to Anacortes I have had spring migrants passing through the yard daily and so have been spending substantial time taking more photos instead of processing the backlog!  You’ll see some of the AZ and TX photos in upcoming blogs, but owing to the volume and happenings here in Anacortes it’s likely to be awhile.  

My best birding day since returning home was Wednesday, May 9.  On that day I had 6-7 visits from Orange-crowned warblers, two visits from a male Wilson’s warbler, a possible visit from a Yellow warbler (no photo) and in a first in memory for my yard, visits from two or more Yellow-rumped warblers of the Myrtle race.  

I also had a visit from a House wren (a pair are currently using one of our bird houses) and in the same week five male Brown-headed cowbirds (only one female with them) and our first Black-headed grosbeak (a male) which I had heard in the area for a couple of weeks before I found him visiting one of our feeders.  

So here are a few photos from May 9… 

Sadly, this was our last day for hosting our last two Golden-crowned sparrows in the yard. This was the last day they were seen… we look forward to hosting a small group this next fall/winter.

A male Wilson’s warbler, the warbler I consider our most common warbler visitor.

A very pale Orange-crowned warbler…

And photos of one or more Yellow-rumped (Myrtle’s) warblers.  Since in some photos I can discern a little yellow lurking in the crown, I suspect these birds are first-year males.

On April 21, 2019, Easter Sunday, I noticed an unremarkable sparrow in the yard that I couldn’t identify without using binoculars.  Once I saw the bird through my binoculars I realized immediately that it was a Lincoln’s sparrow, a species I had logged in our yard only once before many years ago.  In fact I have worried from time to time that I may have misidentified my original sighting.  But in this case I was sure of my identification and had pictures to confirm my identification. 

I’ve often preached the value of factors other than appearance in making identifications.  When I opened our window shades before good light the next morning, I saw a single bird foraging in the yard.  It was not one of the sparrow species which are common at this time of year, nor was it one of the other FIVE species of sparrows (Spotted towhee, Dark-eyed junco, House sparrow, Golden-crowned sparrow, White-crowned sparrow) which had been in our yard the previous day.  (Two week’s previously I could have also added a Song sparrow and a Fox sparrow, but they have since moved on.)   The only sparrow foraging in the yard before first light was the Lincoln’s sparrow!  

On a somewhat different subject, on April 23 I was birding in the yard and saw my first confirmed arrival of a Brown-headed cowbird, a male (no photo).  I also had several visits by one or more Orange-crowned warblers.  On one visit with the warbler bathing in the watercourse, a male Yellow-rumped Audubon warbler flew into the watercourse and began bathing within a foot of the Orange-crowned warbler.  As they flew from the watercourse three more Orange-crowned warblers flew into the yard!  

So I have to conclude that the spring migration is on!  (And as of Wednesday, April 24th afternoon, the Lincoln’s sparrow was still with us.)