March is here and it brought the weather to demonstrate its presence!  My intention was to    start posting my post-Palm Springs photos and experiences in chronological order but I had a good birding day on March 5 and it included a noteworthy, timely visit so I decided on a contemporary posting.  After a blustery Friday (March 4 Saturday dawned with enough sunshine to make a birding excursion seemingly worthwhile.

I began my photography at the Cap Sante Overlook, just blocks from my home.  There I photographed this overwintering male Anna’s hummingbird (one of our smallest birds)

and eventually three juvenile Bald eagles (one of our larger birds) taking advantage of the updrafts and circling the overlook.  Since the eagles were clearly juveniles I assume they were sparring instead of mating, but their aerobatics made for interesting observation.

On the way back down I found this Spotted towhee who didn’t mind its photo being taken…

For the past week or so there has been one or more Brant along the north shoreline of March Point, and on some days there are a pair.  Sadly one of the Brant apparently has an injured leg and its mate is generally sticking with it.  The situation has given me my first ever opportunity to obtain some good Brant photos.

My next destination was Fir Island, but other than this Common raven  I found along the way I discovered very few birding opportunities.  While I found some swans, I don’t think I saw a single goose!

I returned to the house to find a male Hairy woodpecker in the yard and I was able to take photos from several angles while it clung to the side of a fir tree.  (I initially assumed that this was a Downy woodpecker but after viewing the photographs on the computer monitor I agree with my wife who thought it a Hairy.)

And finally… our special visitor.  As I sat monitoring the yard a female Rufous hummingbird flew up to one of our two feeders, which until now had been used exclusively by the overwintering Anna’s hummingbirds.  This was our first Rufous hummingbird of the season (March 5)… we’re looking forward to many more!

This will be the final post featuring birds from the greater Palm Springs area.  Since the CA trip I’ve been accumulating lots of good local photographs, so my next post will be a return to the Pacific Northwest.

I photographed these Western Blue birds at Indian Canyon, just outside of Palm Springs.  There was a large flat rock where native Americans had made holes in which to grind corn and when it rained the holes would collect water.  The water was several inches below the lip of the hole but for some reason the birds seemed to prefer drinking from the holes rather than the clear, cold street that flowed through the canyon just a few feet away.  Early in the morning, with the sun behind me, was a great time/place to photograph several different species of birds.

This is a photo that I’ve wanted to get for a long time but have had difficulty doing so.  This is a male House finch (in the foreground) with a female in the background.  The birds are somewhat dissimilar so I’ve always wanted a photo to illustrate the difference in the sexes.

A Mockingbird, the State Bird of Texas!

Next up… Phainopepla, a bird I’ve generally found in open scrub desert.  The male is pictured first followed by the female.

And finally, a male Costa’s hummingbird back at the condos who came to wish me ‘goodbye’!

I apologize in not posting lately, but I’m in the middle of cataract surgery and it’s now somewhat difficult for me to see my computer screen even with cheaters. I’ve also had a medical procedure on my hand and until recently typing has been difficult and it generates many errors.  But some of my best Palm Springs photos came in our last couple of days there and I’m getting to some of them now.

These are a couple of characters you’ve seen in prior posts… a female and male Anna’s hummingbirds.

And a couple of other birds I’ve shown previously, Verdin…

One morning when walking around the parking lot at the resort I spied a pair of Say’s phoebes… making a living fly-catching.  I was frustrated because they kept landing on man-made structures… light poles and shades over parking places.  I finally photographed one in a tree… and then it flew down to a rock, where I obtained a couple of additional  photos.

However, the best was to come.  As I watched the phoebe hopped down from the rock and grabbed a large preying mantis, and I was able to obtain about four photos of the bird with the preying mantis in its beak!  This was a photographic triumph beyond my wildest expectations.

Here’s a little bonus… a birding lesson.  How to differentiate between a crow and a raven while they are in flight.  The raven has a diamond-shaped tail (as seen below) while the crow has a fan-shaped tail.

Finally, a little good news for all of us.  I had to send my good birding lens to Nikon for repairs at a cost that I’m too embarrassed to mention.  However I have had it back for a couple of weeks and my new results with the lens that was “returned to factory standards” are what I consider exceptional.  So after maybe one or two more posts from the birds of the greater Palm Springs area we’ll be back to some very nice photos of birds in the old home turf.

I want top mention first that on February 3, 2016, we had a Bewick’s wren competing with House sparrows for a feeding port on our hanging sunflower feeder1

Now back to California…

Here’s a male Ruby-crowned kinglet putting the stare on the camera and me…

This Common raven was photographed in Joshua Tree National Park…

This was my first known observation of a California thrasher.  Unfortunately this was the best photo I could obtain…

This was an Orange-crowned warbler, in what as a non-horticulturist I believe to be a bougainvillea bush,  just outside the condo in which we stayed.  There was one just outside our door for each of the four days we stayed at the location in Desert Springs.

This is a bird I’ve long wanted to photograph… a Verdin.  The Verdin is a bird of the desert and drier areas, but I have seen one just outside Fredericksburg, Texas (not quite a desert area… yet!) on a friend’s ranch.  This bird builds a hanging sock-like nest somewhat akin to the Bushtit’s.

And finally, a life-bird for my non-existent life list… a male Nutttal’s woodpecker.

There’s yet more Palm Springs area to come.  But perhaps the best news is that I have been notified by Nikon that my lens will be back in my hands next week… just in time to benefit from the cataract surgery I’ll have on my primary eye next week!

First up is this not-so-great photo of a male House finch.  I included it because I have a little observation to include with it.  I saw this bird land twice on this cactus.  I was curious as to whether or not the cactus spines represented a threat to the bird. My guess is that they do, because in both landings the bird spent a considerable time fluttering above the spines determining exactly where to place its feet.  I’m not sure what it was seeking to eat on the cactus, but personally I don’t think I would accept the risk!

Here’s a photo of a male Costa’s hummingbird feeding on one of the bushes around the golf course where we were staying.  The bushes had very prolific blooms.

Another male Costa’s hummingbird defending “his” bush from intruders.

And two photos of presumably female Costa’s hummingbirds, the first feeding on what I knew from Texas to be a Bottle bush and the second standing guard duty.

Moving to the outskirts of the Palm Springs area, here is a Western Scrub jay, a magnificent bird.  Those of you who follow my blog may remember that we had one in our yard this past year!