With an overcast morning I was looking forward to a better photography experience.  Before I even got out of the house I spied a Cedar waxwing in the watercourse, a relative rarity.  I sneaked out of the house, usually an unsuccessful tactic, but in that case managed several photos of the waxwing before it left the yard.

I returned to the wetland I mentioned in my prior post but it was curiously devoid of birds.  I waited around for over an hour before a few American goldfinches returned to feed on thistle seeds.  I took some additional photos of them feeding.

I returned home and gave up birding for awhile, but then my wife spotted what she thought was an Orange-crowned warbler.  Upon closer examination I thought it might have been a vireo.  I made for the yard with my camera but the bird flew before I could photograph it or get a better view for a positive identification.  However I remained in the yard to see if it might return.

A short time later a female Wilson’s warbler entered the yard and eventually flew to the watercourse.  I obtained several good photos before it left.

And after all of the activity was over, my wife told me that a hawk (undoubtedly an accipiter) had entered the yard right after I initially left that morning.

And finally, a male Spotted towhee, whose kin have been quite shy this summer, emerged on a log where I could photograph it.  This one looks like it might have been fresh off a bath.

On the morning of August 13, 2015, on my way back to the house from my morning walk in WA Park/coffee with friends/breakfast, I drove by the local wetland (probably not the best way to describe it this year!) and saw a few American goldfinches in the thistle and other birds in the blackberry bushes. I returned to the house, retrieved my camera and a homemade prop that allows me to shoot out the passenger side of my car, and returned to the wetland.

I positioned my vehicle between the thistle and the blackberry bushes and almost immediately began taking photos on both sides of the car. Initially I concentrated on the blackberry bushes but as time went on I repositioned my car to concentrate on the thistle. Over a two-hour period I took 157 photos. Here are the birds I saw and, with a couple of exceptions, photographed:

American goldfinches (male, female and juveniles in many plumage phases)
American robins
European starlings (adult and juvenile)
House finch (female or juvenile only)
Western tanager (female and juvenile)
Cedar waxwing
Orange-crowned warbler
Wilson’s warbler (male and female)
Warbling vireo
yet (and possibly never) to be identified flycatcher 

Here are some photographs, American goldfinches first…

Next up, a juvenile American robin with a mouthful of blackberry…

The Warbling vireo…

The female Western tanager...

And finally, the unidentified flycatcher…

I was surprised not to see any Black-headed grosbeaks since they were at our house as recently as last week and every one I photograph has blackberry juice on its bill.

The photography conditions weren’t all that good. I had full sun with the sun coming across at an angle instead of from behind me, and both conditions tend to generate shadows on the bird from leaves and branches as well as from the birds’ beaks. There’s also a lot of contrast with lighting in various parts of the photos. But when you take 157 photos you can usually find some value somewhere within the group. Here are some of my best shots, but still giving some exposure to birds that are rarer.

On the afternoon of August 11, when returning to the house from a brief errand, I drove by a stand of thistle in the neighborhood and found a couple of American goldfinches feeding on one of their favorite foods.  I retrieved my camera from the house and returned to the site and took the following photos…

As I was observing the goldfinches I saw a female Western tanager (featured in a prior post) and an Olive-sided flycatcher in the area.

While driving around the neighborhood a small bird flew in front of my car and into the bushes beside me.  A little ‘pishing’ brought this Bewick’s wren out for some photos…

I spend a lot of time in the yard watching birds, and despite performing that activity nearly every day I never get bored and it’s unusual if I don’t either learn something new or have some question raised about bird behavior. Today’s post involves some hummingbird behavior I’ve witnessed over this season.

When the Rufous hummingbirds arrive in March there is a lot of activity around not only around the hummingbird feeders we put out, but also in and around our watercourse. The hummingbirds relish visiting the watercourse for a bath and/or a drink of water. There are frequently fights over the watercourse as well as the hummingbird feeders and the flowers in the yard. And I take a lot of photos of the hummingbirds in the watercourse.

But for some reason, it’s been probably close to two months since I’ve seen any hummingbird visit the watercourse. (I just checked my photos and the last photo I took of a hummingbird in the watercourse was on 6/7). And they never visit the other bird baths which don’t feature running water. I’ve taken lots of hummingbird photos since early June, but not a single one of a hummingbird in the watercourse.

I’m left with only the options of photographing hummingbirds on perches or hovering around flowers.

 leaves me with two questions:

Why don’t the hummingbirds utilize non-flowing bird baths… and

Why do the hummingbirds quit utilizing the watercourse relatively early in the breeding season?

On August 5 I was observing/photographing birds in the yard when a juvenile (female)  Brown-headed cowbird flew down next to the watercourse.  I took a couple of photographs of it…

and then as I was looking through my viewfinder another bird appeared in the frame.  It was a White-crowned sparrow and it proceeded to feed the young cowbird.  This is the second breeding season in a row that White-crowned sparrows have raised a cowbird.  The sad thing about this is that this White-crowned sparrow may be sealing its doom for the following breeding season.

And along the same vein, I was watching a male House finch as it flew into one of the madrone trees.  A small group of juvenile American goldfinches flew onto limbs in the general area, and one of the juveniles settled about a foot from the finch.

The young goldfinch leaned towards the House finch as if to beg food and the male House  finch leaned towards it and threatened it with its beak.  Immediately after the confrontation the House finch flew, and all the young goldfinches followed it.  This is exactly the same exit from the yard the young goldfinches make with their parents.  It’s as if the young goldfinches had imprinted on the House finch.

Another noteworthy event occurred on August 4 when three Eurasian Collared doves descended into the trees in the yard.  They seemed very interested in going to the ground but never did.  This may only be about the second appearance of these doves since we’ve lived here.

I managed another good photo of a male Downy woodpecker, probably the same one that appeared in my prior post.  This time the woodpecker was perched on the edge of a rock bird bath we have.

A European starling in the yard.  I’ve been plagued by these for the past couple of months.  During most of the year I have very few starlings in the yard, but when the young fledge I am absolutely overrun with starlings.  They foul the water in the bird baths and, if I leave it out, cost me at least a suet cake a day.  They’re finally beginning to taper off and it’s “good riddance”!

Here’s an interesting photo of a young male House finch.  When the birds are very young it’s either difficult or impossible to tell the males from the females.  But if you look closely at this bird you’ll see that some of the bird’s breast feathers are beginning to turn red, signaling that this is a male.

And to round out this post, a nice photo of a male American goldfinch…