About 5pm on September 16, 2019, I had been settled into my yard post after running errands for about twenty minutes with little activity in the yard. Suddenly things took a dramatic turn. I first saw an Orange-crowned warbler which was quickly followed by a second. Then a female Black-throated Gray warbler showed up in the same area. It was followed by a third Orange-crowned warbler! Then a Hutton’s vireo suddenly showed up in the middle of the mix and began trying to dive-bathe in what had become a decidedly crowded water feature. I then noticed a fourth Orange-crowned warbler in the yard, and glancing back at the water feature, saw a male Wilson’s warbler flitting low over the ground near the water feature.

One other sighting I want to mention that didn’t appear in my original post… during all the activity in the yard I saw some movement in our Golden Chain tree and saw, for the second time in the last week or two, a female Western tanager hiding in the leaves. I was able to get two quick record shots but nothing I want to post.

I think I mentioned in a prior post that migrants often travel in mixed-species waves, and I was right in the middle of one!

Almost all of the activity took place in a smaller stone bird bath across the yard… not my primary/optimal photography area. So the photos I obtained were not optimal, but I’m going to post a couple anyway. The show ended with the appearance of an accipiter, probably the same one which had ruined photographic possibilities for an Orange-crowned warbler earlier in the day.

The bad photo I obtained in the afternoon (the one above is one I took in the morning) included a band on the accipiter’s right leg that I can at least partly read. Almost exactly two years ago I photographed one in the yard and was able to locate the bander in Seattle! I’m trying again with this one!

While I’m at it I want to mention that yesterday (9/15/2019) I had a visit by a flycatcher which gave me several opportunities for excellent photos. This was a VERY rare visitor for our yard! This bird was a terror around the yard, chasing other birds. I’m guessing that this was probably a Pacific Slope flycatcher, but flycatchers are even more difficult to identify than fall warblers and you shouldn’t take my word for the identification!

When I wrote the post for birding on Saturday, September 7, 2019, I inadvertently included photos for an Orange-crowned warbler instead of what I perceive is my best case for a MacGillivray’s warbler. I had at least SIX separate visits from warblers that all appeared somewhat similar and I had to sort and identify a total of 190 photos that I had RETAINED for that day!

The photos below are the photos that I meant to post of what I thought was a MacGillivray’s warbler. Note the gray hood on the front of the bird, something I haven’t seen on any Orange-crowned warblers. (My spelling checker just tried to change ‘Orange’ to ‘Organic’!) Note also the separated eye ring which is a characteristic of both species. However, Sibley doesn’t show any noticeable striping on the wings or tail but notes a “usually whitish throat”, which this bird seems to have.

For comparison, the image below is one of what I feel certain is an Orange-crowned warbler that I took on 9/11/2019.

The bottom line is, I don’t know whether the photos of the bird I took 9/7/2019 are a MacGillivray’s or not. I can say I’ve photographed MANY Orange-crowned warblers and don’t remember any displaying a gray hood like this bird. Absent an expert weighing in, you’ll have to be the judge! As I hinted in that previous post, such are the complications of attempting to identify fall warblers.

I had another banner day for birding on Wednesday, September 11, 2019.  Our cat saw to it I wasn’t going to get my daily nap so I decided to sit in the yard awhile and see what might come by.  There had been lots of birds in the yard all day… perhaps the accipiter that had been visiting had finally moved on.  I went outside with my equipment about 2pm and sat for well over an hour with not much to show for it.  I spent the time photographing some of the yard’s regular inhabitants, with one exception.  But somewhat before 4pm things started happening.

We had a juvenile American robin show up in the yard and make its way to the watercourse.  It seems to me to be very late for robins to be fledging young, but this bird was unmistakably new to the world.  

My first migratory visitor made a brief appearance around the watercourse as I was in the process of filling bird feeders, and as I emerged from the garage with seed for the feeders I startled the bird and it left.  It was an Orange-crowned warbler.  A substantial time later it, or one of its brethren returned, and I was able to get a lot of photos as it investigated, but never entered, the watercourse.  

My next significant visitor was a Hutton’s vireo, what I consider a rare yard species but which has visited several times this summer.  This species is very similar to the Ruby-crowned kinglet, but has a stouter bill with a downturned tip.  The photo here is from a subsequent visit (later the same day) in which the photo of the bill (a key identification feature) is more clearly depicted.  

Immediately after the vireo I was visited by a female Black-throated gray warbler.  It entered some huckleberry bushes behind me and I was desperate to get photos.  But it was behind me and obscured by the bushes and there was no way I could turn and get photos.  But after disappearing for a few minutes it found its way around to the watercourse and took at least two baths with preening in between.  

Next up was a male Golden-crowned kinglet.  This species should be a regular visitor to the yard during the upcoming winter season.  The photo below was from the bird’s second visit to the yard when I was able to obtain better photos.  

The kinglet was immediately followed by a beautiful male Yellow warbler which investigated the watercourse, giving me ample opportunity for photographs.  

I then had a second visit from a Hutton’s vireo (mentioned above), followed by a brief visit from an Orange-crowned warbler and finally a second visit from a male Golden-crowned kinglet. 

Most of this action had taken place in well less than an hour, lending credence to my observation that migrants often travel in mixed-species “waves”, a phenomenon I first noticed when living in Texas.  

As an added bonus I’m throwing in this photo of a male Anna’s hummingbird which I especially like.  

Yard birding here at the house made a dramatic improvement Saturday (9/7/2019) morning between about 10am and noon.  For the past several days there had been very few birds in the yard, probably in part due to the accipiter that’s been visiting and which I featured in a prior post.  In fact, my wife saw it in the yard early the morning of 9/7. 

When I returned from morning activities about 10am I noticed a Red-breasted nuthatch in the watercourse area and other bird activity in the yard, so I retrieved my camera and stationed myself at my usual observation/photography post. 

The first bird that caught my attention was a male Golden-crowned kinglet, our first of the season! 

Some time later I would see two more ‘first of the season’ birds… a Ruby-crowned kinglet and a Golden-crowned sparrow!  

A secession of warblers then began to appear, and I’m still trying to sort out IDs.  I think most of them are juveniles and, combined with the fact that by fall most birds have lost much of their brilliant spring/breeding colors, it complicates the ID process.  

When photographing birds, strange as it might sound, I’m not trying to specifically ID the birds as I photograph them.  My concentration is on following the birds with my telephoto lens and performing the technical steps necessary to obtain good photographs.  This applies especially to warblers which can appear similar, but also to other species such as some sparrows.  I may think I’m photographing one species but when I process my photos I find that it was a different species than what I had casually/distractedly assumed.  This process is different than with birders who are having to make a quick identification through binoculars when in the field.  

An excellent example of this was a warbler that I photographed assuming at the time I was photographing it that it was an Orange-crowned warbler.  When I processed my photos they allowed me to examine the bird more closely and for a greater length of time.  I decided that it was a (juvenile) MacGillivray’s warbler, a very rare visitor to the yard.  (I think I’ve had maybe 3-4 sightings over the eleven or so years we’ve lived at this location.) I believe that I actually had two different birds of this species due to slightly different appearances.    (SEE SUBSEQUENT POST REGARDING THIS BIRD’S IDENTITY!)

Over the course of the day I observed the following species: 

• MacGillivray’s warbler (pictured above)
• Yellow warbler 

• Orange-crowned warbler (probable)
• House finches (6 males, 2 females) 
• Brown creepers (2) 

• White-crowned sparrows (adult & 2 juveniles) 

• Song sparrow (first in several weeks) 
• Red-breasted nuthatch (2) 

• Bewick’s wren 
• Bushtits 
• Dark-eyed juncos – Oregon (male & female)
• Northern flickers (2 – male & female) 
• Anna’s hummingbirds (minimum 2 males & 1 female) 

In addition, there were the usual residents:  

• Chestnut-backed chickadees 

• Black-capped chickadees 

• House sparrows 
• American goldfinches 

• Spotted towhees (male & female) 
• American robin 
• California quail (at least 2 males, 2 females) 

(Birds listed in italics were photographed, although possibly not multiple birds/sexes.)

In addition, I should mention my newfound friend, now apparently departed… who was around the yard on 9/5-6/2019.  A young Pine siskin, pictured below, landed on my camera lens!  It’s not the first time that has happened to me.  This siskin let me approach very close both while drinking water and while feeding from one of the hanging bird feeders.  At first I was worried that it might be sick, but other than not being frightened by my presence, the bird appeared normal.  It knew the most direct route between two of the feeders and the watercourse!  

And finally, in a fitting end to a long post, a Warbling vireo briefly visited the yard on 9/3/2019 and “dive-bathed” in our stone bird bath. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get quality photos but this photo should be enough for positive identification.  

And finally… a note of thanks to all of the better birders than I who provide input that allows me to keep this blog functioning! I don’t consider myself an expert birder or photographer and often must depend on other more experienced birders for advice regarding identification.

We returned from a National Geographic/Lindblad cruise Sunday evening, September 1, 2019. More about that in future posts.

It didn’t take long for me to get back into yard birding. I had just returned from my morning walk when I looked out the window and saw activity by some large creature in our brush pile. My binoculars and camera were still packed, but I retrieved them quickly and returned to the window in time to see an accipiter emerge from the brush pile. I successfully sneaked out of the house and watched the accipiter making repeated trips into and out of the brush pile. I was finally able to obtain a relatively unobstructed view of the bird’s head and took a couple of photos, one of which appears below.

In mid-afternoon the accipiter returned to the yard and was again trying to flush birds from the brush pile. A California quail flew over the house, followed by two others which flew across the street. The final quail I saw fly headed across the street followed by the accipiter… I couldn’t see the outcome.

The brush pile is a cage made out of livestock welded wire with 4″ square openings. I would be rather surprised if the accipiter could penetrate it, especially with all the branches jammed into the “cage”. I suspect that the accipiter wasn’t so much interested in getting into the brush pile as flushing prey from it .