On Monday, Feb 20, 2017, I began my birding in the yard when I noticed quite a number of birds there.  The only bird I photographed was this Slate-colored Dark-eyed junco.

I next made a little birding excursion with a friend.  As usual, we began at March Point but the significant occurrence there was that we encountered about 30-40 Dunlin on the rocks at a little past high tide.  I hadn’t seen Dunlin there for several weeks until this day.

We continued on to Pleasant Ridge where I took these photos of a female Ruby-crowned kinglet in the bushes beside a road.

We rounded out our excursion with a tour of Fir Island where I photographed this Great Blue heron.

All of us here in the Pacific Northwest are looking forward to spring.  Other than a very shy Varied thrush or two there have been few visitors outside the usual winter cast.  And try as I might, the Varied thrushes remain elusive!

I spent an hour or so on a rainy Saturday (Feb 18, 2017) in the yard photographing birds.  In terms of sheer numbers, the Dark-eyed (Oregon) juncos have the overwhelming population advantage.

We still have at least one, and possibly two, Dark-eyed (Slate) juncos.  They almost never seem to be in the yard at the same time but my wife and I have noticed some color variations that make us think that we have two this winter.

We still have a Bewick’s wren that can be found almost any time of day on either one of the suet feeders or one of the peanut feeders, a major departure from the bird’s usual diet.  I’m assuming that the bird will revert to insects once the weather warms.

We have a pair of Spotted towhees, this being the male.

Although we almost never have American goldfinches here in the winter, although they can be found in Skagit County, about two weeks ago we had a pair show up in the yard.  Today I counted six and noted that they are beginning to acquire their breeding plumage.

We have several of the more drab sparrow species in the yard.  The Song sparrow…

The Fox sparrow…

And the Golden-crowned sparrow.  The Golden-crowned sparrows are beginning to acquire breeding plumage and in the next several weeks will be departing for breeding grounds further north.

We also have male and female Northern flickers, male and female Downy woodpeckers, a male Hairy woodpecker, at least one male and female Anna’s hummingbird, a large family of Bushtits and some newly arrived, after a long absence, Pine siskins.

I’m looking forward to spring and more warblers than we managed to attract last year.

Last month I discovered what I believe to be a haw tree that was growing along a road above the Samish Flats.  There was a steady stream of American robins coming and going to eat the berries in the trees.  I took many photos, a few of which I am displaying here.

About a week ago, this American robin wandered into the yard and began pulling earthworms from the ground!

I have never known robins to eat seeds, even if they are scattered on the ground.  However, strangely enough, their cousins, the Varied thrushes, seem to include them in their diet.  The Varied thrushes seem to come down from the mountains when we get snows in the lowlands, probably in search of food.

We’ve had a male Varied thrush in the yard for 2-3 weeks and I’m still trying for a good photo of one this year.  In the meantime here’s one I took recently.

But the best part of this story is a bird related to the initial observation of the robins in the haw trees.  I photographed a bird I initially thought was a Cedar waxwing.  I didn’t have a good view of the bird nor did I get a good photo.  But when I got back home and processed my photos I found that I had observed, and photographed, a Bohemian waxwing… only the second I’ve ever seen and the first I’ve ever photographed!

With my recent photo coup in the yard you may be tired of hearing about my extraordinary  photographic exploits, but I’m far from through!  On January 30 I mounted a little birding expedition around the county and happened on some significant birds. On March Point I  had a (the) Black oystercatcher fly in and land directly out from my vehicle, but it was low tide so it wasn’t that close.  At the south end of March Point Road I saw and photographed a yellowlegs (probably Greater), but it too was too far out for good photos.

Next, in the order I found them…

About 50-70 American robins…

About the same number of Dark-eyed juncos of the Oregon race…

A male House finch…

A female Red-winged blackbird…

A rather rare form of male House finch, orange-colored.  Compare this with the male House finch pictured above.

A Spotted towhee…

A Fox sparrow…

A Song sparrow (admittedly not a great photo)…

A Golden-crowned sparrow…

A White-crowned sparrow (juvenile)…

A White-throated sparrow, the first I’ve photographed in Skagit County in the 16 years I’ve lived here.  I took 41 photos of the bird and retained 34, far too many but I don’t know how long I might go before encountering another one.  When I first saw this bird I thought it was a sparrow with a feather in its mouth!

Immediately after the sparrow left this female Red crossbill flew in.  It seems to be one of the yellowish I can remember.

Then it was the male Red-winged blackbird‘s turn to pose… 

Followed by a male Ruby-crowned kinglet…

Finally (there’s always a finally) I photographed a European starling…

I missed getting a photo of a Northern flicker that flew in but was too shy to pose.

And the best part?  Every photo you see in this post was taken within about a two-hour period… from my car… in exactly the same location!   Happy birding!

For the past several weeks we, as have several of our friends, have been having flocks of Bushtits visit hanging suet feeders in the yard.  This is the first time in the 16 years I’ve lived in Skagit County that I’ve seen Bushtits visiting feeders.  They’ve now populated a peanut feeder due to overcrowding on the suet feeders.  In processing some of my photographs I’ve counted as many as 17 Bushtits on one suet feeder at a time.  Here’s a photo of one of the feeding frenzies.

We still have one or more Brown creepers visiting the yard although not as frequently as last fall.  And I’m seeing them on the trees more now whereas last fall they were regular visitors to the water features in the yard.

On an expedition to March Point I found this gull with a mussel in its beak.

There’s been a single Black turnstone along the rocky beach on East March Point Road for a few weeks now.  Just this last week I obtained photos of the oystercatcher with a small barnacle in its beak, but that photo will have to wait.