By mid-March we began having some spring-like weather.  There hadn’t been many unusual species of birds in the yard but with the better weather I began to spend more time in the yard.  We were over-run with Dark-eyed juncos and Pine siskins but relatively few other species.

On one of my first days I spent in the yard we had Pine siskins flying everywhere.  I surmised, it turns out correctly, that they would probably attract some other species.  I’ll deal with those in a subsequent blog post.  But as I sat in the yard the siskins were flying back and forth all around me.  On two occasions the siskins almost lit on my head.  After a while I had one light on the end of my lens as I had my face near my camera!  About three minutes later one lit on the camera itself.  My face was up against the back of the camera and my first thought was that the bird might peck me in the eye (it was probably less than two inches away), but then I realized that I was wearing the new eyeglasses that I had obtained less than two months previously.  After a few seconds the Pine siskin flew, but a while later another one landed on the end of my lens.  What I wouldn’t have given for a photograph!

The Pine siskins are extremely gregarious but also extremely aggressive among not only other species, but also their own.  They seem to enjoy being together, but if they get too close to one another it almost always evokes an aggressive response.  Pictured below is the bird’s warning posture… it leans forward, opens its beak and occasionally spreads its wings.  In this case this bird was bathing and it’s warning another bird on a rock above it not to come so close!

Here are a couple of more photos of siskins.  I’m guessing that this one is probably a male due to the bright colors on the bird.

This bird is probably either a female or a first-year juvenile.  Note the formidable sharp beak the bird has.

In my next post I’ll show some of the birds attracted by the spring weather and the presence of all the other birds in the yard.

For the past 8-9 years we’ve had a Slate-colored, Dark-eyed junco spend the winter with us.  I seriously doubt that it has been the same bird, but it seems curious that we keep having a single bird.  On some occasions I’ve thought that I might have seen two, but for the most part it’s been a single bird.

A few blog posts ago I showed our Slate-colored junco and I’m quite sure about that identification.  Not only is its appearance substantially different from the other Oregon juncos, but its behavior is different also.  And it doesn’t mix well with the other juncos… it feeds apart and doesn’t stay in the yard as long.  For reference purposes I’m showing the Slate-colored junco below which was featured in my blog some time ago.

There is a wide variety of difference in plumage coloring for the Oregon race of Dark-eyed juncos.  The birds with the darker (black) heads and cowls are probably males and the lighter colored juncos are probably females and first year birds, but there is an entire continuum with regard to the plumage.  The photo below is what I might consider is an average male.  Note all the brown plumage, both on the bird’s sides and back.

This bird below (it’s the same bird in both photos) neither fits neatly into the Slate-colored nor the Oregon race of juncos.  Earlier this winter I thought that it might be a female Slate-colored junco, but I’m just not sure.  It definitely stands out from all the other Oregon juncos.

I made a driving excursion on Tuesday, March 10 with very disappointing results.  About the best that can be said of my outing is that the Snow geese have realized that hunting season is over and are now congregating immediately beside some roads.

On Wednesday, March 11 I spent a couple of hours in the yard with better than expected results.  We are overrun with Dark-eyed juncos and Pine siskins… they probably constitute >90% of the birds in the yard by numbers.  However we had some rather rare and noteworthy visitors this morning, so I’ll get right with it.

I was in the house when I looked out and saw a Cedar waxwing land on the side of the watercourse.  I can hope for about 2-3 such sightings in a year.  Even though the bird had flown, I grabbed my camera and set up outside in the hope that the bird might return, especially since it hadn’t actually entered the watercourse.  Hope springs eternal, but not the Cedar waxwing.  I saw nothing of it for the two hours or so that I spent in the yard.

I then saw both a Fox sparrow, usually a fairly common winter visitor but absent for the last several weeks and a Song sparrow, a bird of similar visiting frequency.

Next up, our first Rufous hummingbird of the season (in this case a male).  It now joins at least one male and one female Anna’s hummingbird in preparation for the upcoming hummingbird feeder wars.  (The flying hummingbird is a male Anna’s.)

I then noticed a bird other than a siskin fly into the watercourse.  It was a female Red crossbill.  The crossbills are irregular visitors to the yard and watercourse, but we haven’t seen all that many this past winter.  It’s a welcome visitor and we’re hopeful it will bring friends and family to the watercourse this summer.

I was just about to turn it in for the morning when I peered through my camera lens at another hummingbird on the feeder that had been visited by the male Rufous earlier and discovered that we now have a female Rufous hummingbird, both arrivals on the same day.

I usually don’t take or post photos of hummingbirds on feeders, but since in this case I had photos of the actual first visitors I decided to make an exception.

And here is a final photo of one of two rather unwelcome visitors to the yard… an Eastern Gray squirrel.

Once the weather improved I managed several days out birding with not a lot unusual to display.  I did take some photos that I’ll share… just to keep the blog going!

Grain processing/storage complex against the sunset…

Mount Baker from Fir Island…

Window…

River otters on Fir Island…

I’m pretty cute… miss me yet?  (Ruby-crowned kinglet)

Scratching his head over the lack of bird photos in this post!  ((Female Red-breasted merganser… I hope!)

I’ve spent a little time photographing swans lately… it adds a considerable challenge to my photography.  Here are a few images…

This last photo isn’t as spectacular, but if you look closely all three swans are flying directly towards, and looking directly at, the camera.  And the faces of all three are in relatively good focus.  (Click on the photo to enlarge it.)