Fall Visitors
I spotted 9 species of birds in the back yard this afternoon:
Dark-eyed Junco
Stellar's Jay
Spotted Towhee
Black-capped Chickadee
Golden-crowned Sparrow (juvenile)
Fox Sparrow
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Bewick's Wren
I spotted 9 species of birds in the back yard this afternoon:
Dark-eyed Junco
Stellar's Jay
Spotted Towhee
Black-capped Chickadee
Golden-crowned Sparrow (juvenile)
Fox Sparrow
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Bewick's Wren
Two new visitors this week:
Chestnut-backed Chickadee (blurry):
I had to rely on the fine folks at the Flickr group Field Guide: Birds of the World group to identify the Pacific Coast Bushtit that I spotted above my feeder on December 2:
Our dose of snow hasn't stopped our local avian denizens from foraging. They succeeded in finding the sunflower seeds and cracked corn under the snow.
I rigged up the iphone once more, this time on the ground feeder. I fully expected to capture a Stellars Jay and a Dark-eyed (Oregon) Junco, but I did not expect to get the Spotted Towhee so clearly!
I have noticed that the House Finch acts as almost a "safety barometer" for other birds. It is fairly fearless at the feeder, it perches and eats without flitting away between bites. When the house Finch perches, it seems as though the chickadees and sparrows determine that it is safe to feed and tend to congregate around the feeder when the finch does.
The spotted towhee was back again, as was the Northern Flicker which perched on our hottub cover. Also newly spotted: Red-breasted Nuthatch and a House Finch and a number of White-crowned Sparrows.
House Finch (red)
Red-breasted Nuthatch in our Butterfly bush
Northern Flicker visits again