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American and Lesser Goldfinches flock to the new high-capacity thistle feeder.


Bushtits flock to the suet feeder.

It's mid-September, and breeding season is over.  Species that are normally gregarious in the Fall and Winter have begun to flock in search of food.  This has been evidence in our yard, as numbers of American Goldfinches and Bushtits have increased substantially.  They're usually showing up now in double-digit numbers now.  American Goldfinches have even begun spilling onto the driveway to clean up spilled seed.  While they're not quite yet in the numbers that we saw last October, it's still early and very possible that we might match or even exceed those numbers this Fall.


A male American Goldfinch molting into its standard (non-breeding) plumage.


American Goldfinches are spilling onto the driveway again.

While the Goldfinches have been the big story here, there are a few minor subplots.  Black-capped Chickadees and Red-breasted Nuthatches have been extremely active over the past month.  The juvenile Dark-eyed Juncos highlighted in the previous post are growing up and have almost fully molted into their adult plumage.  They've also been scarfing down millet from the ground feeder on the back deck.  Young male House Finches are molting into their big-boy plumage and are eating quite a bit of black oil sunflower seed.  Downy Woodpeckers and Western-Scrub Jays have also been regulars.


Female Lesser Goldfinch


A Black-capped Chickadee pauses before going in for more food.


A female Red-breasted Nuthatch pauses briefly in the morning sun.


Western Scrub-Jay

Northern Flickers have been only showing up erratically since early August.  I'm not sure why that is, but I'm confident that we'll see plenty of them in October and November.  I only saw one Pine Siskin last month and have yet to see one in September, but I'm sure that'll change soon enough as well.  On a down note, most of the Rufous Hummingbirds have made their way South, with only an occasional traveler at the nectar feeders now (I've already gone ahead and taken down the second "migration" feeder).


The lone (August) Siskin


A female Rufous Hummingbird from mid-August.  It's sad to see them go, but we look forward to their return next March.

Well, that's about all for now.  Hopefully next time I'll get to post more pictures of flocks of 50+ Goldfinches, have more Siskin photos, and possibly our first Ruby-crowned Kinglet sighting of the Fall/Winter feeding season.

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A juvenile Norther Flicker (right) gets a bite of suet from mom.  Surprisingly, the paint on the car was not scratched.


A fledgling Dark-eyed Junco perches atop the fence before feeding on the deck.

While juvenile Downy Woodpeckers are regulars in July here, I've never seen a fledgling Flicker here until about a week ago.  They aren't exactly unheard of in urban areas, but are far from common.  Even less common here in the Valley are Dark-eyed Juncos.  I saw my first juvenile Junco up in the Cascades last weekend, and the reason for this is that they typically breed in higher elevations.  But exactly seven days later TWO were eating spilled thistle seed on my deck.  Again, not unheard of, but certainly not common.


One of many fledgling Rufous Hummingbirds visits the a nectar feeder.  The abundance of copper coloring molting into the back and head shows that this is a male.


A juvenile House Finch stops by for a drink on a warm summer afternoon.

Juvenile hummingbirds are all over the place right now (and, not surprisingly, fighting with one another over food sources).  This includes at least two fledgling Rufous Hummers and at least two young Anna's.  The Rufous are getting their fill before they begin to move south in about another month.  Interestingly, I haven't seen a male Rufous since May, and they should be on their way south at this point.

And, of course, the rest of the usual fledglings are out and about.  These include Lesser Goldfinches, Downy Woodpeckers, Bushtits, Black-capped Chickadees, Red-breasted Nuthatches, and Western Scrub-Jays.  The Scrub-Jays have been especially abundant, visiting several times a day and making a racket in the process.


Black-capped chickadees enjoy sunflower seed on a late July morning.


Lesser Goldfinches are joined by a pair of Pine Siskins on an early August morning.

After a two-week drought, my Pine Siskins returned this weekend.  Even though it was  a very brief appearance, it was really nice to see them again.  Pine Siskins in AUGUST... who would've thunk it?  So far, Siskins have made appearances in my yard in EVERY month this year.  Wow...



Well, that's about it for now.  Things are beginning to pick up and our sunflowers (pictured above) have begun to flower.  We hope that the finches will enjoy the seeds that will begin to form in another month or two.



I leave you with a picture of Diamond Peak (elevation 8,700 ft.), located in the Central Oregon Cascades.  I'm getting  a new wide-angle lens soon and will be back up in the Cascades later this month, so I'll have more to share in the future.

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A female Anna's Hummingbird feeding from a fuchsia.

Despite being gone for most of the first half of the month, there have been some noticeable changes.  The first and most obvious is an increased number of juvenile Black-capped Chickadees, House Finches, Lesser Goldfinches, Scrub-Jays, and American Crows.  They've all been frequenting our feeders and bird baths.  Without any substantial precipitation for well over a month now (which is typical for this region in the summer), the bird bath under the Rhododendron bush is being used quite heavily.


A juvenile Scrub-Jay takes a morning bath.


Juvenile Black-capped Chickadee - "Ahhh!  Refreshing!"


A juvenile Lesser Goldfinch picks at buds.

Some species that were MIA last month are now re-appearing.  These include Bushtits, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Northern Flickers, and Dark-eyed Juncos.  Juncos and Flickers typically breed in the hills, so it's interesting to see that some have bucked the trend and stayed put in the valley.  Oddly enough, I've seen two MALE Juncos (and only these two males) at the feeders.  I've seen less and less of my summer Pine Siskins, but did see them briefly three days ago.  And at the risk of jinxing myself, I haven't seen a Starling since the beginning of the month.  And I couldn't be happier about that.


Female Bushtit - Nice to see them again.


Female Northern Flicker - Didn't have any trouble finding the relocated suet feeder.

I've also done some remodeling around the yard.  The thistle feeder formerly hanging off of the fence was moved closer to the deck to avoid a potential mess with the neighbor's cat.  The Lesser Goldfinches seem to really enjoy the location (I don't know why) and are there frequently every day now.  I also got fed up with seed from our sunflower tube feeder spilling all over our cars.  So I made the bold move of relocating it to the former tube feeder location off of the carport.  Sadly, I had to remove the seed tray that the Black-headed Grosbeaks and Purple Finches seemed to like so much, in order to keep the squirrels from eating out of it.  Oh well, I'm sure that they'll be able to utilize the carousel or hopper feeder during their next visit.  I also moved the tail-prop suet feeder from near the front door to the sunflower tube feeder's former location.  This gives us a much better view and I'm sure that the birds appreciate being further from the front door.  I also splurged on a $10 squirrel baffle to keep the squirrels and rain off of it.  My next plan is to transition the peanuts from the carousel feeder to a new wire mesh peanut feeder that will be placed in between the kitchen and dining room windows.  This is to keep Crows from chasing away the birds in the front yard.  And since birds eat peanuts one by one (or by stuffing four or five in their mouths at once), placing it near a window shouldn't be a problem.  The only real negative is the (apparent) loss of the Mallards that were eating cracked corn off of our driveway every day.  I haven't seen them since the beginning of the month.


Lesser Goldfinches dine at the newly-relocated thistle feeder.  Unfortunately, the one on the bottom left appears to have an injured leg.


A male Dark-eyed "Oregon" Junco forages for seed on the walkway.


A Red-breasted Nuthatch playing "King of the Suet Feeder" early on a Saturday morning.

Well, that's all for now.  I'll write more in a couple of weeks, when the male Rufous Hummers should begin moving south and will be stocking up on nectar (with the females to follow later).  Black-headed Grosbeaks should begin migration sometime next month as well.  And birds will begin flocking in general, so it should be an exciting time.

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White-breasted Nuthatch.


Carolina Wren - nesting right next to my in-laws' screen door.


Tufted Titmouse - I miss these guys.


Juvenile Red-bellied Woodpecker.


Eastern Phoebe.


Song Sparrow - Not as darkly-colored as the Pacific Coast subspecies.


Gray Catbird


Veery - It was shot from a ways away and looks "veery small."


Chipping Sparrow - Saw about a million of these.


Mourning Dove - Also native to our area, but I hardly ever see them.


And of course, no photo collection of East Coast birds would be complete without a Northern Cardinal...


... and I'll throw in a deer as well, just for kicks.

Also seen but not photographed were Wild Turkey, Common Yellowthroats, a Wood Thrush, and more Robins and Blue Jays than you could shake a stick at.

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The days are as long as they're going to get now.  And with the youngsters out and about, this means lot of activity in the yard...


A juvenile Lesser Goldfinch on a sunny morning.


An "official" Summer (June 21) Pine Siskin.  I never thought that they'd still be here, much less breed here.

The big story right now is juveniles.  Fledgling birds are are almost constantly here, with Lesser Goldfinches, House Finches, and Starlings being the most numerous.  Also present in smaller number are juvenile Crows and Pine Siskins.  I imagine that we'll be seeing fledgling Scrub-Jays, House Sparrows, Bushtits, and Black-headed Grosbeaks in the not-too-distant future.  American Goldfinches have already paired up and will likely begin breeding later this summer.


A pair of American Goldfinches.


A tray full of juvenile Lesser Goldfinches.


Parent and fledgling American Crows.  Look at the size of junior (left)!


A juvenile Starling.  Not as ugly as mom and dad, but still makes those annoying, raspy calls.

Aside from all of the youngsters, most of the usual summer suspects are here.  House Finches, typically numerous at this time of the year, are at the feeders several times a day.  Their European cousins, the House Sparrows, have also been around in larger-than-usual numbers (which is somewhat typical of this time of the year).  Starlings were so numerous and eating so much suet that I've left the tree trunk basket empty and am just maintaining one suet feeder now.  Thankfully, their numbers have subsided somewhat over the past couple of weeks.  Both species of Chickadee (Black-capped and Chestnut-backed) are here at least once a day or so.  Pine Siskins seem less numerous than earlier this month, but I'm still seeing a couple at a time.  We're seeing Downy Woodpeckers once every day or two, but (not surprisingly) much less frequently than in the winter.  Anna's Hummers (almost always males) are still here, but not very frequently.  And as usual, Rufous Hummers are MIA, most likely unti August.  Lone Black-headed Grosbeaks have been spotted at the feeder on each of the past two weekends - most likely energizing up while dealing with the young'uns.  Two or three Juncos are still around (and we believe have a nest somewhere in the neighbor's yard), and there was a Song Sparrow bathing in our bird bath earlier this week.  Our buddies Quackers and Mildred (the Mallards) have been here every day, and are now showing up with what may be a juvenile (I'm not quite sure).  They stop by several times a day and are pretty tolerant of me.  We had recently not seen many Red-breasted Nuthatches at all, until Barney brought a dead one into the house earlier this week.  We're pretty sure that he simply found it dead (he has no front claws and is a complete wuss, to boot).  Thankfully, we've been seeing healthy nuthatches in the yard since.


Quackers: King of the Driveway.


Western Scrub-Jay foraging for food.


Female House Sparrow.


Female Downy Woodpecker: Also very happy to see fewer Starlings.

On the "milk carton" front, we haven't seen a Northern Flicker in several weeks.  They're most likely gone up into the hills to breed.  Strangely, Bushtits haven't been seen for over a month now.  They nested above our driveway last summer and brought their fledglings to our suet feeders.  Hopefully we'll be seeing them again soon.



And because I just hadn't spent enough money on all of this yet, I purchased a new bird bath for the back deck two weeks ago.  It's both stylish and functional - and the raccoons haven't knocked it over yet.  We've seen a couple of House Finches drinking from it already.

Anyway, that's all for now.  I hope to have more fledgling pics up in about a month.

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A fledgling Pine Siskin feeds with its parents.  Note the sparrow-like tan and brown coloring, as opposed to the strongly-contrasting white and brown of the adult (top).  Siskins are uncommon breeders here in the valley.

I knew that something was up when I was seeing 2-5 Siskins regularly at my feeders in late May.  They almost always breed up in the pine-covered foothills, but apparently some of my regulars from this winter liked my feeders enough that they decided to nest locally.  This isn't unprecedented, but certainly uncommon and a welcome sight.  I have seen at least one and possibly two fledglings so far.


Juvenile Lesser Goldfinch with mother (right).

Lesser Goldfinches have also bred in our neighborhood and are at the feeders daily now.  The fledglings are somewhat difficult to distinguish from the adult females, as the plumage among adults varies significantly.  However, they all seem to have dull gray heads and their feathers aren't completely grown in yet (see above).  A flock of four Black-capped Chickadees came through the yard this morning, with some (most likely juveniles) behaving more curiously than others.  And, unfortunately, Starlings are also bringing their young to our suet feeders.  Oh well... I guess it can't all be good news.  Like last summer, we hope to see fledgling Bushtits, Red-breasted Nuthatches, American Goldfinches, House Finches, and Scrub-Jays within the next few weeks.


American Goldfinches dine on sunflower seed...


... as do House Finches and Pine Siskins.  Along with Lesser Goldfinches, these three species have been the most abundant lately.


A Fox Squirrel forages for whatever on top of the carport.

Interestingly, squirrel activity has also been on the rise recently.  One would think that they'd be in greater search of food in the dead of winter when they need more energy to stay warm.  But perhaps their caches from this winter have run out and they're scrambling for food.  Anyway, they're now going through a full block of suet per day on the basket feeder.  Because of this, I've decided to keep it empty for a while.  I've also taken down the small suet feeder in the back (because of the Starlings) and will stay with the lone tail-prop woodpecker feeder that the squirrels can't get at.  A Flicker was there this morning, so I think that everyone with feathers will still be well-fed.  As for the squirrels, I'll still hook them up with a little something every morning.  Some people backyard birders detest squirrels and do everything possible to keep them away form their seed/suet, but I'm somewhat fond of them and try to accommodate them with reasonable handouts.



New to our neighborhood today was a Gray Squirrel (above).  They're native to our area, but the smaller Fox Squirrels are overwhelmingly more abundant where we live.  Gray Squirrels are more aggressive than their smaller, rustier cousins, so we may have a feeder battle on our hands soon.


The Fox Squirrels are so used to us that they'll now eat of our hands!

The Fox Squirrels that have been around here for some time know us and aren't particularly afraid of us anymore.  However, we were taken aback when one of them began to follow us while we were outside.  It turned out that this one was looking for food and would eat it right out of our hands.  This one took what it wanted, stepped back a few inches, ate, and then went back for more.  I made the mistake of eating a peanut butter granola bar right before feeding this guy and he actually nibbled at my finger before realizing that it wasn't a peanut.

It should be interesting to see what happens next month (when summer actually arrives).  Will the one remaining Junco still be here?  Will our Mallards still be here?  Tune in later to find out...

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Black-headed Grosbeaks are here!


A male Wood Duck sits cautiously at the far end of the driveway on an early April evening.


A juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk hunts small passerines on an overcast April afternoon.

One major theme that has encompassed our recent visitors would be "large birds."  Outside of actually getting a Sharp-shinned Hawk to pose for a photo (thanks, Kate), the main "big bird" story has been our ability to attract ducks to the point that they've become "regulars."  This has been the case since dumping millet on the edge of our driveway back in late March to try to attract migratory sparrows.  (If only I had known earlier!)  I didn't think much of it after getting a couple sporadic visits from a female Mallard, but what really got me thinking about actively attracting ducks was a few instances of two-a-day (early morning/late evening) visits from a pair of skittish Wood Ducks.  I have difficulty finding these guys in their native pond habitat, much less in my own backyard!  I wouldn't have guessed that they'd ever choose to feed in a densely-populated, outdoor-cat-infested city neighborhood.  But apparently I was wrong.  The Wood Ducks only stuck around for about a week (too many cats, perhaps?), but I was determined to at least TRY to get a Wood Duck or Mallard to return.  I did a little bit of asking around and discovered that cracked corn was a favorite as well.  So, I dumped a large pile of millet and cracked corn on the edge of the driveway near the rhododendron bush and waited.  I was quickly rewarded with a PAIR of Mallards (we call them Quackers and Mildred) that began to show up in the early mornings and late evenings, just like the Wood Ducks.  If that wasn't exciting enough, another male (apparently without a mate... I call him Bubba) decided to show up and the situation blew up into a full soap-opera-like drama.  Quackers and Bubba began to loudly quack at each other around sunrise, with the confrontation sometimes escalating into a full-blown duck smackdown fight.  The fisticuffs often begin on our roof ("thud, thud, thud!") and spill onto the lawn.  Since ducks to not have claws, they lock bills and beat the snot out of each other with their wings.  It's quite entertaining.  And they leave lots of neat souvenir feathers.  We do not know if Bubba is trying to defend what he perceives as HIS food source or if he had a failed nest and is looking for a new mate.  Perhaps things are not going well with his current mate (we'll call her Hillary... hypothetically, of course).  Whatever the reason, the battles wage to this day (lots of squaking at 6:30 this morning).  It's more entertaining and intelligent than television... and since they fight with feathers, nobody gets hurt.  And all of the early-morning racket ensures that we don't over-sleep.


Bubba: Keep your daughters away.


A Steller's Jay stuffing his mouth with peanuts like a piggy.

Some of the other "large bird" visits include two seasonal favorites of mine.  The first is the Steller's Jay.  Steller's Jays are majestic and kind of funny-looking at the same time.  I've always pictured them as a Blue Jay in the role of Wiley Coyote... and accidentally (but predictably) coming a little too close to that stick of ACME dynamite.  Anyway, they're really neat-looking birds... so much so that I often don't notice that their "Blaah, blaah, blaah!" call falls somewhere in between Vietnamese and nails-on-a-chalkboard on the aesthetics scale.  For some strange reason, they don't winter in my neck of the valley (despite the snow and lower temperatures up in the hills) and I usually only see them in March/April (sometimes sporadically into June) and October.  They showed up in early April this year, raiding my peanut feeder and drawing the ire of the Scrub Jays.  The second is the Black-headed Grosbeak (pictured earlier), a resident from May until about September.  I had visits from a female last May and either a female or juvenile male last August, but had never seen a male.  Until this weekend, when I had visits from at least four different males and a female.  They like my sunflower tube feeder (one even ate off of the perch) and the suet basket.  I'm hoping that they stick around all summer this year.


A Golden-crowned Sparrow eating seed off of a rain-soaked driveway.


Lincoln's Sparrow eating millet.


A White-crowned Sparrow singing on a rare sunny day in April.

Our other major treat this Spring was migrating sparrows (yes, the millet trick worked for them as well).  After visiting us for a while last April, they were back again last month.  They stuck around for a little longer this time.  New to us were the Lincoln's and Golden-crowned Sparrow.  The former has moved on, but I found a Golden-crowned foraging under the feeder on our deck late this afternoon.  While they're only around sporadically, sparrows are always a treat.


Yellow-rumped "Myrtle" Warbler - on their way out.


Yellow-rumped "Audubon's" Warbler - still present in large numbers.

While not especially "large" in size, I've seen up to a dozen Yellow-rumped Warblers at a time over the past couple of weeks.  This is indicative of a migratory movement, with the Myrtle subspecies (white throats) moving into the mountainous regions to breed and the Audubon's (yellow throats) moving back into the valley to breed.  Both races have combined to go through a few suet cakes a week.


An Orange-crowned Warbler snacking on flowers.

The first migratory Warbler of the year, the Orange-crowned, showed up to our yard about a month ago.  After the initial migratory movement, their numbers have dwindled somewhat.  However, I was lucky enough to spy a Hutton's Vireo up in our pine trees this morning.  It wasa pleasant surprise, as I had never seen this kinglet/warbler-like bird before.  Unfortunately, it was too far away and moving around too quickly for a photo.

In terms of the regular and not-so-regular winter birds, there are still a few Pine Siskins around and I was seeing Purple Finches up until a couple of weeks ago.  I imagine that the latter are gone until Fall now and that the former will be departing by the end of the month.  The Varied Thrushes departed in early April and the last Townsend's Warbler left about a week and a half later.


A female or second-year-male Purple Finch.


Pine Siskins: Still a few left.


American Goldfinches in full alternate (breeding) plumage.

Oh, and I almost forgot:  For those of you (all two of you) wondering how my ducks and other ground-feeding birds have been dealing with the neighbor's cat, you can rest assured.  The ridiculously-uncooperative owner was officially threatened with eviction a few months ago.  I stopped seeing the cat about a week or two after that.  Funny how that works...

Alright, that's enough for now.  I'll hopefully have enough new photos and stories in a month or so.  But if not, then definitely by early July.  I'll leave you with a photo of a Spotted Towhee, a ground-dweller who is very happy that the Cat From Hell no longer freely roams outside...


"I'm livin' large now!"

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Rufous Hummingbird (male)


Male American Goldfinches, apparently turning yellow earlier than usual this year


White-crowned Sparrow - another Spring transient in our yard

So, as you can see, Spring is most definitely here.  Rufous Hummers were at the feeders during the second weekend of March and have been hanging around ever since.  Still waiting on the Black-headed Grosbeaks, Hermit Thrushes, Wilson's Warblers, and Orange-crowned Warblers, but the the ball has clearly begun rolling.  Bushtits are feeding from the suet feeder in flocks of < 10 (sometimes just 1-3 at a time), Ruby-crowned Kinglets are MIA, American Goldfinches and Yellow-rumped Warblers are into the advanced stages of molting, and White-crowned Sparrows (which never seem to winter in our yard) appear to be on the move.  The Purple Finches that graced us with their presence in mid-February haven't been seen for the past three weeks and appear to have moved on.  I'm also seeing fewer Chestnut-backed Chickadees at a time and they're only visiting a couple of times a day now.

However, many of the "winter regulars" are still around and don't appear to be dwindling in number.  These include the Townsend's Warbler, Varied Thrush, and the Pine Siskin.  The latter are still visiting in large flocks (10+).  The temperature has also been dipping down near/at the freezing point at night recently, so it's possible that they may be around for (hopefully) a little while longer.  Northern Flickers don't seem to be in a hurry to head up to the forest-covered hills to breed.

Interestingly, though, I haven't seen a single Ruby-crowned Kinglet since mid-February.  They were still here into April of last year.  I've also not seen a single Steller's Jay since October.  No idea what's going on there.


Yellow-rumped "Myrtle" Warbler - beginning its molt in early March


Pine Siskins - still here and still numerous


A Black-capped Chickadee sings from a treetop on a sunny Saturday afternoon


For now, Varied Thrushes seem content to stick around

Hopefully I will have more Spring migrants for the next installment.

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In addition to this unexpected surprise, the white (not yellow) throats of some of my Yellow-rumped Warbler photos from this weekend caught my attention.  The white throat and white neck sides is indicative of the Myrtle subspecies that I've seen surprisingly little of this winter.


Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler

Outside of these two exciting and interesting developments, business has been good as usual.  My good friend the Brown Creeper made a return this weekend (despite repeated attacks from the stupid neighbor's cat).  A lone Pine Siskin (and sometimes two) is still feeding with the flocks of both species of Goldfinches.  Varied Thrushes are still patrolling the yard in numbers of 1-4.  They're among the first out in the early morning and usually come back several times throughout the day.  I'm typically seeing 2-4 Yellow-rumped Warblers and often both the male and female Townsend's Warbler.  Northern Flickers and Scrub-Jays are also still in unusually high number as well.  The only "down" species right now is the American Goldfinch... I'm only seeing 1-2 at a time.  Bushtit numbers are down as well (flocks of about 10-14), although this is to be expected, as they begin to mate around this time.


Male Townsend's Warbler


Female Varied Thrush.  They're getting bolder and eating off of the driveway now.


Female Lesser Goldfinch.  They're singing in the trees at dawn now, which means that Spring isn't far away.

I've heard that Rufous Hummingbirds have made their way to the coast.  I just may put up a second nectar feeder this weekend.

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