On Friday, May 16, my morning started off as something of a disaster… I had an appointment with a new cardiologist and I thought that the appointment was at the offices in Mount Vernon, but when I arrived there I discovered that the appointment was actually in Anacortes. By the time I got back half the appointment time (40 minutes) was gone and I thought that my blood pressure was probably sky high, having skidded into the parking lot on two wheels! Surprisingly I was wrong… my blood pressure was 132/71 and best of all, I hit it off very well with the new cardiologist.

But this isn’t about medical appointment disasters, it’s about birding, so let’s get to it. While I was hurrying back to Anacortes Nancy called me to tell me that she had seen a male Black-headed grosbeak in the yard eyeing one of the feeders and when I got back home she told me that the female has also visited. So I was motivated to grab my camera and sit in the yard rather than to try to grab a nap.

The morning was pretty much a bust. Nancy and I went to lunch and when we returned we both took naps. When I woke it was back out in the yard to see if the grosbeaks would show again.

Over the course of the next couple of hours of the afternoon I saw the following birds:

Warbler, Wilson’s (3-4 visits)
Warbler, Yellow-rumped Audubon male (2 long visits to the watercourse)
Warbler, Orange-crowned (single visit, but thus far an almost daily visitor)
Bushtit
Waxwing, Cedar (3 eating madrona blossoms)
Tanager, Western male
Creeper, Brown
Goldfinch, American (M&F)
Finch, House (M&F)
Woodpecker, Downy (M&F)
Robin, American
Chickadee, Chestnut-backed
Chickadee, Black-capped
Starling, European
Crow
Hummingbird, Anna’s (2M & F)
Hummingbird, Rufous (2M & F)
Blackbird, Red-winged (M&F)
Cowbird, Brown-headed (M)
Sparrow, House (M&F)

I obtained photos of all but possibly the cowbird (see blog of 5/15) and I’m uncertain whether or not I photographed both species of chickadees.

The first seven species on the foregoing list are rare here in the yard, and this is the first time this year for observing a tanager or waxwing in the yard.

And now for a few behavioral notes…

There were three waxwings in one of our smaller madrona trees, but until they flew I only saw two at any one time. The two I observed in the tree kept picking madrona blossoms and handing them back and forth to each other… multiple times! I probably saw a single blossom go back and forth 7-8 times on multiple occasions.

With regard to the two male Anna’s, one was sitting on a hummingbird feeder while the other approached flying. The flying bird stopped about 18” short of the feeder and both hummingbirds lowered their heads as if there was going to be trouble. The flying hummingbird very gradually approached to within a foot or less of the feeder when both birds went at it and left the area.

And one of the strangest observations of all… I discovered that the minimum focus distance on the Nikkor 200-400mm F4 lens I have had and used for the past two years is capable of a much shorter focal distance than what I had previously estimated (and experienced) as about 16’. I found I could photograph a hummingbird at about 10’ and almost fill the frame with it. It was a very big surprise and I have absolutely no explanation as to why I hadn’t been able to do this in the past. When relating the story to my brother-in-law in Texas, he said to just think about all the photos I could have gotten had I been aware of this when I first started using the lens two years ago. I won’t repeat my comment to him regarding the matter!

The day’s tally… 302 photos, 141 retained.

Warblers first!!