April 29, 2020, brought a lot of non-birding activity that kept me away from the yard for much of the day.  I did see an Orange-crowned warbler, by far our most common warbler species to date, pass through the yard early in the morning, but I had no opportunity to photograph it.  I didn’t manage to get into the yard with my photographic gear until about 3:30pm, and by then it was pretty heavily overcast with a few drops of rain every now and then.  

I set up in the yard and watched a couple of Orange-crowned warblers pass through the trees high overhead, but they seemed much more interested in gleaning insects than in accessing any of our water features.  I finally had one enter our Golden Chain tree and investigate our watercourse but it never came down to the watercourse.  I managed a few photos of it in the tree camouflaged by the tree’s blossoms which are now in full bloom, making it a challenge to see yellow birds (as in American goldfinches) in the tree.  

It was close to 5pm and I was getting cool and somewhat discouraged and about to go inside when a warbler flew onto a staging limb I have just behind the watercourse.  I began taking photos and the bird first came down to the watercourse, then back up to staging sticks, then to our stone bird bath with me taking photos of it all along its path!  

I realized that this was an unusually pale Yellow-rumped warbler and knew that it was probably a female but gave it little thought until I was processing the photos later in the evening.  In processing the photos I realized that this was a Myrtle’s warbler, a much rarer (to our area) race than the more common Audubon’s race.  I believe that this is the first Myrtle’s race of Yellow-rumped warbler that I have ever photographed in the yard!  

So a little basic birding knowledge here.  Ever since I have been ‘seriously’ birding (late 1980s) the single species of Yellow-rumped warbler has been divided into two races, Audubon’s and Myrtle’s.  In researching this I discovered that at one point these two races, or subspecies, were combined.  At some point, (probably not in my lifetime!) the organization that is responsible for naming birds (the American Ornithological Society’s North American Classification Committee (NACC)) could split the species and declare the Audubon’s and Myrtle’s races separate species. This was done for towhees some years back; the Dark-eyed juncos have about six races/subspecies and this species also seems ripe for splitting!  But I’m getting too far from any expertise I have in these matters, so at this point if you are still interested you can do your own research!  (The Audubon.org website has a good explanation of the history of the Yellow-rumped warbler species.)     

So what characteristic makes this a female Myrtle’s warbler?  The  most obvious characteristic is the Audubon’s race has yellow on its throat (see male below) while the Myrtle’s race has white on its throat.  And the males of both species have a yellow crown, something lacking in the females.  

While the Myrtle’s warbler was still flitting around the yard I became aware of other activity around the watercourse.  I realized that there was another warbler (this one a male Audubon’s race of Yellow-rumped warblers) perched above the watercourse and so began photographing this much more colorful bird.  And while I was photographing it I noticed that two more Yellow-rumped warblers had flown onto the same staging snag above the watercourse.  I was just bringing my camera to bear on one of them, which was partially hidden by an intervening snag, when all four warblers flew from the yard.  I was unable to determine the races of the two warblers I didn’t photograph.  

So here, in all its breeding splendor, is a male Yellow-rumped warbler of the Audubon’s race.  

This was a great day for birding photography, but it was nothing like what was to come the next day!

April 24, 2020, proved to be another productive yard birding day.  I was in the yard from about 1pm until about 4:30pm and then again for a short time around 6pm.  During that time I observed about 10 Orange-crowned warbler visits and two Yellow-rumped warbler visits plus four visits from one or more Steller’s jays.  

I’ve been spending a lot of thought lately as to how I could better document visits from spring migrants and other rarer birds that arrive in the yard.  In past years I have recored a weekly tally of all visitors, with the number being the highest number I saw at any one time.  In cases which I could make a clear distinction between/among birds I would add them to the total.  The problem with this method is that I might record a count of two for a species seen during the week, but I might have actually had multiple single visits in a day or even every day for a week, so the count didn’t actually reflect my (or the birds’) activity.  So now I’m trying to think of a way to move towards number of sightings per day for each of the rarer and spring migrant species.  This would better reflect the flow of visitors through the yard and give me a better picture of the migration that I could use in the future… although each year is going to be different.  And this year is somewhat unique in that I didn’t make my annual trip to Texas and the COVID-19 virus has given us all some extra time for such activities.  (Wait, don’t tell me… too much information!)    

First, a little good news.  I was gratified to see that the male Downy woodpecker that is apparently blind in one eye survived the winter and apparently has a mate.  I can’t even begin to imagine what it’s like to fly (and land) without vision in one eye since two eyes are required for depth perception.  

And the Black-capped chickadee with a severely crippled leg also survived the winter and seems to be doing fine.  I photographed it hanging from the inverted suet feeder with no apparent problems.  

But to add to this inventory, I observed and photographed a White-crowned sparrow (one of three we have in the yard) favoring one leg.  I saw and photographed the bird on several occasions standing on one leg but then I also saw it use the leg on a couple of occasions.  So I assume that the leg must be injured but usable to some extent.  

So let’s get on to a few of the other 277 photos I took on this day… 

The most newsworthy appearance for the day was the return of a Steller’s jay, a rare visitor to the neighborhood. I topped off my inventory with 47 ‘keeper’ photographs taken during this species’ four visits to the yard.

I counted at least ten visits by Orange-crowned warblers to the yard, and two of the visits involved pairs.

The Yellow-rumped warblers (all Audubon’s) and all or most males, have been difficult to photograph so far this year. On this day I had two visits but only managed about two photographs that were keepers.

Our hummingbird visitors have dropped significantly over the past couple of weeks… other friends have voiced the same concern. This female Anna’s hummingbird is accessing the blooms on a native Red currant.

Strange bath-fellows… this White-crowned sparrow bathing with a male House sparrow. Thankfully these species don’t hybridize!

And finally, late in the day, a pair of California quail. For the first time ever we carried a covey of about 13 through the winter. In past years we wouldn’t see ANY quail, and it was always a mystery where they went.

On April 20-21, 2020, I had some of the most remarkable birding sightings over a 24-hour period I can remember in our 19 years of living in the Cap Sante neighborhood. We’ll call it Karma and I’ll mention why at the end of this post.  

April 20, 2020, was quite an uneventful day until late in the afternoon  I had spent considerable time in the yard with very little to show for it. However, as I sat pondering whether or not to call it quits for the day, I became aware of a nondescript bird hopping beside me only about seven feet away. I immediately recognized it as a thrush, and in appearing in early spring presumed it to be a Swainson’s thrush. (The Hermit thrush, which is a fall/ winter resident, is virtually identical.)  I managed multiple photos (in relatively poor light) as the bird made a 180-degree arc around me. 

April 21, 2020, began cool and overcast. Upon returning from my morning walk I began preparing breakfast, at the same time reflecting that spring migration was occurring and glancing out the window from time to time.  A male Yellow-rumped (Audubon’s) warbler suddenly appeared at the small saucer of water that the warblers seem to be preferring. This male was not as striking as the previous one(s) visiting the same location.  As I watched it bathe an Orange-crowned warbler entered a small Japanese maple about three feet above.  Two different species of warbler in the yard at the same time… the migration is truly on!  

For several days there have been at least three very active Pine siskins in the yard. I saw a bird in our stone bird bath and assumed that it was one of the siskins, but the color didn’t seem right.  I trained my lens on it and immediately identified it as a Lincoln’s sparrow, an extremely rare visitor to the yard. I managed several photos as it bathed. 

Shortly thereafter I began hearing an unfamiliar, loud persistent call coming from across the street. I guessed it was a Steller’s jay call and confirmed it with my Sibley’s app. The vocalizations continued for at least ten minutes as I continued to scan the yard for any new arrivals. 

About this point our male Rufous hummingbird entered the yard and I upped my shutter speed to 1/800th of a second in anticipation of taking photos of the hummingbird hovering over the watercourse.  I took a few photos but almost immediately a Steller’s jay entered the yard for a tour. I took a lot of photos, but unfortunately, in my excitement, I neglected to lower my shutter speed. Fortunately my Adobe Lightroom will allow me to correct the error. After the jay exited our yard I saw at least four Steller’s jays moving up a neighbor’s cypress tree across the street. 

Still later in the afternoon I got a visit from two Orange-crowned warblers and for a minute or so they were bathing side by side in the watercourse!  A while after they left I got a visit from a single Orange-crowned warbler. Its reluctance  to enter the watercourse led me to believe that it wasn’t one of the pair I had seen earlier. 

After a rather lengthy period of inactivity in the yard, we had yet another visit from an Orange-crowned warbler.  And almost immediately after it left a single Canada goose flew over!  Then yet another Orange-crowned warbler visit, this one clearly more interested in gleaning insects than in the water features. 

Suddenly there was a very large influx of small birds… at least two more Orange-crowned warblers, a Golden-crowned kinglet, a Ruby-crowned kinglet and Bushtits.  The Bushtits are regular, multi-times per day visitors, but in this case at least one, and possibly two, took bathes… a very unusual occurrence for our Bushtits.    

It was impossible for me to track all of the activity. I was trying to monitor four water features (all in use simultaneously) with all kinds of small birds flying around the yard and take photos at the same time. I wanted to get a photo of the Ruby-crowned kinglet for record purposes since they had been rather conspicuously absent this past winter.  I had a sudden idea… maybe there was a Hutton’s vireo mixed in with this group!  Within about four feet from me was a small Japanese maple and in it were several small birds.  I began to examine them more closely and discovered that one was a Hutton’s vireo!  Then began my effort to photograph the vireo as well as the Ruby-crowned kinglet that I verified was also present. 

I’ll just also mention that for the past two days I’ve heard vocalizations in the forest to the south of us.  I have difficulty telling the difference between American robin vocalizations and Black-headed grosbeak vocalizations, but since the robins seemed to have been paired and territories established, I strongly suspect I’m hearing a grosbeak. 

All in all, I had spent about four hours in the yard on April 21, 2020.  What a day!  So the tally of special birds for the 24-hours is:  

• Swainson’s thrush (spring migrant, spring & summer resident). 
• Male Yellow-rumped (Audubon’s) warbler (spring migrant) 
• Orange-crowned warblers (an estimated 10-12 visits).   
• Steller’s jays (one in yard, total of at least four in the area) 
• Lincoln’s sparrow 
• Canada goose (in flight) 
• Golden-crowned kinglet 
• Ruby-crowned kinglet 
• Hutton’s vireo 

And while I’m at it, I’ll mention a few of our regular residents: 

• American goldfinches 
• Chestnut-backed chickadees (a ‘target’ bird for non-PacNW visitors!)
• Black-capped chickadees 
• Red-breasted nuthatches 
• American robins  
• Northern flickers 
• Downy woodpeckers 
• Pine siskins 
• Bewick’s wren 
• White-crowned sparrows 
• Golden-crowned sparrows 
• Eurasian Collared doves 
• California quail 
• Red-winged blackbirds 
• House finches
• … and others!  

And the Karma?  But for COVID-19, April 20 was to have been the first day of my annual birding trip to my sister’s and her husband’s house west of Austin, Texas!  

Yet another post composed in the wee hours of the morning.  I don’t dare post this until I have time to review it under less sleep-deprived circumstances!  

What I first need to do is retract my comment in the previous post about the male Yellow-rumped warbler being a passing visitor.  Since that visit when I first photographed the bird (April 15) the warbler has visited at least twice more, both times in the early evening and coming to the smallest, least likely bird bath in a yard where there are lots of choices.   So based on the times of the visits and the location where it prefers to bathe, I now think its more than a pass-through visitor.  This is an absolutely BEAUTIFUL bird in full breeding plumage!  Unfortunately, its visits usually occur in fading light and when we are otherwise occupied.  I feel fortunate to have obtained photos of this early visitor when I did.  

With the improved weather I’ve spent a lot of time in the yard without a lot to show for it in terms of photography.  But I do have some observations to share with you.  A pair of Black-capped chickadees were intent on moving into one of our bird houses and had spent time building a nest.  A male House sparrow took a sudden interest in the activity and repeatedly flew to the bird house and inserted its head in the door.  I ran off the sparrow several times on the same afternoon but the chickadees were apparently run off by the sparrow’s intrusion and have now abandoned the nest box.  

One afternoon I was sitting in the yard watching the activity and an American robin hopped into view and then began intently viewing the ground with first one eye and then another.  Even though this was a fairly compacted piece of ground the robin leaned down and extracted about a three-inch, chubby earth worm from the ground.  I thought I was going to obtain photos of the bird eating the worm, but the robin continued on its way leaving the worm on top of the ground.   My best explanation… “sport fishing”!  

Now to the photos!  On this same day (4/17/2020) I was startled by a raccoon entering the yard and accessing one of the bird baths only about fifteen feet away.  It was certainly aware of me but took its time getting a drink, watching me intently the entire time.  I was able to get about 12-15 photos from point blank range.  

That same day I drove down to the Cap Sante Marina in the morning to investigate a neighbor’s sighting of peeps at the far northwest corner of the marina.  There were about 15-20 Least sandpipers working the mud flats.  I obtained an eerie photo of what appeared to be a single sandpiper but two refections of sandpipers in the water.  It wasn’t until a couple of days later when I reexamined the photo in detail that I realized that the second reflection was from a bird higher on the bank.  The second reflection was made possible only by perfectly calm water.  Here’s the photo I puzzled over… 

And… that same afternoon I obtained a nice photo of our male Rufous hummingbird hovering over the watercourse.  

April 18, 2020, proved to be an exciting birding day even if the photography was not. Early in the morning my wife and I were surveying the yard when four Golden-crowned kinglets entered the yard and accessed our stone bird bath.  I’m sure this is the largest number I have ever seen in the yard at one time.

Around mid-morning I received a call from a neighbor that there was a Pileated woodpecker, a very infrequent visitor to the neighborhood, in the wetland a few blocks (closer as the proverbial crow flies) from us.  I grabbed my camera and quickly drove to the scene but the woodpecker was at the very top of a dead tree and my only viewpoint was into the sun!  I took a couple of photos for a record but they aren’t “postable”.  I was distracted by the woodpecker but realized that there was another bird climbing from limb to limb in a tree between us… it was a Stellar’s jay, another infrequent visitor to the neighborhood.  

Since I was already out I drove back down to the Cap Sante Marina to check on the Least sandpipers.  They were still there.  On this occasion I had brought along my 1.7x tele-extender, giving my 200-400mm lens (300-600mm equivalency with my less than full-frame sensor on my Nikon D500) just over 1000mm equivalency… if I have an accurate understanding of the matter and have done the math correctly.  As can be expected, that camera/lens configuration suffers some issues with resolution but considering the distance involved and the size of the birds, it’s the best I can do under the circumstances.  

Both times when I visited the marina I photographed male House sparrows gleaning feathers for nesting materials.  

And while on the subject of House sparrows, later that day and back at the house I obtained a few photos of something I had been trying (unsuccessfully) for years to obtain… photos of a male and female House sparrow together and both in relatively good focus.  House sparrows are common birds and are quite gregarious, but for most of the year I’ve found that the sexes generally don’t appear side by side.  In teaching my beginning birding classes in the past I’ve had to rely on separate photos for identification of the sexes.  

And finally, a big THANKS to the neighbors who are part of our informal bird sightings network and notify me when birds of interest appear in the neighborhood!  

Over the past week or so we’ve had very brief visits from a couple of Orange-crowned warblers and, on April 13, a male Yellow-rumped (Audubon’s) warbler. Even though I was in the yard with my camera for these visits I was unable to obtain any photos. Today (April 15, 2020), my persistence finally paid off. About 3:40pm I became aware of some motion behind me and partially turned to see a male Yellow-rumped (Audubon’s) warbler behind me. It quickly flew to the area of the watercourse, and although investigating the watercourse thoroughly, it never descended to the water. That didn’t keep me from taking about 50 photos of the bird. When it left the yard it flew high in the air and disappeared over the tops of some very tall fir trees. This leads me to think it wasn’t the same bird as the previous visitor but was instead a different migrant passing through.

Later in the afternoon an unlikely alliance, crows and Common ravens, chased a Red-tailed hawk through the trees in the yard. It happened too fast for me to react with my camera, but a few minutes later the hawk returned at a higher, and safer from harassment, altitude.

As a special bonus, I’m throwing in this photo of a male House sparrow.