On October 15, 2020, I spent about four hours of my afternoon in the yard watching and photographing birds. There were a lot of birds in the yard and, unlike periods in the previous week or so, the birds were in the yard almost continuously. Since we had a few unusual birds that I was unable to photograph I decided to make a record of what I had seen. It wasn’t a great day for photography, and I wasn’t able to photograph two of the birds I would have most liked to: the Pacific wren and the Hairy woodpecker. Here’s the list of my sightings:
Quail, California (≥6)
The first group that appeared consisted of four males and two females. The quails made two or three appearances and each time the group would consist of six quail, but with a different mix of sexes.
Heron, Great Blue (in flight)
Creeper, Brown
Nuthatch, Red-breasted
Chickadee, Chestnut-backed
Chickadee, Black-capped
Kinglet, Ruby-crowned (x2)
Kinglet, Golden-crowned (x2)
Flicker, Northern (f)
Hummingbird, Anna’s (m&f)
Woodpecker, Downy (m, f)
Woodpecker, Hairy (m)
This is the first sighting of a Hairy woodpecker since last winter or early spring. We had a male here last winter but it disappeared when breeding season arrived.
Wren, Bewick’s
Wren, Pacific (x2)
This is a rare and difficult to photograph bird for the yard with only one or two sightings per year. My initial sighting was of the bird scurrying under some bushes but it (or another) returned later and came within a couple of feet of my feet.
Raven, Common (in flight)
Towhee, Spotted
Junco, Dark-eyed – Oregon
Sparrow, Golden-crowned
Sparrow, Fox
Sparrow, House
Sparrow, Song
I had photographed this bird about a week ago. It has a lower mandible that is shorter than its upper mandible and is therefore easily identifiable.
Robin, American
Crossbill, Red (2f/j, f/j)
My first sighting involved two females/juveniles that landed on a bird bath only about five feet from me, too close for me to bring my lens to bear or focus on the birds. Later a single female/juvenile came to the yard and I was able to get some photos.
Finch, House (4m,?f)
At one time there were at least four male House finches in the yard. Last week I photographed a female Purple finch in the yard and I carefully examined all of the female finches to ensure they were’t Purple finches.
Siskin, Pine (≥10)
I received a phone call while birding that a neighbor had at least 40 Pine siskins in the yard, spurring me to count the ones I was seeing at the same time. The siskins have eruptions from time to time and they were scarce last winter but returned in bulk this spring.
Goldfinch, American (2)
Starling, European
Total: 27 species
Deer, Black-tailed
Squirrel, Eastern Gray
Chipmunk, Townsend’s
raccoons (2 adults, 4 juveniles)
(n) = number of the species seen at one time
(xn) = number of separate visits made by the species