I’m having a great beginning to the fall migration! August 22 was a great day in the yard for both bird watching and photography. I had fall migrants passing through the yard almost all day and on several occasions had more than one species in the yard at a time. The day was made even better by an overcast that provided ideal photo conditions for the entire day.

My first visitor was a juvenile Western tanager, the first of several throughout the day.

Next up was a juvenile Northern flicker, hardly a migrant. We had a successful breeding season for the species and have had four or more in the yard at one time.

We next had an Orange-crowned warbler visit the yard. This is probably our most common warbler winter visitor, so there is some population that apparently remains in the area for the winter.

Next was a Black-headed grosbeak. The grosbeaks were rather scarce upon their arrival and during breeding activity but for the past month or so they have been visiting the yard on a daily basis… sometimes two at a time.

A non-migrant showed up in the yard next… a juvenile Red-winged blackbird. We normally have blackbirds only during the breeding season when the birds are nesting below us in the wastewater treatment pond marsh. They make quick trips up the hill to acquire a quick, dependable supply of food without having to leave their young unattended.

This male Downy woodpecker, also not a migrant, was waiting for an opportunity to access a suet block hanging above.

We are overrun with chickadees this summer. They apparently had a very successful breeding season in the area. This photo is of a Black-capped chickadee, but we also have a large number of Chestnut-backed chickadees.

We had both male and female Wilson’s warblers visit the yard. The following two photos are both of a male as told by the black cap on top of its head.

We are seeing fewer Rufous hummingbirds in the yard. The males are long gone and only a few females remain. This is a juvenile male Anna’s hummingbird that may spend the entire winter with us.

Our last migrant for the day was this female and/or juvenile Wilson’s warbler. Contrast it’s cap with the male pictured above.

I regret missing one other bird. In the top of one of our madrone trees was a small, active bird with a prominent white eye stripe. I suspect that it was some kind of vireo but very disappointingly, I was unable to obtain a photograph of it.