Several weeks ago I observed our first Common loon of the season in the Cap Sante Marina. It still had most of its breeding plumage. It seemed to disappear for a week or so, but when I drove by the marina on the morning of October 27, 2021, the loon was preening and west located not far from shore. It had morphed into its winter plumage but I rushed home, retrieved my camera and rushed back to the marina. The loon was still there and still preening! I took the following photos:

October 24, 202, brought a windstorm which continued into the next day. On October 25 I had no hope for birding but on returning from an errand in the early afternoon I noticed the yard was full of birds. Once inside I realized that there was a Yellow-rumped warbler around the watercourse, so I grabbed my camera and transitioned to the yard. I was soon overrun with Yellow-rumped warblers, all of which seemed to be juveniles or females. I estimate that for the next couple of hours there were as many as ten Yellow-rumped warblers in the yard at one time! I thought it was somewhat unusual in that we had a relatively high wind which usually discourages bird activity in the yard. I managed a LOT of photos of the warblers… here are some examples…

During my time in the yard I saw a male Varied thrush sneaking around the perimeter of the yard but it never came in close enough for a good photo. The thrushes have been very cautious this fall and I have yet to get a really good photo one.

Also sneaking in to the watercourse among all the Yellow-rumped warblers was an Orange-crowned warbler… with all the warblers I felt lucky to have seen it and gotten photos.

Finally, our leucistic Dark-eyed (Oregon) junco reappeared after an apparent absence of several days.

I made short birding excursions around the Cap Sante neighborhood on both October 18 & 19, 2021. On both days I found a large number of juvenile Yellow-rumped warblers around one of the parking lots at the Cap Sante Marina and was able to get many photos. This concentration has been assembling at the same location each fall for several years now.  

While photographing the warblers a male Ruby-crowned kinglet wandered past and I managed several photos.  

I have been monitoring some of the madrone trees in the neighborhood for birds eating the ripe berries, but thus far there have not seen large numbers of birds in the trees. 

On 10/19 I found three different species of warblers in the Cap Sante wetland but could only get a decent photo of an Orange-crowned warbler.  I also saw a Townsend’s warbler, a species which usually visits our yard only about once each year… and we’ve already had our visit for the year earlier!  I also saw two additional  Yellow-rumped warblers. 

On October 16, 2021, we were entertaining out of state guests when I got an opportunity for a little yard break. It was a good day for photography with an overcast that dispersed the light. I spent just over an hour in the yard, took 74 photos, discarded 29 and retained 46. (I note that I’ve retained over 7,000 photos of birds taken in our yard year to date.)

Here are a few highlights of my time in the yard on this afternoon…

I had about four visits from one or more Golden-crowned kinglets, but none descended from relatively high in the trees to present an opportunity for photographs. We had a single visit from a Ruby-crowned kinglet but it too remained too active and distant for photographs.

My first opportunity for photographs involved a male House finch…

A Brown creeper, one of my favorite birds, was the first of a somewhat rarer species that arrived in the yard. The creeper(s) almost all follow the same path out of the yard… the draw to the yard seems to be a bath in a shallow bird feature cut out of a single block of rock. In this photo the creeper has bathed and is on its way out of the yard via a madrone tree immediately adjacent to the bath.

We have only one Song sparrow in the yard and that may be it for the winter. They are not gregarious birds so we don’t expect more than a couple.

Our Dark-eyed (Oregon) junco population in the yard has grown to about ten, but in another month or so that population may double. The juncos will be our most numerous species for the duration of the winter.

Our rarest visitor for the day was a Yellow-rumped warbler. Owing to the subtle amount of yellow on the bird I suspect it is a juvenile. I had several visits from the species on this day and one visited the watercourse and attendant staging objects, providing me with good opportunities for photos.

Just before I retired for the day a female Northern flicker entered the yard to access the suet feeder.

Our leucistic Dark-eyed (Oregon) junco is still around and I now assume that it will be with us through the winter. Here’s a better photo of the bird than I previously posted…

We have at least one male and one female Anna’s hummingbird visiting the yard. In addition to accessing the feeder from time to time they also visit the variety of salvia we have growing around the watercourse. The most robust salvia, and by far the hummingbirds’ favorite, seems to be the ‘Hot Lips’ variety with red-tipped white blooms. I’ve noticed that the hummingbirds seem to spend less time on each bloom later in the blooming season and d suspect that this is due to declining nectar production.

I had initially assumed that this next bird, (photographed on 10/6/2021) was a Ruby-crowned kinglet but on closer examination due to this posting I realized it was the very similar Hutton’s vireo.

Here’s a photo of a Ruby-crowned kinglet for comparison. Notice the shape of the bills.

Golden-crowned sparrows are also visiting the yard. A couple of days ago I counted six, at least two of which seemed to be the first juveniles I’ve ever noticed.

Venturing beyond the yard on 10/4/2021, this Lapland longspur was pointed out (and identified) by other birders at the Hayton Access. The bird was very difficult to see (and photograph) due to it feeding in the weeds, but after a lot of patience I finally managed a photograph as it skittered across a walking path.

On 10/7/2021 I visited the Seafarers Memorial area of the Cap Sante Marina and found a Common loon in transition to its winter plumage. The loon was relatively close to the shore but unfortunately I was shooting into the sun and glare on the water.

While there my attention was drawn to a very active bird that I didn’t recognize. I managed several good photos but had to rely on a friend to identify it as a Horned lark. This is a widely distributed bird but apparently rare here in the PacNW.

Finally, I birded the Cap Sante wetland area the same afternoon looking for a Barred owl that has been seen there multiple times in the last several weeks. No luck with the owl, but with the help of a little “pishing”, I did see: 

a Hermit thrush, three Song sparrows, a male Anna’s hummingbird, a Pacific wren, a Bewick’s wren and this Orange-crowned warbler…