October 10, 2023, another good day for photography and another productive day in the yard!
I was rather surprised to see this (presumably Audubon female) Yellow-rumped warbler enter the yard shortly after I went outside. I think it may have been about the third day in a row that I’ve had one visit. This time the warbler used many of my staging objects which gave me excellent opportunities for the 36 photos of the bird i was able to take.
As I sat surveying the yard this Fox Sparrow popped out from under the huckleberry bush located adjacent to the watercourse. This is our first Fox sparrow of the season and completes the list of sparrows we expect to see over the winter. (See list below.)
Dark-eyed Oregon juncos have begun filling the yard and will soon become our most numerous winter bird. The first bird pictured is probably a female and the second bird is a male.
In my prior post I mentioned that I had seen, but been unable to photograph, a female Varied thrush that had visited the yard several times in the past week or so. On 10/9 I was more successful! This one is perched directly above our watercourse.
And now for the list of (eight) sparrow species that are either here now or have visited this fall:
- Spotted towhee
- Dark-eyed Oregon junco
- House sparrow
- White-crowned sparrow
- Golden-crowned sparrow
- Song sparrow
- Fox Sparrow
- White-throated sparrow
All except the White-throated sparrow are in current residence. If you are interested in spending some time in our yard watching birds let me know.
Finally… remember there’s always a “finally”… here’s my companion (a native Townsend’s chipmunk) that supplies photographic opportunities when the birding gets slow. I thought we had parted ways for hibernation about a week ago but apparently not quite yet. Since we’re such close friends, he/she works cheaply… the payment for sitting fees are peanuts! (Pun intended!)
