Yet another afternoon of yard birding. I began my day photographing this Ruby-crowned kinglet which came to our watercourse.

We have an almost continuous presence of kinglets in the yard, but most are Golden-crowned kinglets.

These photos offer a good opportunity for contrast between the two species. It’s very difficult differentiating the males from the females i both species as the males are so adept at concealing their red crests. My attention was drawn to this male when it became upset with another bird in the watercourse and raised its red crest. I try to label my photographs as to sex, but I’ve decided if I can’t see any red that I can’t assume the bird is a female, so I just leave off the sex label. If you look closely at the (RCKI) kinglet above you can see that it is a male.

We have two Song sparrows that frequent the yard but this season we are still waiting for our first Fox sparrow, which closely resembles the Song sparrow.

This is a male House finch, a species that is usually here almost constantly but disappeared for a few brief periods in the last couple of months. The color intensity on the males varies considerably… this one is relatively pale.

We had 2-3 American goldfinches visit the yard on this day, a relatively rare bird in our yard during the winter season. Judging by the color of the wing bars, I’m guessing that this is a first year female.

I’ve counted as many as three Golden-crowned sparrows in the yard so far this season but I suspect there are probably several more on the fringes.

We had our first Varied thrush in our yard on or about October 3, but try as I might I was unable to obtain a photo that day despite 3-4 visits. It took me almost a week to obtain this photo of a male taken on October 8, 2023. We now have both a male and female visiting the yard several times a day, but I have been unable to photograph the female. These birds can be extremely wary when they first arrive but things usually settle down after they’ve been here awhile.

On October 2, 2023, I had a rather interesting yard birding day. It was a great day for photography and I managed to obtain very good photos of some of our sparrow species.

A White-crowned sparrow, one of two adults in the yard…

A Golden-crowned sparrow. I’ve counted three in the yard at one time but think there are probably more with possibly more to arrive. A I recall, last year we set a record with nine.

A Golden-crowned sparrow feasting on huckleberries from the huckleberry bush near our watercourse…

We have a Spotted towhee with a deformed (crossed) beak that’s been hanging around the yard for several months now. I believe that this is a bird that was fledged this year. I’ve followed its progress as its plumage changed over time. I was initially concerned that the bird would perish due to not being able to obtain/process food, but it seems to be doing just fine.

And to round out the sparrows, a leucistic male Dark-eyed (Oregon) junco. (Note the white collar on the bird.) This may be a bird I’ve photographed in a past year.

W also have a pair of Song sparrows. The White-throated sparrow that was in the yard for a couple of weeks seems to have moved on and we’re still waiting for our first Fox sparrow.

We’re having a trickle of kinglets visit the yard, most of which are Golden-crowned kinglets. You’ll have to trust me when I say that this one is a male!!

On this day we were also visited by a Ruby-crowned kinglet, an apparent female.

On the morning of 9/17/2023 I glanced out the window while performing kitchen chores and saw a bird I didn’t recognize hanging from the bottom of our inverted suet feeder. I was looking east and the bird was backlit but it appeared to have a substantial amount of white plumage. I reached for my binoculars to get a better view and realized it was a White-breasted nuthatch, a bird I had never seen in Skagit County in my 22 years of living here!  (The bird can be found in eastern Washington, east of the Cascades.) I grabbed my camera and managed to obtain only a few photos before the bird flew high into a tree to the east of us. I spent a good portion of the morning hoping the bird would return so I could get better photos of it, but it was not to be. 

Not too much later I saw a sparrow in the yard that seemed different than the 12-15 House sparrows flying around the yard. I turned my attention to it and realized it was a White-throated sparrow, a real rarity in the yard until the one we had intermittently last winter. It never approached close enough for me to get a good photo but made several appearances during the morning. 

Not too much later I photographed a Golden-crowned sparrow at a nearby water feature, our first fall arrival of the species. That evening, while processing photos, I realized there had been at least two in the yard. (Note the differences in the photos,)  

That afternoon, in a brief session in the yard I observed visits from a a Golden-crowned kinglet, which I photographed, and a Ruby-crowned kinglet which I was unable to photograph because it was driven from the watercourse by a squirrel.

I was also able to obtain photos of a (female) Bushtit. Bushtits are fairly common, prolific visitors during the non-breeding season but difficult to photograph due to their size and activity level. 

All things considered, it had been a very exciting and productive fall birding day. I had seen and photographed SEVEN sparrow species: 

• Spotted towhee
• Dark-eyed (Oregon) junco
• House sparrow
• Song sparrow (first fall arrival 8/13/2023)
• White-crowned sparrow
• White-throated sparrow (first fall arrival)
• Golden-crowned sparrow (first fall arrival)

With detailed photography I am able to examine birds far more carefully than mere field observations. Sadly, over the years I have observed MANY birds with disabilities including blindness in one eye (Downy woodpecker), break deformations (Spotted towhee and others) and the most common disability, limited or non-use of one leg (many species). Some of these birds remain in the yard for extended periods of time and some are one time observations/photographs.

We currently have a Spotted towhee with a beak deformation, a beak that is crossed much like a crossbill’s. This bird was apparently born in the immediate area and seems to be doing fine. It It seems motivated to enthusiastically spirit halves of peanut kernels into the bushes for a meal, so I assume that it is able to break the peanut into smaller pieces. I have many photos of the bird as its plumage has matured and have come to the conclusion that it has successfully learned to live with its handicap.

On 9/12/2023 I was saddened to see an adorable young Red-breasted nuthatch that apparently had the use of only one leg. This would seem to be a terrible handicap for a nuthatch which spends most of its life descending the trunks of trees! The nuthatch was able to successfully cling to an inverted suet feeder and a vertical peanut feeder, so I hope that it will be able to live with its disability.

On the same day I observed a female House sparrow with one of its legs projecting towards the rear of its body. It’s been around all summer (this photo is from 8/6/2023) so it is apparently coping with its disability.

On a brighter note here are a few of the photographs I took on September 13, 2023:

An (apparently female) Ruby-crowned kinglet that is apparently the same one that has visited the yard each of the previous three days. I use the term “apparently female’ because the males of the species are so adept at hiding the red in their crowns. However, I was able to photograph this bird extensively and could detect no hint of red.

This male Downy woodpecker is a regular user of the newest water feature in our yard.

And finally, one of two juvenile White-crowned sparrows that were apparently raised in the immediate area. Both of its presumed parents are still in the yard but the juveniles are fully independent. Although White-crowned sparrows overwinter in the area, we almost never see them in the yard except in breeding season. In the past they have been parasitized by Brown-headed cowbirds, so it its heartening to see that this year the sparrows have successfully fledged their own young.

August 28, 2023, found Anacortes still suffering from smoke generated by Canadian forest fires,  limiting long distance visibility and casting a pall over scenery.  The smoke had failed to clear on Sunday as forecast, but the temperature was markedly cooler.  In late morning, with a luncheon appointment looming, I decided to spend a little time outside to see if we might have any migrants.  

With only minutes to go before my luncheon appointment, I thought I might have (twice) glimpsed the Cooper’s hawk that had visited the day before, but I couldn’t be sure.  Suddenly the Cooper’s hawk appeared from out of our tangle of trees and landed on a trellis over the garden.  I didn’t have a clear view of the bird but took a photo through a fence.  As I watched I realized that the hawk had a bird in its talons, the first successful capture I had ever witnessed in the yard!  

I was desperate for a better photo but the hawk moved into a fir tree which afforded me no view.  Suddenly I heard a noise and the hawk’s prey escaped (!) and flew directly towards me,  apparently landing at the base of a small pine bush with a tangle of exposed roots.  The accipiter followed it but, fearing it might be something other than one of the many House sparrows we usually have in the yard, I stood and made a noise to dissuade the accipiter.  The accipiter flew a short distance across the yard and landed above one of our water features, giving me a direct, unobstructed view from only about 30′ away!  I took many photos, most of which were largely the same, before the accipiter again made an effort to resume the hunt for its victim.  I again dissuaded it, this time with the water hose. I realize that the accipiter has to eat too, but I would rather it dine on some of the House sparrows that neighbors raise in their yards!  

These photos probably rival or exceed the best accipiter photos I have ever taken!