On August 7, 2023, I was sitting at my computer processing the previous day’s photographs when I looked out my office window and saw a female Western tanager bathing in the watercourse.  I wrapped up my computer activities as soon as I could but by the time I got downstairs and retrieved my camera the bird had left the yard. 

The sighting, combined with those I had August 5 (see my previous blog post), motivated me to spend the remainder of the afternoon in the yard.  There were some long periods of inactivity with regard to more interesting birds but overall it was worth my time.  

The tanager returned to the yard but wouldn’t descend from the trees to give me a descent photographic opportunity.  

A male Wilson’s warbler entered the yard and seemed inclined to pursue movement by any other species.  I managed a few photos and became even more excited when a second Wilson’s warbler joined the first! At one point they were both in the watercourse at the same time!  There were several visits over about a 20-30 minute period which kept me busy.  

My next excitement was with what initially appeared to be a House sparrow (the yard was full of them!).  Something didn’t look right and when I trained my telephoto on it, it appeared to be a juvenile Swainson’s thrush!  It only made a single pass through the yard, on the ground.  Although I obtained a good many photos, I would have liked to have been much closer.  

Next up was what I initially assumed was another Wilson’s warbler but a closer examination of it revealed it to be a Yellow warbler, a rarity around here.  In processing my photos I also found that a warbler that I had earlier identified as a Wilson’s warbler was, in fact, a Yellow warbler. (NOTE: I’ve become uncertain whether this is a Yellow or female Wilson’s warbler. I based my original determination on the bird’s body configuration but the relatively large eye indicates it may be another Wilson’s warbler.)

A few minutes later the Yellow warbler disappeared. I thought it returned, but in processing my photos I realized that I had photographed an Orange-crowned warbler!  This made three warbler species (see note above) in a single day!  (Remember from my post regarding 8/5/2023 that I had not seen a warbler since May?)  

Later in the afternoon I had yet another visit from a Wilson’s warbler with not a lot of opportunity for photographs.  

During the day we had visits from several other interesting birds, but not all migrants. A Brown creeper apparently sneaked a bath without me seeing it until it was a leaving.  Earlier this spring one or more creepers visited several times each day but they have been relatively rare after breeding season began.  

A Bewick’s wren took a leaf bath in one of our bushes but gave me no opportunity for photographs.  

I saw our first juvenile Brown-headed cowbird, the apparent stepchild of a pair of White-crowned sparrows which have been heavily working the yard for food to feed it the past several days.  

And finally, we still have at least one female Rufous hummingbird that visits the yard.  (No photos.)

Stay tuned for several more days of migrants passing through the yard! I’m overwhelmed with photography. On this day I took 283 photos. On 8/8/2023 I took 381! It will probably be several weeks before I catch up, and I won’t catch up very fast unless I quit taking so many photos! But the birds just keep coming!

August 5, 2023 dawned heavily overcast and cool. It was the kind of weather change that can sometimes spark bird activity so I planned to spend some extra time in the yard watching for unusual birds. After breakfast I received a text from neighboring birders that they had just seen a pair of Wilson’s warblers in their yard, so that encouraged me even more. I spent a couple of hours in the yard during the late morning but saw nothing unusual.

I took a break (OK, a nap!) and when I gazed out our kitchen window a little after 5pm I saw one of our coveys of California quail and so got my camera and headed back outside.

It’s getting more and more difficult to quickly detect the difference between the adult female quail and this year’s juveniles. This is one of the juveniles.

After just a few minutes of photographing quail I saw some color entering the yard and quickly realized it was a Black-headed grosbeak, the first I had seen since photographing one June 18! This bird was pretty obviously a juvenile… it showed no concern about flying to within about ten feet of my wife and I and taking two rather leisurely baths. I took LOTS of photos!

Within a few minutes of the grosbeak leaving the yard a male Wilson’s warbler appeared. It landed on a staging object just above the watercourse but failed to descend to the water. I obtained a few quick photos before it left the yard. Somewhat later I saw at least one more visit to the yard from inside the house.

And finally, this photo of a male Northern flicker…

I again spent significant time in the yard on August 6 with clearing weather. We had lots of birds but I saw nothing unusual.

I’ve detailed in prior posts my frustration regarding lack of interesting migratory birds in the yard this summer. I spend a lot of time monitoring the yard, an activity that would probably bore most people, even some birders. With not a lot of unusual bird activity, I’m always alert for something to photograph.

When presented with the opportunity I look for other photographic opportunities to occupy my time and interest. This may include Pacific tree frogs, butterflies, insects and plants. But during the warmer months (they hibernate during winter) some of my favorite non-avian subjects are the native Townsend’s chipmunks that visit the yard. I’ve had as many as four in the yard at one time but usually there are no more than two, and I have no idea what the greater population may be in our immediate area. It’s clear that one or two are more or less habituated to human interaction (at the modest cost of a few peanut kernels!).

Here are a couple of photos of one (?) of my friends I photographed on August 1, 2023.

Boredom has set in. As I’ve noted in prior posts, I haven’t had any unusual visitors since the end of May. The weather, generally devoid of cloud cover, has discouraged my photography. I still spend considerable time in the yard but am generally not obtaining quality photographs. But here are a few photos taken on July 30, 2023.

Not a particularly good photo for detail, but I liked this photo of a male House finch perched in a madrone tree…

We have Downy woodpeckers that visit the yard almost constantly. This juvenile male is waiting to access a suet feeder…

We still have a few American goldfinches left, this one a female…

We have both Black-capped chickadees and Chestnut-backed chickadees, both species difficult to photograph because they are very active and usually stay in the outer reaches of the yard.

Our juvenile California quail are getting so large it’s getting difficult to distinguish the juveniles from the adult females…

An adult male House sparrow. I’ll be running an August special, two for the price of one!

And finally, from July 24, a female Rufous hummingbird. Our salvias are almost bloomed out and we have very few hummingbirds left.

While most people living in the PacNW probably enjoy the sun, I find it detrimental to my bird photography. However, in the past two days (July 18-19, 2023) I’ve obtained some good photos of some of this year’s fledglings.

This is a Spotted towhee which has been extremely reticent to show itself for photos this year. It’s in transition from juvenile to adult plumage. Of all the bird species common in the area, I consider the plumage of the juvenile towhee the least like its adult plumage.

I’ve been patiently waiting for the opportunity to obtain good photos of our juvenile California quail. This year we didn’t see the juveniles until they were fairly large and I was unable to obtain good early photos of them for several weeks. On July 19, 2023, I finally had the opportunity to obtain some good photos.

I want to credit and thank my sister for assisting me with creating the new bird bath where these photos were taken. The construction of a bird bath for photographic purposes is a lot more complicated than you might think!

On this particulars day I had a rather rare observation… a female quail standing lookout while two males and about seven juveniles fed. It’s almost always the male that stands guard duty.

And here is the male on guard duty… but at this moment he’s distracted, performing a brief bit of personal grooming!