I believe this was my first White Christmas at any location where I was living at the time. I always look forward to snow both for the change of scenery but also for the opportunities it gives for nature photography. The birds can be easier to locate and are usually more reluctant to fly.

It’s been a somewhat boring fall here at the house… just the usual visitors dominated by a very large number of Dark-eyed Oregon juncos.

As I have previously mentioned, our leucistic Dark-eyed Oregon junco is back with us this winter and it appears that it’s now firmly in its element!

The inverted suet feeder in our yard was a big drawing card for all but the last species pictured below. I usually refrain from photographing birds on feeders, but this female Northern flicker was an opportunity too good to let pass.

This Red-breasted nuthatch was anxious to displace a Downy woodpecker on the suet feeder and gave me the opportunity to get better photos than might have otherwise been possible.

This male Downy woodpecker was waiting for an opportunity to access the suet.

Bushtits sweep through the yard several times a day, stopping briefly to mob the suet. I managed to catch this pair (male and female) waiting for an opportunity to access the suet feeder. So how do I know this is a pair and which is the male and which is the female?

These were all nice photos, but not the big news of the day (12/27). I noticed some unusual activity on the trunk of our largest fir tree, and upon investigating I discovered a Red-bellied sapsucker. I grabbed my camera and positioned myself where I could get photos. Before long I discovered that there were actually TWO sapsuckers!

I had seen Red-breasted sapsuckers on our property only once previously, many years ago. They had been on this same tree (our largest fir) and had been fighting, at one point on the ground. The sapsuckers I was observing this day also exhibited some aggression, apparently attempting to defend what they considered personal feeding sources (sap holes). (The next day (12/28) I discovered a THIRD sapsucker on the tree!)

I spent some time birding in the yard on December 12, 2121. The light was fairly good for photography. All my photos are underexposed but Adobe Lightroom works wonders with lightening.

I have no narrative… for the most part it was just photographing regular visitors although I did obtain some good photos. I did have a Bewick’s wren access our suet feeder… something I hadn’t observed since last spring when a wren seemed addicted to the suet.

On December 8, 2021, I opted for a little morning birding excursion outside the yard. I drove to the Cap Sante Marina where I found a Common loon preening. Having observed this species on prior occasions I readied my camera for what I knew would come at the end of its preening activity. I wasn’t disappointed. As it began to extend its wings I held down my shutter button, taking more than six frames per second and capturing the bird rising from the water and fully extending its wings. In a few seconds I recorded 20+ images… these are a few of the most interesting… 

After ‘stretching’ the bird began hunting. I tried to follow it as it submerged in the hopes it might resurface with a fish, but it appeared in the far side of a dock. It had to swim only 100 feet to its new location, but I would have to walk a couple of hundred yards to its new location with no assurance it would still be there when I arrived, so my pursuit ended. 

The avian traffic in the yard has been extremely boring lately. We have California quail, chickadees, House finches and several species of sparrows (overwhelmingly Dark-eyed Oregon juncos) and a few other common species but not a lot else. I pass my time in the yard repeatedly photographing some of our regular visitors. 

On December 10, a Ruby-crowned kinglet spent considerable time in the salvia around the watercourse but, frustratingly, I was unable to obtain photos of the bird.  I did photograph this male Anna’s hummingbird… 

and this male Downy woodpecker. 

And finally, news from San Francisco that my sister, who lives in a crowded neighborhood with no significant bird habitat nearby, had a pair of Yellow-rumped warblers come to a small saucer with hulled sunflower seeds earlier this week!  

When returning home from Bellingham last week I drove through the Samish Flats and saw a Short-eared owl sitting on a post immediately beside the road. It was an overcast day, late in the afternoon and I didn’t have my camera with me. Since that sighting I had been thinking of getting back to the area in the hopes of getting a similar photo opportunity. So on the morning of December 1, 2021, I headed over towards Bow. As is so often the case I didn’t find any of the birds I had hoped to see but did find other birds to photograph.

The first notable birds I encountered were a group of at least 30 American coots. I don’t see many coots in the greater area and I’ve never known the birds to be particularly gregarious, especially in this area, so to see so many crowded together in a flooded farm field seems unusual.

This Red-winged blackbird was part of a very large flock of males (which usually separate from the females in the non-breeding season) which were predating a flooded corn field.

During my travels around the area I saw at least four Rough-legged hawks. As is almost always the case, all were perched on power lines depriving me of the opportunity to get a more natural photo. (I just noticed before posting this that the bird is apparently banded on its right leg.)

Perched very close to one of the hawks was this female American kestrel.

Moving on to a more restricted environment, I found this Lincoln’s sparrow peeking out from a tangle of bushes. Unfortunately I was unable to coax it out for a better photograph.

And finally, I managed to find a pair of Ruby-crowned kinglets in another set of bushes. These birds can be very challenging to photograph as they are in almost constant motion, but I managed several good photos. I never could see any evidence of a ruby crown on either bird, so both may have been females. However, I have long given up trying to assign sex to kinglets without ruby crowns… the males are too adept at keeping their crowns hidden.

We had a storm blow through on the night of November 8-9 with heavy rains and high winds. When I woke for the second time and checked the radar I realized that a front had just blown through and there was no rain immediately behind it, so I could go for a walk in Washington Park without risking getting wet. I quickly dressed, drove to the park and set out on my morning walk. I was so taken with my weather radar acumen for having missed the rain that I failed to consider the wind. By the time I realized that I normally wouldn’t have entered the woods under such circumstances, I was almost halfway through my walk! The loud cracking of a tree limb in the woods near me reminded me of why I wouldn’t usually walk under such conditions.

Upon arriving back home I peered out the kitchen window and spied both a Yellow-rumped warbler and a Golden-crowned kinglet in the front yard at the same time (neither of which I was able to photograph) so despite less than ideal conditions I set up in the yard for a little photography. I ended up taking 46 photos and discarded about half of those. Here are a few of the ones I kept…

I just never get tired of photographing ‘our’ leucistic Dark-eyed (Oregon) junco, with us for the second winter!

And the star of the day, actually one of the first birds I photographed, was this male Ruby-crowned kinglet, pausing while in the middle of a bath! It’s unusual to be able to see the ruby crown in the field, but I sometimes have the opportunity to observe and photograph it when the bird is bathing. This photo shows just how bright the crown can be!