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…

I’ve had an interesting couple of days in the yard. On October 1, 2021, I logged our first confirmed sightings of (two) Ruby-crowned kinglets. I’ve seen at least one Golden-crowned kinglet just about every time I’ve been in the yard in the last two weeks, but the Ruby-crowned kinglet has been more elusive. I have yet to get a good photo of a Golden-crowned kinglet this fall but not so the Ruby-crowned kinglet. I’m assuming that both birds were female since I was unable to see any ruby crowns on either bird, but I’ve learned over the years that the males can very effectively hide their crown.

On October 2, 2021, we had the first warbler we’ve had in some time… a Yellow-rumped Audubon’s warbler which was probably a juvenile.

On the same day (and on the next day as well) we had a leucistic Dark-eyed (Oregon) junco visit the yard. Interestingly enough we had one that spent the entire winter with us last year… I have yet to compare the photos of the one we have this fall with the one which spent the last winter with us. Stay tuned!

Here are a couple of other more normal Dark-eyed Oregon juncos…

A female Northern flicker, entering the yard for suet…

And a male Anna’s hummingbird which will probably be with us for the winter…

Our day here in Anacortes began with rain so I skipped my usual morning walk in the park. The rain didn’t last long and I decided on a birding excursion, my first of the fall season, when it became apparent that the weather was going to improve.  

I photographed a Capian tern and Bald eagle on March Point.

My first good photos were of Savanna sparrows in a field on Fir Island.

 In the same area I was surprised to lure a male Common yellowthroat out of the weeds along a ditch when ‘pishing’ to gain a Song sparrow’s attention.  

Further along my way I photographed this Great Blue heron. 

I ran into a birding friend at one of the wildlife access areas and he told me about a Black-necked stilt at another of the wildlife access areas (Hayton). I later photographed the stilt along with several Greater yellowlegs. This is the first stilt I’ve ever photographed in the Pacific Northwest!

I was also told that there was a White-faced ibis in the area but I didn’t see it.

I obtained some photos of a Song sparrow while in the area of the stilt.

At the HQ tract on Fir Island I saw, but didn’t get good photos of, about ten Wood ducks.

There were already at least hundreds, if not thousands, of Snow geese, Canada geese (and probably other species of geese) both on the ground and flying over the island. They’ll be with us for the winter. 

And that’s my early season bird report!  

We’re beginning to transition to our cooler fall weather. I’ve been disappointed in the number of fall migrants entering the yard, but on the other hand, some of our winter residents are beginning to arrive.

As is my usual habit lately, on September 23, 2021, I spent time in the afternoon monitoring the yard for birding activity. The (Oregon) Dark-eyed juncos are beginning to arrive and will soon be our most numerous yard-bird species, assuming that I can keep discouraging the House sparrows. I continue to marvel at the feather patterns in the detailed photos I get, something that may not be evident in the photos I post to my blog.

We have one very active juvenile Spotted towhee in the yard that has figured out how to garner peanut halves, and it’s a beautiful specimen of a bird! I think the two sets of adults that were around the yard for the breeding season may have departed the immediate area.

Golden-crowned sparrows have returned from their breeding grounds north and east of here. Our first arrival on September 10 seemed to be a juvenile which I at first had trouble identifying, but now several adults have arrived. By winter we should have 6-8 residents which will be with us until the sporing.

For the past couple of weeks we have had at least one Golden-crowned kinglet pass through the yard every day, but I have yet this year to obtain a decent photo of one.

There are perhaps two problems with what I perceive as a relative dearth of migrants this fall. As I stated in a prior blog post, I was overrun with House sparrows this fall. I responded by restricting the amount and kinds of food available to them and that has been a creative success. On the other hand, over the past several weeks we have had a rather unwelcome (especially to other birds) visitor to the yard, often several times a day. This is one of perhaps a pair of juvenile Cooper’s hawks whose main prey is other birds!

But back to September 23… as I was about to retire for the day I noticed a large group of raccoons heading for the yard from the adjacent parkland. I realized that their path would probably bring them in front of my camera lens, so I waited patiently. I wasn’t disappointed! There were at least five in the main group, but I believe that two others crossed our alley before the main group was separated by a walking neighbor.