Friday, June 4, 2021, was a beautiful day for both birding and photography. It was cool with a thin overcast that provided even light for photography. I decided to spend time in the yard in hopes that I might get visits from some of our rarer visitors… waxwings, crossbills, grosbeaks, warblers or other migrants.
During the afternoon the yard was filled with birds, but they were mostly House sparrows, Pine siskins and American goldfinches. However my hopes were buoyed when I spotted some movement in the tree canopy and managed to identify a Cedar waxwing. Unfortunately the bird never emerged so I only obtained one poor ‘record’ photo.
Before long I identified a juvenile White-crowned sparrow around the yard, an indication of a successful breeding season for the pair we have had in the yard this spring. This is a much-improved result from one or more past seasons when the sparrows raised a Brown-headed cowbird. In the processes of photographing the sparrow extensively I realized that there was a second juvenile in the yard. The parents were also around the yard but had no interactions with the two juveniles.
Next a a female Wilson’s warbler entered the yard. I think I have to give this bird the ‘Model of the Year’ award… it moved from staging object to staging object, presenting a variety of poses on each object! I took well over 50 photos and saved many of them.
Anna’s hummingbirds and Rufous hummingbirds were also active in the yard, with at least one male and female of each species utilizing both feeders and newly blooming salvia. For the past couple of years hummingbird baths in the watercourse have been rare, but on this day one of the female Rufous hummingbirds opted for a bath.
A female Brown-headed cowbird made a couple of unwelcome visits. Fortunately we have seen no juveniles this year.
The day was somewhat unusual for the limited number of species I photographed, but not in the number of photographs I took.
And now for a little bird story…
Several weeks ago a pair of Black-capped chickadees occupied a nest box we have. They apparently successfully fledged young a few days ago and only a day or so after they disappeared a pair of House wrens decided to move into the box. One of the wrens spent considerable effort deconstructing the chickadee nest, making repeated trips to the doorway to throw out nesting material. The wrens are now ensconced in the nest box, with twigs sticking through the opening, and the male is apparently bringing food to the female who is in the nest box incubating eggs!
I’ve had a nice spring, often taking between 200-400 photos in the yard in a single day! But the BIG bird news this spring is that I had two species visit the yard that I have never seen in my 20+ years of birding in Skagit County!
The first species was a Chipping sparrow that showed up in the yard on May 13. As is often the case, I managed to use the bird’s behavior to differentiate it from all the House sparrows, Pine siskins and American goldfinches which have been in the yard this spring. The bird didn’t co-mingle with all the other birds and took a different route around the watercourse. I looked closer and saw the rufous crown and was fairly certain of the species, but there are several other species of sparrows with rufous crowns and I waited until I processed the photos to make a positive identification.
This is a very common and gregarious species across North America during the summer months, and a very common bird in Texas during the winter… the professed bane of my Texas sister’s existence! My guess is that they are rare west of the Cascades but more common east of the Cascades where the habitat is more to their liking.
The second rare visitor was a male Lazuli bunting, a species that showed up in our yard on May 28. I was sitting in the yard trying to sort the avian traffic when I saw a blue head through the foliage on our Golden Chain tree. I took a couple of quick photos in case the bird didn’t fully reveal itself, but the bird worked its way towards our watercourse (and me) and I was able to identify it and take many photos.
Lazuli buntings are found rather extensively in the western US during summer months. My wife and I usually see the species when birding in AZ, a much drier climate than we have in Skagit County. Although distribution maps show the species extending into the lower parts of Canada, the birds are probably much more common east of the Cascades due to the drier habitat.
I began composing what was envisioned as an email to document my many migratory bird sightings on the afternoon of May 13, 2021, but each time I attempted to end the email I would experience another interesting sighting. My attempts at documentation were repeatedly interrupted by new sightings which necessitated new rounds of photography. There were very few lulls in observations and on occasion there were multiple birds/species in the yard at the same time, forcing some decisions on my part. By the end of the day I had taken 337 photos, many of which were attempts at ‘record’ shots to document sightings.
Late in the afternoon things became so hectic I had to abandon my detailed documentation and just begin documenting species and, if possible, sex. So here is the modified email…
We FINALLY had our first Black- headed grosbeak, a female, after probably hearing males in the area for a couple of weeks. Fortunately I was in the yard with my camera to record the event, a leisurely bath! I would have much preferred the more colorful male, but hopefully she enjoyed the experience and will return with mate or friends.
We seem to be overrun with House sparrows which are now vying with Pine siskins and American goldfinches for most populous species in the yard. I haven’t photographed or seen a warbler for several days now although my time spent in the yard is probably down somewhat.
I’ve spent portions of the last couple of afternoons at a neighbor’s house frustratingly attempting to photograph Black-capped chickadees bringing food to their young. (We have our own nesting pair here in the yard.)
I just looked up from creating this email in time to see a male Rufous hummingbird preening above the watercourse just in front of me! I got photos including when he returned to the watercourse to resume his bath!
One of our resident Townsend chipmunks has stealthily cleaned out the supply of peanuts that I had on the chair tray immediately beside me. I keep the supply for the chipmunks and some of the sparrow species that have learned to pounce on peanut pieces I toss to them.
And I just looked up again while composing this to see and extensively photograph what I am tentatively identifying as a Chipping sparrow. If I am correct it will be the first I’ve seen in my 20 years of living in Skagit County and the first we’ve ever seen in our (3) yards while in Anacortes! (I was correct… it was a Chipping sparrow! This is a new yard bird!)
But wait!… there’s more! While still trying to compose documentation a male Yellow-rumped (Audubon’s) warbler showed up at the watercourse for a bath! This species has been our most frequent warbler visitor this spring, eclipsing the Wilson’s warblers I considered our most frequent warbler visitors in past years.
Yard activity is better than what I first thought it might be and the afternoon is hardly half over at 2:45pm!
At this point I tried to take a snack break, but from the kitchen I spied a male Red crossbill in the watercourse and rushed back out to the yard in a futile attempt to photograph the bird. (We had a male crossbill hit a window the previous day and I used the opportunity to photograph it with my iPhone while it successfully recovered. These two photos are of the previous day’s bird.)
At this point I was only able to list the birds in the order in which they appeared due to rapidly appearing traffic. Unless noted otherwise, the birds appeared singly and not together or in pairs.
Before I could recover from the male Red crossbill both a Wilson’s warbler and a Yellow warbler appeared in the yard at the same time and I obtained good photos of both. The Yellow warbler has always been a rare visitor to our yard, with only a sighting or two each season.
I then saw the orange head of a male Western tanager through the foliage of our largest Golden Chain tree. I managed a ‘record’ shot before it quickly left the yard, flying directly away from me and giving me no opportunity for a better photo. This was the first Western tanager we had seen in the yard this year, but I had seen four males in the Cap Sante wetland on May 7.
Almost immediately a group of three Red crossbills flew onto the pedestal birdbath only about six feet away from me and too close for photos. Two of the birds were juvenile/females and the other was an older male or female… I find the the colors of the birds can sometimes appear indistinct. Since I was unable to photograph the birds I’ll have to leave my identification at that.
At this point I abandoned the email I had been creating on my iPhone and resorted to just recording the species and sex of the birds. Here is the sequence of additional visits/sightings the rest of the afternoon…
Western tanager (f)
Red crossbills (m & f)
Black-headed grosbeak (f)
Black-headed grosbeak (m)
Western tanager (m)
House sparrows (first 2 juveniles of season)
Black-headed grosbeak (f)
I’m not sure I can remember a day of yard birding here on Cap Sante with so many different migrants and unusual visitors. And I was able to obtain photos of all the unusual visitors. To sum up my sightings on May 13, 2021, as they apply to our yard:
On Cinco de Mayo (May 5 to you non-Texans) I was sitting in the yard in good spirits after just having revived my watercourse pump the previous day. It was a perfect day for birding photography, overcast with a slight breeze. I was anticipating warbler visits as I think I had had at least one each of the previous few days. There would be none on this day but I became aware of a brightly-colored red bird arriving in our golden chain tree. I could not get a good look at the bird but assumed that it was a male House finch. My attention was drawn to it again when it flew to the large madrone staging stick at the head of the pond. I again couldn’t get a good look at the bird… it had landed behind a rather large portion of the staging stick. However the very bright color of the bird induced me to view it through my telephoto lens, and when I did I realized immediately that it was a male Red crossbill. We had visits from a few crossbills (all but one females and juveniles) a couple of months previously but I hadn’t seen any crossbills during the interim.
I began taking ‘record’ shots (unremarkable photos that would confirm my sighting) but since the crossbill was only about four feet above the watercourse I fully and justifiably expected the bird to emerge from behind the offending stick and/or descend to the watercourse where I would acquire excellent photos! After a couple of minutes of peeking from behind the stick the bird flew directly out of the yard and towards birding neighbors who have better habitat! I disappointedly watched the bird’s erratic flight path for about 100 yards before it disappeared from view. The episode was a huge disappointment but now the wait/watch is on!
“Record” photos of the 2021 Cinco de Mayo Red crossbill…
I had a nice day in the yard today, but first a little status report. As in the prior couple of springs/summers, all but one pair of Dark-eyed juncos have left the yard. We now have a pair of White-crowned sparrows frequenting the yard. Both species have been parasitized by Brown-headed cowbirds in prior years. Since I have yet to see a cowbird this year, I’m hopeful that the junco and sparrow families will be far enough along to thwart the cowbirds.
We continue to have the male Yellow-rumped (Audubon’s) warbler visit the yard on a daily basis. I now probably have over 100 photos of the bird!
And today I sighted the first verifiable warbler of a different species,,, an Orange-crowned warbler! Unfortunately, even though the warbler landed only a few feet from me it didn’t approach the watercourse or any of our staging objects and I was unable to obtain any photos.
Among the photos I did obtain this day…
A male Red-winged blackbird which is apparently helping to raise a family at the sewage treatment pond below us and makes trips to the yard to quickly stock up on food.
A male American Goldfinch, one of at least four recent arrivals.
A Pine siskin, one of many still lingering in the yard.
A female Spotted towhee. There is not much difference between the male and female towhees we have this spring, but I believe this to be the female
One of two male Downy woodpeckers we have visiting the yard this spring. The other one, which appears in a prior post, is blind in its right eye.
And finally, the star of this post, a Bewick’s wren enjoying what should be a very filling meal. I wouldn’t think you would need too many of these each day to feel satiated.
