April 16 2021, saw warming temperatures and for the following two days (4/17-18) I spent several hours in the yard each afternoon hoping to welcome new warblers.  I had come to the conclusion that the visits by a male Yellow-rumped (Audubon’s) warbler that had been visiting the yard for the past couple of weeks were all the same bird and, other than a brief glimpse of an Orange-crowned warbler, I had been disappointed.  

We have begun to see the arrival of American goldfinches at about the same time as the beginning of our Golden Chain tree’s leafing out.  We’ve had a significant reduction in Pine siskins and the appearance of a third sick one since sometime in December.  All of our many Dark-eyed (Oregon) juncos have left except for a single pair.  We apparently have families of chickadees in each of two nest boxes.  

So it was with some degree of disappointment that late on the afternoon of April 18, 2021, I had had no significant sightings of interesting birds.  I was thinking of calling it quits for the day when I became aware of a new visitor.  It briefly landed on one of my staging rocks but flew to our stone bird bath before I could react.  My first impression as I photographed the bird was that I didn’t know what it was, but when I calmed a little I realized that it was a Townsend’s solitaire, a species I seldom see and one that’s never been seen in our yard.  We’ve had them in the neighborhood on brief, rare occasions in several past years, but I wouldn’t have suspected that our yard habitat would be attractive to the species.  I managed several photos (almost all the same pose) before the bird flew out of our yard and into neighboring parkland (forest).  As you might imagine, this bird made up for all the time I had spent monitoring the yard over the past several days!   

Here are a few of the other photos I took the same day…

Black-capped chickadee…

White-crowned sparrow…

Male American goldfinch…

Male Northern flicker…

Obviously not a bird, but one of three (maybe four) Townsend’s chipmunks that visit the yard on a daily basis.

For the last several weeks I’ve had a male Yellow-rumped (Audubon’s) warbler visiting our yard. (I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s a single bird as opposed to multiple migrants.) Today (April 16) it had been several days since I had seen the warbler, but sitting outside late in the afternoon I received another visit. This time I was prepared, sitting in a chair with a full view up our watercourse. Here are some of the photos I took…

First, a little about what’s been happening around the yard…

I’m generally spending 2-4 hours an afternoon monitoring and photographing birds in the yard, weather and a few other activities permitting. In addition we monitor the watercourse area from our kitchen at various times of the day in an effort to see any spring migrants. I’ve spent a lot of time out in the cold and look forward to warmer weather which will hopefully bring more migrants.

After an early arrival (3/3) of our first American goldfinch in the yard (which quickly disappeared), our next arrival (also a male) wasn’t until 4/7, but this second arrival has been with us every day since. On April 3 we had a visit from a male Yellow-rumped (Audubon’s) warbler. What I suspect may be the same bird also returned on at least April 6th, 8th and 9th, visits I photographed. On April 9 we had three visits from the species and at least one of the warblers was different from our previous visitor(s). We are continuing to see Varied thrushes in the neighborhood, with five being just outside our yard on April 8. I assume this is due to the record and continuing snows in the mountains. On April 9 I got a glimpse (but no photos) of an Orange-crowned warbler above the watercourse. The same day I managed a brief sighting (but no photos) of a Ruby-crowned kinglet, a species that has been noticeably absent from the yard this winter.

And now on to the photos. Digressing from birds briefly, Townsend chipmunks apparently revived from hibernation a couple of weeks ago. We’ve had a visitor for about two weeks now, but on April 8 our initial visitor was joined by two more! We quickly became fast friends!

On the other hand, we have as many as four non-native Eastern Gray squirrels visiting the yard with suspected nests high in our fir trees.

We have both Rufous and Anna’s hummingbirds, males and females, in the yard. The females of both species are more numerous than the males.

We have at least 4-5 Golden-crowned sparrows that have been with us all winter, most of which resemble this one…

It’s a period for transition for this species and all will soon be migrating to their breeding grounds north and east of here. Just before they leave most will transform into their breeding plumage as this bird has done…

Here’s a photo of one of our two male Downy woodpeckers. It’s blind in its right eye and has miraculously survived in the area for well over a year.

We just recently had a female show up so we’re hoping for some breeding action this spring.

We have two Song sparrows in the yard, one of which is pictured below. In addition we have a Fox sparrow, at least one pair of Spotted towhees, Dark-eyed juncos (Oregon race), the aforementioned Golden-crowned sparrows, a White-crowned sparrow and the dreaded House sparrows.

I marvel at the plumage detail I am able to obtain in my photos. It’s a detail far beyond what you would usually be able to obtain from observations with binoculars ‘in the field’, in part because a photo not only captures the detail but also freezes and preserves it. The difference in plumage texture (disregarding color) differs so much from species to species!

I spent another three hours or so watching/photographing birds in the yard on the afternoon of April 6, part of that time with the same neighbor who had witnessed the arrival of our first warbler on April 3. I entered the yard about 1pm and immediately saw a male Varied thrush (no photo) in Madrone trees at the edge of the yard. It seems late for them to be lingering in the lowlands, but on a short drive up to the Cap Sante Overlook I saw three more. There seem to be more around now than in the dead of winter. The birds lose at least part of their food supply due to winter snow in the mountains and so head to lower areas free of snow.

I had no sooner begun to settle in when a male Yellow-rumped (Audubon’s) warbler entered the yard and headed for the watercourse. I don’t know whether this is the same one that visited April 3 (with the same neighbor in attendance) or a new visitor. This one took a shorter bath but still gave me ample opportunity for a few photos.

We have a stone birdbath and behind it is some sort of native plant that some of the birds enjoy landing on as a staging point. For a year or so I have been interested in obtaining a photo of a bird on the plant but have been frustrated to some degree in that the deer strip the leaves from the plant from time to time. Somehow the plant survives and on this day I obtained photos of a Pine siskin clinging to the vertical stem a few inches from the bird bath.

Another long desired photo opportunity was to be able to obtain some good photos of a Rufous hummingbird feeding on one of our native Red currant plants. The initial bloom of the currants coincides with the arrival of the first migrating Rufous hummingbirds, and there was no exception at our house this year. On this day a female spent considerable time on one of our Red currants and I was able to obtain some nice photos of her activity.

On April 3, 2021, I hade invited a neighbor to come watch birds in the yard. We probably sat for over an hour watching what, to me, were the same old birds. We were joined by our wives and there was probably more conversation taking place than bird watching. Suddenly, appearing from nowhere, there was a male Yellow-rumped (Audubon’s) warbler sitting on a staging stick by the watercourse right in front of us! As we watched it proceeded to take a five-minute bath during which I took some 50 photos. Here are some of the most representative…

We all marveled at our experience and the opportunity to view the bird under such close-up circumstances!

About two weeks ago a Townsend’s chipmunk emerged from hibernation and is now spending significant time in the yard. Here it is, upside down, getting a drink from the watercourse…

To complete the day’s photographs I photographed this female Rufous hummingbird with her tongue extended…

I’m hopeful that we’ll have a better year for migrating birds than we had last year (2020), which was rather sparse.

Birding photography has been a perfect activity for getting through the COVID epidemic in that I could participate for hours at a time with no mingling. My wife and I are now four weeks past our second Moderna vaccinations. While the height of the migration is probably still a month away, if you’re interested in trying your viewing luck you are welcome to come over and bird. We still have seven species of sparrows in the yard and are offering a special on Eastern Gray squirrels… two for the price of one! Happy Easter!