On the afternoon of December 4, 2024, I spent an hour or so in the yard observing and photographing birds. Perhaps the most interesting of my observations involved the Orange-crowned warbler that has been visiting the yard for several days, feeding from both the suet and peanut feeders and this day even visiting the platform feeder holding sunflower seed. 

I had six species of sparrows: Spotted towhees, Dark-eyed. (Oregon) juncos and House, Golden-crowned, a Song and a Fox sparrows. The juncos were by far the most numerous birds in the yard.  With the inclusion of White-crowned sparrows and White-throated sparrows seen earlier in the year, that brings the total number of sparrows seen in the yard for the year to eight.  

I had both species of kinglets, Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned. Until recently the latter has been a rare visitor but this day I had two visits and I think one of the visits was by a pair. 

Two species of wrens, Bewick’s and Pacific, very briefly visited the yard but I was unable to get photos of either. 

At least two male Anna’s hummingbirds are visiting the yard. I have no way of determining if these two photos are of the same hummingbird,

I had multiple visits from one or more flocks of Bushtits. This one is a female but for what is probably a first in my Bushtit photography, I was able to photograph a male and female together.

Very late in the afternoon of the previous day (12/3/20214) I had a male Varied thrush feeding in the yard but there was no sign of the bird today. I thought the snow in the mountains would bring more of the thrushes down to the yard, but it hasn’t happened yet. 

On November 7, 2024, I managed to eke out a little time for birding, something I hadn’t had time to do for almost a week due to other activities and weather. 

My afternoon began rather slowly with much the same birds in the yard although things seemed a little slower than normal. I had visits from both male and female Anna’s hummingbirds who will apparently remain with us for the winter. I didn’t have to wait too long for a visit from a Golden-crowned kinglet, and there was a very brief visit from a Brown creeper.  Golden-crowned sparrows seem to come and go but don’t seem to be in open areas as much, perhaps for good reason!  

After a while a Pacific wren emerged from behind my stone birdbath. This is a very small active bird that frequents low areas with brush and ferns and is very difficult to photograph. The wren disappeared for a minute or two and then reappeared at a much nearer birdbath and gave me the opportunity for many photographs. Unfortunately, the location in the birdbath where it chose to bathe was exactly behind a single fir needle sticking up at the edge of the bird bath, which ruined many of my photos. However, I was afforded many photographs of the bird and may have gotten some of my best photos of this species. 

As I saw watching the birds in the yard, I was aware of the sudden appearance of an adult accipiter (probably a Cooper’s hawk) on the top of my garden fence.  I watched as it made its way through fir trees to a large patch of Snowberry bushes. I was hoping to get a good view of the bird for a photo when it popped out onto a perch directly above my stone birdbath. At that point, I was able to take a good many photographs of the bird and noted that it was banded. 

I have the name of a person in Seattle who bands raptors and I plan to contact him to see if he can give me any information on the bird.  Many years previously I was able to obtain rather extensive information on a young Cooper’s Hawk that had been banded in the nest in Seattle, fledged and showed up at SeaTac airport, was trapped and removed and was relocated to the Samish Flats area before making its way to my yard! 

Just to fill things out, here are a couple of Song sparrow images…

On October 17, 2024, I had a relatively brief window of time to spend in the yard in the late afternoon and, seeing some intermittent bird activity in the yard from my office, I retrieved my camera and relocated to the yard. There was’t much of interest when I arrived but after some time my attention was drawn to activity on a snag I had “planted” at the edge of the yard. Sitting on that snag was a female Varied thrush, the first for our fall/winter season! I managed to take a few photos before the bird descended into the yard, but it was initially behind some bushes that obscured my vision.

After about ten minutes the bird emerged at my stone bird bath for some water where I was able to obtain a couple of additional photos.

We usually have had a few Varied thrushes hang around the yard the entire winter, but last year they only made rare appearances. They are beautiful birds.. I’m hoping for more this coming season..

Not long after one of the thrush’s visits a Ruby-crowned kinglet flew into the Japanese maple immediately adjacent to me… too close for photos! It quickly disappeared but it, or another, returned a short time later for a bath in a location more conducive for photographs. Unfortunately the bird’s frenetic movement didn’t afford me the opportunity for any but this most basic photo, as you see here.

Both of these birds are winter visitors. The thrushes come down from the mountains in the winter in search of a more reliable food supply. I see, on rare occasions, a Ruby-crowned kinglet but the Golden-crowned kinglets (see prior post) are much more frequent visitors.

Late in the morning of October 12, 2024, I arrived at the Bayview State Park to photograph birds I had seen eating hawthorn berries the previous day. There were a few birds entering the tree, but for the most part they remained in the canopy where I couldn’t photograph them. The squirrels were more cooperative. I spent a couple of relatively frustrating hours at the park before giving up and returning home.

Late in the afternoon I decided to try my luck in my yard. Things in the yard weren’t especially encouraging when suddenly an Orange-crowned warbler appeared and accessed two of my water features. l got a lot of good photos! This photo might be one of the best of an Orange-crowned warbler I’ve ever taken, and I have several more of the same bird of similar quality.

It wasn’t long after before a Golden-crowned kinglet appeared and gave me some good opportunities for photographs.

Next up was a Brown creeper, a daily visitor as of late.

In fading light I photographed this White-crowned sparrow, probably born this year and raised in the area. It’s possible, but I regard as improbable, that this bird is an adult but a tan morph of the species. A photo of an adult, taken earlier in the same afternoon and at the same water feature, appears below it for comparison.

So far this fall I’ve had seven species of sparrows in the yard:

• Spotted towhee
• Dark-eyed (Oregon) junco
• House sparrow
• Song sparrow
• White-crowned sparrow
• Golden-crowned sparrow
• Fox sparrow

Dorothy was right… “There’s no place like home“!

I quickly reviewed my website before posting this and found I’ve been mostly posting photos of the same birds. It can’t be helped when they’re the only ones that show up!  Hopefully the photos are a little different in terms of poses or perches. To keep my photos looking different, from time to time I vary my staging sticks. Sometimes it’s psychology difficult to do so. When you create a good staging stick and the birds make good use of it, it’s hard to give it up!  

I’ve been able to spend a little more time in the yard lately. Fall is another major period of avian transition, with spring//summer birds leaving and fall/winter birds arriving. I’ve had a few sightings of birds I usually think of as migrants, but some of them are here year-round, just in fewer numbers than in the spring migration. 

One example is the Orange-crowned warbler, a fairly common spring visitor but much rarer in the fall and winter. The species visited the yard twice this week and gave me uncommon opportunities for photos. 

Another species that appeared in the yard for several days is the Yellow-rumped warbler, almost always apparently a female or juvenile. 

I’ve had a Brown creeper almost every day and was able to obtain better than average photos of one in more recent days. Creepers are very active and I get my best opportunities for photographs when the creeper’s favorite bird bath is occupied by another species. It doesn’t like communal bathing and so slows somewhat and lingers on the side of a madrone, waiting for other birds to leave. 

I get daily visits from Golden-crowned kinglets but often don’t get an opportunity for photos because they like to use a pedestal bird bath immediately adjacent to me. This one is a male, one of a flock of five kinglets that visited the yard on October 5, 2024.

I still have at least two White-crowned sparrows that visit the yard, one an adult and the other either a juvenile or a tan-morph subspecies. 

Dark-eyed (Oregon) juncos are beginning to return for the winter. In some years they edge out Pine siskins and House sparrows for the most numerous species in the yard, but this year I think the House sparrows may win out thanks to neighbors’ nest boxes with over-sized holes. The sparrows are hatched elsewhere but are attracted to my yard because of more nutritious food offerings. 

I’ve mustered as many as about six Golden-crowned sparrows in the yard at one time but they seem to come and go at this point. I should have a more permanent population of around ten for the winter.