On the morning of 9/17/2023 I glanced out the window while performing kitchen chores and saw a bird I didn’t recognize hanging from the bottom of our inverted suet feeder. I was looking east and the bird was backlit but it appeared to have a substantial amount of white plumage. I reached for my binoculars to get a better view and realized it was a White-breasted nuthatch, a bird I had never seen in Skagit County in my 22 years of living here!  (The bird can be found in eastern Washington, east of the Cascades.) I grabbed my camera and managed to obtain only a few photos before the bird flew high into a tree to the east of us. I spent a good portion of the morning hoping the bird would return so I could get better photos of it, but it was not to be. 

Not too much later I saw a sparrow in the yard that seemed different than the 12-15 House sparrows flying around the yard. I turned my attention to it and realized it was a White-throated sparrow, a real rarity in the yard until the one we had intermittently last winter. It never approached close enough for me to get a good photo but made several appearances during the morning. 

Not too much later I photographed a Golden-crowned sparrow at a nearby water feature, our first fall arrival of the species. That evening, while processing photos, I realized there had been at least two in the yard. (Note the differences in the photos,)  

That afternoon, in a brief session in the yard I observed visits from a a Golden-crowned kinglet, which I photographed, and a Ruby-crowned kinglet which I was unable to photograph because it was driven from the watercourse by a squirrel.

I was also able to obtain photos of a (female) Bushtit. Bushtits are fairly common, prolific visitors during the non-breeding season but difficult to photograph due to their size and activity level. 

All things considered, it had been a very exciting and productive fall birding day. I had seen and photographed SEVEN sparrow species: 

• Spotted towhee
• Dark-eyed (Oregon) junco
• House sparrow
• Song sparrow (first fall arrival 8/13/2023)
• White-crowned sparrow
• White-throated sparrow (first fall arrival)
• Golden-crowned sparrow (first fall arrival)

With detailed photography I am able to examine birds far more carefully than mere field observations. Sadly, over the years I have observed MANY birds with disabilities including blindness in one eye (Downy woodpecker), break deformations (Spotted towhee and others) and the most common disability, limited or non-use of one leg (many species). Some of these birds remain in the yard for extended periods of time and some are one time observations/photographs.

We currently have a Spotted towhee with a beak deformation, a beak that is crossed much like a crossbill’s. This bird was apparently born in the immediate area and seems to be doing fine. It It seems motivated to enthusiastically spirit halves of peanut kernels into the bushes for a meal, so I assume that it is able to break the peanut into smaller pieces. I have many photos of the bird as its plumage has matured and have come to the conclusion that it has successfully learned to live with its handicap.

On 9/12/2023 I was saddened to see an adorable young Red-breasted nuthatch that apparently had the use of only one leg. This would seem to be a terrible handicap for a nuthatch which spends most of its life descending the trunks of trees! The nuthatch was able to successfully cling to an inverted suet feeder and a vertical peanut feeder, so I hope that it will be able to live with its disability.

On the same day I observed a female House sparrow with one of its legs projecting towards the rear of its body. It’s been around all summer (this photo is from 8/6/2023) so it is apparently coping with its disability.

On a brighter note here are a few of the photographs I took on September 13, 2023:

An (apparently female) Ruby-crowned kinglet that is apparently the same one that has visited the yard each of the previous three days. I use the term “apparently female’ because the males of the species are so adept at hiding the red in their crowns. However, I was able to photograph this bird extensively and could detect no hint of red.

This male Downy woodpecker is a regular user of the newest water feature in our yard.

And finally, one of two juvenile White-crowned sparrows that were apparently raised in the immediate area. Both of its presumed parents are still in the yard but the juveniles are fully independent. Although White-crowned sparrows overwinter in the area, we almost never see them in the yard except in breeding season. In the past they have been parasitized by Brown-headed cowbirds, so it its heartening to see that this year the sparrows have successfully fledged their own young.

August 28, 2023, found Anacortes still suffering from smoke generated by Canadian forest fires,  limiting long distance visibility and casting a pall over scenery.  The smoke had failed to clear on Sunday as forecast, but the temperature was markedly cooler.  In late morning, with a luncheon appointment looming, I decided to spend a little time outside to see if we might have any migrants.  

With only minutes to go before my luncheon appointment, I thought I might have (twice) glimpsed the Cooper’s hawk that had visited the day before, but I couldn’t be sure.  Suddenly the Cooper’s hawk appeared from out of our tangle of trees and landed on a trellis over the garden.  I didn’t have a clear view of the bird but took a photo through a fence.  As I watched I realized that the hawk had a bird in its talons, the first successful capture I had ever witnessed in the yard!  

I was desperate for a better photo but the hawk moved into a fir tree which afforded me no view.  Suddenly I heard a noise and the hawk’s prey escaped (!) and flew directly towards me,  apparently landing at the base of a small pine bush with a tangle of exposed roots.  The accipiter followed it but, fearing it might be something other than one of the many House sparrows we usually have in the yard, I stood and made a noise to dissuade the accipiter.  The accipiter flew a short distance across the yard and landed above one of our water features, giving me a direct, unobstructed view from only about 30′ away!  I took many photos, most of which were largely the same, before the accipiter again made an effort to resume the hunt for its victim.  I again dissuaded it, this time with the water hose. I realize that the accipiter has to eat too, but I would rather it dine on some of the House sparrows that neighbors raise in their yards!  

These photos probably rival or exceed the best accipiter photos I have ever taken!  

These are a few of the photos I took on August 8, 2023…

A Red-winged blackbird (not a migrant, but a rarity in our yard),,.

An Orange-crowned warbler, usually a migrant, but we occasionally have one or two which winter over)…

A very bright male House finch, a year-round resident…

A Black-headed grosbeak, a definite migrant who I assumed had already left the area for the season…

Female Anna’s hummingbird(s), some of which will over-winter here…

Juvenile Swainson’s thrush, in the process of migrating but pausing for a bath…

Juvenile Spotted towhee which will probably be in the area for the winter…

A Wilson’s warbler migrating out for the winter, one of several visits this day. Unless otherwise noted, most of these below are juveniles or females.

A male Wilson’s warbler...

An adult male Wilson’s warbler…

Tired of Wilson’s warblers? Here is a Cedar waxwing, supposedly a year-round resident but a visitor to our yard only during the summer and fall.

On August 7, 2023, I was sitting at my computer processing the previous day’s photographs when I looked out my office window and saw a female Western tanager bathing in the watercourse.  I wrapped up my computer activities as soon as I could but by the time I got downstairs and retrieved my camera the bird had left the yard. 

The sighting, combined with those I had August 5 (see my previous blog post), motivated me to spend the remainder of the afternoon in the yard.  There were some long periods of inactivity with regard to more interesting birds but overall it was worth my time.  

The tanager returned to the yard but wouldn’t descend from the trees to give me a descent photographic opportunity.  

A male Wilson’s warbler entered the yard and seemed inclined to pursue movement by any other species.  I managed a few photos and became even more excited when a second Wilson’s warbler joined the first! At one point they were both in the watercourse at the same time!  There were several visits over about a 20-30 minute period which kept me busy.  

My next excitement was with what initially appeared to be a House sparrow (the yard was full of them!).  Something didn’t look right and when I trained my telephoto on it, it appeared to be a juvenile Swainson’s thrush!  It only made a single pass through the yard, on the ground.  Although I obtained a good many photos, I would have liked to have been much closer.  

Next up was what I initially assumed was another Wilson’s warbler but a closer examination of it revealed it to be a Yellow warbler, a rarity around here.  In processing my photos I also found that a warbler that I had earlier identified as a Wilson’s warbler was, in fact, a Yellow warbler. (NOTE: I’ve become uncertain whether this is a Yellow or female Wilson’s warbler. I based my original determination on the bird’s body configuration but the relatively large eye indicates it may be another Wilson’s warbler.)

A few minutes later the Yellow warbler disappeared. I thought it returned, but in processing my photos I realized that I had photographed an Orange-crowned warbler!  This made three warbler species (see note above) in a single day!  (Remember from my post regarding 8/5/2023 that I had not seen a warbler since May?)  

Later in the afternoon I had yet another visit from a Wilson’s warbler with not a lot of opportunity for photographs.  

During the day we had visits from several other interesting birds, but not all migrants. A Brown creeper apparently sneaked a bath without me seeing it until it was a leaving.  Earlier this spring one or more creepers visited several times each day but they have been relatively rare after breeding season began.  

A Bewick’s wren took a leaf bath in one of our bushes but gave me no opportunity for photographs.  

I saw our first juvenile Brown-headed cowbird, the apparent stepchild of a pair of White-crowned sparrows which have been heavily working the yard for food to feed it the past several days.  

And finally, we still have at least one female Rufous hummingbird that visits the yard.  (No photos.)

Stay tuned for several more days of migrants passing through the yard! I’m overwhelmed with photography. On this day I took 283 photos. On 8/8/2023 I took 381! It will probably be several weeks before I catch up, and I won’t catch up very fast unless I quit taking so many photos! But the birds just keep coming!