August 5, 2023 dawned heavily overcast and cool. It was the kind of weather change that can sometimes spark bird activity so I planned to spend some extra time in the yard watching for unusual birds. After breakfast I received a text from neighboring birders that they had just seen a pair of Wilson’s warblers in their yard, so that encouraged me even more. I spent a couple of hours in the yard during the late morning but saw nothing unusual.

I took a break (OK, a nap!) and when I gazed out our kitchen window a little after 5pm I saw one of our coveys of California quail and so got my camera and headed back outside.

It’s getting more and more difficult to quickly detect the difference between the adult female quail and this year’s juveniles. This is one of the juveniles.

After just a few minutes of photographing quail I saw some color entering the yard and quickly realized it was a Black-headed grosbeak, the first I had seen since photographing one June 18! This bird was pretty obviously a juvenile… it showed no concern about flying to within about ten feet of my wife and I and taking two rather leisurely baths. I took LOTS of photos!

Within a few minutes of the grosbeak leaving the yard a male Wilson’s warbler appeared. It landed on a staging object just above the watercourse but failed to descend to the water. I obtained a few quick photos before it left the yard. Somewhat later I saw at least one more visit to the yard from inside the house.

And finally, this photo of a male Northern flicker…

I again spent significant time in the yard on August 6 with clearing weather. We had lots of birds but I saw nothing unusual.

I’ve detailed in prior posts my frustration regarding lack of interesting migratory birds in the yard this summer. I spend a lot of time monitoring the yard, an activity that would probably bore most people, even some birders. With not a lot of unusual bird activity, I’m always alert for something to photograph.

When presented with the opportunity I look for other photographic opportunities to occupy my time and interest. This may include Pacific tree frogs, butterflies, insects and plants. But during the warmer months (they hibernate during winter) some of my favorite non-avian subjects are the native Townsend’s chipmunks that visit the yard. I’ve had as many as four in the yard at one time but usually there are no more than two, and I have no idea what the greater population may be in our immediate area. It’s clear that one or two are more or less habituated to human interaction (at the modest cost of a few peanut kernels!).

Here are a couple of photos of one (?) of my friends I photographed on August 1, 2023.

Boredom has set in. As I’ve noted in prior posts, I haven’t had any unusual visitors since the end of May. The weather, generally devoid of cloud cover, has discouraged my photography. I still spend considerable time in the yard but am generally not obtaining quality photographs. But here are a few photos taken on July 30, 2023.

Not a particularly good photo for detail, but I liked this photo of a male House finch perched in a madrone tree…

We have Downy woodpeckers that visit the yard almost constantly. This juvenile male is waiting to access a suet feeder…

We still have a few American goldfinches left, this one a female…

We have both Black-capped chickadees and Chestnut-backed chickadees, both species difficult to photograph because they are very active and usually stay in the outer reaches of the yard.

Our juvenile California quail are getting so large it’s getting difficult to distinguish the juveniles from the adult females…

An adult male House sparrow. I’ll be running an August special, two for the price of one!

And finally, from July 24, a female Rufous hummingbird. Our salvias are almost bloomed out and we have very few hummingbirds left.

While most people living in the PacNW probably enjoy the sun, I find it detrimental to my bird photography. However, in the past two days (July 18-19, 2023) I’ve obtained some good photos of some of this year’s fledglings.

This is a Spotted towhee which has been extremely reticent to show itself for photos this year. It’s in transition from juvenile to adult plumage. Of all the bird species common in the area, I consider the plumage of the juvenile towhee the least like its adult plumage.

I’ve been patiently waiting for the opportunity to obtain good photos of our juvenile California quail. This year we didn’t see the juveniles until they were fairly large and I was unable to obtain good early photos of them for several weeks. On July 19, 2023, I finally had the opportunity to obtain some good photos.

I want to credit and thank my sister for assisting me with creating the new bird bath where these photos were taken. The construction of a bird bath for photographic purposes is a lot more complicated than you might think!

On this particulars day I had a rather rare observation… a female quail standing lookout while two males and about seven juveniles fed. It’s almost always the male that stands guard duty.

And here is the male on guard duty… but at this moment he’s distracted, performing a brief bit of personal grooming!

My photography has suffered over the past several weeks… full sun on most days. The sun introduces shadows which are caused by twigs, leaves and even the birds themselves. The sun also has a tendency to wash out colors and add contrast, all of which is not conducive to quality bird photography. 

On July 8, 2023, we had an overcast morning so I spent some time in the yard with my camera. The sun broke out mid-afternoon but by then some of the yard was in shadow, so I had a second session in the yard later in the day. 

Our yard has been devoid of what I consider interesting birds since the end of May. Among other disappointments, I haven’t seen a single warbler since May 31!  We usually have a few interesting visitors during the summer but this year no waxwings, crossbills, flycatchers, vireos or other interesting birds are gracing our yard. We have had a wide variety of juveniles from successful breedings but to a great extent the sun has kept me from obtaining quality photos of the juveniles. 

At the end of the winter we had a covey of some 18 California quail visiting the yard and we were expecting a banner crop this year, but the one or two coveys visiting the yard only have 3-5 juveniles, down from the 12+ we usually see. And this year we didn’t see the chicks until they were larger in size than in previous years. I was finally able to obtain some quality photos of the juveniles on July 8, but the juveniles are past the small chick phase. 

This male California quail was performing sentry duty while the chicks fed…

Two of this covey’s four chicks were venturing out for a water break…

And this was the opportunity for a photograph for which I had been waiting for a few weeks…

The day’s overcast also allowed me to obtain some good photos of a few of our other residents. 

Red-breasted nuthatch… 

Male juvenile Downy woodpecker…  

Male American goldfinch eating salvia seeds 

Male Anna’s hummingbird, probably a juvenile born this year… 

Male House finch…

For the past week or so we have had at least one Bewick’s wren that has been spending significant time in the yard. It’s been difficult to photograph because it almost never stops moving, spends most of its time undergrowth and hasn’t come anywhere near me…

Finally, I want to mention that on July 7, I made a trip to the Skagit Wild Bird Store and as I left the store I noted an American kestrel on a Memorial Highway power line near the store. I consider the species fairly rare in the area at this time of the year.