On May 16, 2024, we had a male Western tanager visit the yard and watercourse, giving me a multitude od opportunities for photographs.
We’ve since had one other (May 24) but no females.
On the same day we had a male Wilson’s warbler. We’ve been averaging only about one warbler sighting a day, drastically down from this time period last year!
On May 15, 2024, I had a three-warbler day in the yard. It began with a male Wilson’s warbler that bathed in the watercourse.
Next up was an Orange-crowned warbler that took a lengthy bath in the watercourse.
Finally, we had a visit from a male Yellow-rumped (Audubon’s) warbler which I didn’t get to fully observe due to dinner being served for guests.
I’ll also include this photo of a Brown creeper, a welcome guest bathing in our stone bird bath.
I had my most interesting birding day that I’d had in a couple of weeks on May 13, 2024.
Upon arriving in Washington Park for my morning walk on May 13, I almost immediately encountered a Pileated woodpecker working on a very short stump in a large clearing. I’ve found these birds to be very tolerant of human proximity in the past and so I attempted to move closer to the bird for a photo with my iPhone. I was marginally successful but the bird flew before I could get anything resembling a good photo.
While I was attempting to photograph the woodpecker, the leucistic Song sparrow flew to my location hoping for a handout. The bird has now been hanging out in the park for well over a year.
My yard birding day began about mid-morning when I looked out my office window and saw a female Brown-headed cowbird bathing in our watercourse. I had no opportunity to get downstairs and photograph the bird so my yard birding day began with another lost photographic opportunity.
Upon arriving in the yard with my good camera mid-morning, I had just sat down when a Chipping sparrow hopped into view! I recall seeing one in the yard on only one other occasion. It was in view only very briefly before it disappeared, yet another photographic opportunity lost!
At this point my photographic opportunities began to change. The first female Wilson’s warbler showed up and toured the yard, giving me ample opportunities for photographs. It, or another one, made at least three appearances.
Next up was a fledged juvenile Dark-eyed (Oregon) junco which suddenly appeared on one of my staging sticks directly in front of me. I was elated because it indicated that the single pair that had remained in the yard had had a successful breeding season. (In past seasons this species had been parasitized by cowbirds.) This initial juvenile was soon joined by two others!
On this day I realized that some of the birds I had been seeing and photographing were juveniles as I saw them being fed. In addition to the juncos this included Red-breasted nuthatches and Black-capped chickadees. I also realized that the lethargic Pine Siskins I had been seeing were apparently juveniles.
In mid-afternoon I had a quick appearance by a male Wilson’s warbler but it gave me no opportunity for a photograph.
I’ll round ut this post with a pair of Housenfinches that came to the watercourse.
All in all, it was a great day for bird observations even if the photographic opportunities were somewhat disappointing.
On May 12, 2024, we had our first really warm day and about our fourth cloudless day in a row, complicating my birding photography. We were expecting the arrival of guests in the afternoon but I managed to spend some time in the yard during the late morning. I was encouraged by three sightings of a male Wilson’s warbler within a period of about 20-30 minutes but when no other migrants arrived I decided the sightings were probably of the same bird. And disappointingly, the bird never accessed a water feature and I was unable to obtain a photograph of it.
I managed another yard session late in the afternoon and was very surprised when a Warbling vireo landed on one of my staging sticks directly in front of me! This is a species that visits the yard only once every few years! My motion in attempting to swivel my camera in its direction frightened the bird and it flew without me being able to obtain a photo! I was zero for two on the day for migrants!
I was able to obtain photos of a Golden-crowned kinglet repeatedly accessing one of our water features.
And while I’m on the subject of golden crowns, I was astounded when a Golden-crowned sparrow appeared in the yard. I thought that our last of about a dozen had left about a week before, but we clearly had a lingerer!
One of my most interesting observations during this and the previous day was the sighting of one of the small Pacific Tree frogs that has made its home among the rocks of our watercourse. The frog is slightly smaller than my thumbnail but is capable of emitting extremely loud vocalizations! I was able to photograph the frog as it inflated a sac under its chin and emitted loud croaks.
This afternoon I watched as one of the frogs laboriously hopped across open ground from our water course to a static water feature about five feet away. I watched through my telephoto lens as the frog made its journey, but the frog’s features didn’t look right. As it neared the second water feature I realized I was seeing one frog on top of another… I don’t think they were playing “leap frog”! I then watched as the frogs independently made their way back to the watercourse.
It had been an interesting day for observations but a disappointing day for photography.
While all of us probably welcome the sunshine and warmer weather, it’s not conducive for bird photography! The contrast between shadows and bright light makes it much more difficult to obtain good photographs. As a photographer f must deal with brightness, shadows, back- lighting, glare and reflections and adjust my camera settings accordingly. It doesn’t help that we have a Golden Chain tree that is now in full bloom which not only hides the birds from view (especially warblers and goldfinches) but also reflects off the surface of our watercourse and any wet surfaces. The birds’ activity means the camera settings must be constantly adjusted as the birds move among different lighting situations.
Added to these problems with the actual photography is the fact that we are not seeing nearly as many spring migrants as in past years. This reduces the opportunities for photographing some of our more interesting and colorful birds. My own observations of migrating birds, applied to our own yard in the Cap Sante neighborhood are, in a word, alarming!
For most of the days in the past couple of weeks I have spent three to four hours in the yard waiting to photograph migrants. On most of those days I only have photographs of an Orange-crowned warbler or two to show for it, and even when one enters the yard I don’t always get the opportunity to photograph it! Where are all the migrants that should, judging by this period in past years, be coming through?
Despite so many things working against me there are some successes. I’m probably averaging about 120 photos a day and although I would like to be taking photos of many other species I am, on occasion, getting some very good photos… some of which I’ll display below.
So here is a selection of some of the better photographs I’ve taken in the past few days,,,
A male Golden-crowned kinglet. This species is usually more of a winter resident than a spring/summer resident.
This Red-breasted nuthatch is usually difficult to photograph because of its activity level and the fact that it usually frequents a water feature that is out of good photographic range. (Note the aforementioned Golden Chain Tree in the background.)
This Bewick’s wren has been enjoying our inverted suet feeder for the past couple of months.
This male Wilson’s warbler is only one of two I’ve seen this season. In past years I’ve considered it our most common warbler.
A male Anna’s hummingbird taking a bath in the watercourse…
A male House finch…
And finally, a female Bushtit. This is probably the second best Bushtit photo I’ve ever taken! (The best was taken less than one second before the one shown here!)
