More winter birds hanging around our place. Pine Siskin. American Goldfinch. House Cassin’s Finch. Evening Grosbeak. Red-winged Blackbird. Bald Eagle. And my favorite of this group, White-breasted Nuthatch.
Category Archives: birding
Yesterday was a perfect day for bird watching. Many hummers visited the feeder including Calliope and Rufus Hummingbirds. A House Wren sat on the deck railing chattering continually. An American Goldfinch glowed yellow under the warm sun. I saw a male Calliope Hummingbird on my walk. Also on my walk I watched a Lewis’ Woodpecker confront a European Starling over a potential nest hole in a dead tree. And a Spotted Towhee called from a high perch.
Ken’s mother used to sit and watch the hummingbirds for hours. My mother would have enjoyed them too.
female Rufus Hummingbird
female Calliope Hummingbird
male Rufus Hummingbird
House Wren
American Goldfinch
male Calliope Hummingbird
European Starling and Lewis’s Woodpecker
Spotted Towhee
The western larch trees, sometimes called tamarack, provide homes for Williamson’s Sapsuckers and other birds. The male and female appear quite different and there was a time when they were classified as two separate species. I found a nest just below our campsite and was able to photograph the two birds coming and going as they fed their young. It was a long ways up in the tree and I had to sit down and lean back to get these images and wait patiently while they foraged for insects in between feedings. If you scroll through the photos you will get a good idea of the two different plumages of the male and female. And at the end are a few other birds.
There were lots of loons and they will get a separate post.
female Williamson’s Sapsucker
The male waits while she feeds the young
And off he goes for more bugs
American Coot
Eastern Kingbird
Red-winged Blackbird
On the weekend of June 1, I visited my friend Betty for a long weekend of birding. North Central Washington Audubon Society hosted a big day on June 1, in hopes of counting all or many of the birds in our four-county (Chelan, Douglas, Ferry and Okanogan) area. It’s a HUGE geographic area. And much of it is remote and lightly populated with people.
Betty lives in Ferry County, the area with the fewest people and lots of really nice bird habitats. I birded my way over there on Thursday; Friday we scouted our area and visited a friend in the next area; Saturday we marathon birded from early in the morning til well into the evening and Sunday I worked my way home slowly til it got too hot to be any fun. We had some rain and once it came down in such a downpour we were concerned for our safety and decided to make a hasty departure. There was hail and lots of sunshine too. Somehow I managed to only photograph birds and not Betty or the dogs or the horses or chickens. Looking forward to next time!
Barrow’s Goldeneye with babies
drake Mallard
Northern Shoveler and Black Terns
Black Tern
American Coot
coot baby
Redhead
Coots are pretty cute
Pied-billed Grebe
Yellow-headed Blackbird. Or as Ken would say, Black-bodied Yellowbird.
Ruddy Ducks have a very dramatic courtship display
I think he is admiring himself
Mallard
Mallard pair
Common Loon nesting in the rain
Common Loon in a downpour
Common Loon carrying her youngster
Common Goldeneye with babies
Common Loon on a nest in the sunshine
My birthday is the first day of Spring – the Equinox – and I like to celebrate it out in nature. This year the snow lingers most everywhere in our region making hikes or even long walks pretty challenging. So we went down to the big river – the Columbia – where the temperature is more moderate and the snow melts more quickly. Still, there was snow on the ground. Not everywhere so we all were happy to walk or in the dogs’ case, run on ground for a change. And Sky got to jump in the river so all of her wishes came true.
Ken and I watched birds and enjoyed the diversity of species we got to see. Sometimes in winter there are just not many birds around. Spring and migration change all that. We saw over fifty species in a few hours of birding. That includes the birds at home. One of those was a Great Horned Owl that woke me up before dawn, hooting from a snag in our yard. I had hoped to maybe see Sandhill Cranes but it seems that they are put off by all the remaining snow. I imagine when they do head north, they won’t stop here very long since they need to get to their nesting grounds. We did see lots of ducks and geese and swans too.
I think these are all Tundra Swans
Mixed flock of Mallards, Northern Pintails and maybe some American Wigeons too.
A lone Snow Goose with a group of Canada Geese
First Killdeer of the spring
Horned Grebe
This beaver kept a close eye on us as we ate our lunch from the tailgate
Common Loon
I never did get a clear view of this not quite grown up Bald Eagle
My Everyday Photos 