The Western Bluebirds returned last month. They were a couple weeks earlier than usual. We still welcomed them with open arms. This one is perched on the neighbor’s nest box above our house. They have been checking out our boxes also. Hopefully a few pairs will settle in for the season.
November is not really a great month for birding but I did manage to see a few interesting birds and get some photos of them. Most of these were taken from our dining room looking out at our feeder snags.
Yesterday I noticed some Mourning Dove feathers on the ground. It was probably nabbed by the Sharp-shinned Hawk. She’s been a regular visitor for several weeks but this is the first evidence I’ve found indicating she is successfully hunting here. Mostly she cranes her neck and watches for some small unsuspecting bird to return to the feeder. I think she’s a female because she is rather large for a sharpie. The males are smaller.
The Northern Pygmy Owl was here before the snow fell. I saw it catch a vole and I wonder where it is hunting now. Voles are hard to find with the thick snow cover.
The female Northern Harrier was seen on a walk at Big Valley. She was on the ground unnoticed by us and lifted into the air when the dogs got too close. We called them back and she returned to the same spot. I imagine she had a meal – maybe a vole or mouse. We walked on and left her alone. A male Northern Harrier would have been silvery gray.
Northern Shrikes are winter birds here. They nest farther north, in Canada. They also eat small birds, reptiles and mammals in addition to insects. This one made a lunge at a dove, a much larger bird, with no luck when I saw it.
There have been lots of Northern Flickers around recently. They particularly like the suet feeders. They share them with Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers and also Black-billed Magpies.
The Pileated Woodpeckers have had a heyday with our burned trees. Insects invaded the trees almost immediately after the fire and then the Pileated’s began to break off great chunks of blackened bark in search of the larvae. They continue to return day after day so they must be successful. The little woodpeckers are also hard at those dead trees.
The pair of Bald Eagles were on a well-used snag above Big Twin Lake. In the summer I often see an Osprey there.
This male American Kestrel perched near our bird feeders this morning searching for a meal. Since most of our hillside is blackened and many of the small mammals were killed in the fire, it makes sense that birds of prey might be hanging around our house. Chipmunks, gophers and mice have found some refuge in our ‘green’ spot. I am happy to see the kestrel as well as the Great-horned Owls that we’ve seen and heard after dark. We don’t want to be overrun with these small mammals.
The American Kestrel also eats small birds and insects. It is North American’s smallest falcon. Its eyes are huge for the size of its head and that makes it an effective predator. They are cavity nesting birds and will use nest boxes. Our neighbor has built two or three boxes specifically for kestrels and this bird may have used one earlier this year. I know that at least one box was active. This species has sexually dimorphic plumage, meaning that the male and female look quite different. These images were made looking through the dining room window.
Our six days of camping were not really enough to cover all the ground in northern Okanogan County but we sure did make a dent in it. We left camp a couple times to drive out and do some exploring. Along the way we found more birds and some more interesting plants as well.
No doubt, seeing nesting Great Gray Owls was a highlight of our week!
There are a few species of small sandpipers that are often lumped together as ‘peeps’. The three species look similar and can be difficult to identify. I used to look at lots of shorebirds and got so I could remember the key things to look for but it’s been so long that I’ve lost much of that info. Groups of shorebirds are fascinating to watch as they run back and forth feeding and leap into the air and do it all as one big mass. I found this large group that had hundreds of birds at the Ocean City beach access a little south of where we were staying. We saw smaller flocks on our beach. The dogs stayed in the car while I watched and photographed the birds on the incoming tide. I stayed in one place and the birds came ever closer with the waves. There were other people walking and fishing and driving on the beach and nothing seemed to bother them. I think these birds are Western Sandpipers but I may be wrong.
My Everyday Photos 