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Category Archives: birds

Common Redpolls at the Feeders

Common Redpolls are an uncommon species in our area. If they do arrive here, it’s in the coldest part of the winter and they are attracted to our feeders. Some years I don’t see them at all. Last year was one of those years. This winter there is quite a flock of them coming daily to munch on black oil sunflower seeds and niger seeds. I’ve also seen them eating privet berries. They now outnumber our more commonly observed American Goldfinches, House Finches and Pine Siskins. They seem like jaunty little birds with their red crowns and the males’ pink breast.

According to Bird Web “they are arctic and sub-arctic breeders and in the winter they inhabit various kinds of semi-open country, including woodland edges and brushy or weedy fields.” Also, “they have pouches in their throats that allow them to gather large amounts of food quickly, and then retreat to a safe place to process the food. In winter, they will drop from a tree into deep snow and make a tunnel about a foot long to a roosting chamber.” I would love to find their tunnels!

A Mourning Dove forages for seeds on the ground with the redpolls.

A Great Egret Near Twisp

Last week I got to watch this stately bird preen and preen some more in the morning sunshine. The bird didn’t mind me watching and taking pictures and was a lot more cooperative than the Mallards in the nearby pond. Great Egrets nest south of here in central Washington and after they fledge, they disperse to various areas, some going north like this one. Hopefully it will get some sense and migrate south soon, before the beaver ponds freeze over. There was a skim of ice that morning when I watched it and we’ve had smatterings of snow twice this week already.

Summertime

Just a few images from our hillside. Lots of baby birds this time of year.

Full moon on July 1
Fireweed
Western Bluebird
Says Phoebes
Says Phoebes
Cedar Waxwing watching its babies on the ground
Newly fledged Cedar Waxwing

An Owl on the Porch

Yesterday morning Ken saw a Great-horned Owl roosting on our porch when he went out to the kitchen. It did not stick around. This morning I awoke to the sound of angry robins and wrens and I thought that the owl must be back.

Thinking this might be a good photo opportunity, I stayed in bed waited for the sun to come up but it never really got bright this morning. This is because of wildfires burning in British Columbia and other parts of Washington.

Finally, I quietly walked out to the kitchen not even talking to the dogs and sure enough, that owl was perched on the snowshoes hanging above the deck. Robins were constantly hollering at it and occasionally dive bombing it. The dogs went out the front door and back via the porch and the owl just watched them from above.

I got a few images and came up here to process them. A few minutes later I went down for my tea and the owl was gone but the robins were still pitching fits about it. I looked around and found it on the bird bath and got a few more shots while it evaded the robins and then returned to the snow shoes. It hardly seems to be sleeping with all the robin ruckus around here. I wonder how long it will stay?

Bluebird Morning

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.