I'd just mentioned in a comment yesterday that there hadn't been many birds around here lately, and all of a sudden I was seeing them all over!
I hadn't seen any robins for a long time, but this one was part of a small flock that appeared for a while yesterday morning. I hope they made good progress going south, because there's a possibility of more of that 'white stuff' in our near future. Aargh.
The bluebirds were still here all day yesterday! I managed to get a shot of the female this time. She's not nearly as bright and pretty as her mate, but still quite lovely. I saw both of them drinking out of the birdbath, and then believe it or not, they each took a bath... brrrr! The female jumped all the way in and did the whole splashy bath thing. The male perched on the rim and only dipped his head in and shook it as he fluttered his wings around... what a wimpy bath (not that I blame him)! ;-)
Below is a junco. They're plentiful this time of year. I guess he was camera shy, because he turned his back on me. But this was the only decently focused photo I managed to get through the dirty window under the deck.
Someone (Dale?) correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this next bird is a song sparrow, possibly an immature one. He wasn't very cooperative, either, and flew away before I could get a good picture.
Update: I knew Dale would know! Turns out it's a Harris's sparrow. See the comments for more info. Thanks, Dale!
And last but certainly not least, look at this nice red tailed hawk I happened to see land across the driveway as I still had the camera in my hand!
So, we do have birds, and Willow was well-entertained yesterday.
2 comments:
I don't think it's a song sparrow.
It could be, but I think it's some other type in the juvenile stage.
That black on it's chest will become more pronounced. What does a female Harris sparrow look like?
I don't have my bird book.
I was seeing some bluebirds last week also.
I finally made a run to Menards and got some bird seed for this winter.
We had better enjoy these transients while they are still passing through.
Dale
The reason I was thinking song sparrow is that it had stripes on top of its head and also along both sides of its breast, which you can't see in my photo. But the beak didn't look right.
So you could be right about the Harris's sparrow. The beak definitely matches the pic in my bird book. The wing looks like a match, too, and the dark area could spread as it matures.
Okay, I just did a Google image search for Harris's. There are many pics that match my bird! So that's gotta be what it is. And I'll update my post.
You're so smart, Dale! :-)
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