19-APR-2010
Lesser Goldfinch (Female) #0749
In the last few days, Lesser Goldfinches have been coming around. They winter year-round in Albuquerque, but it's a bit too cold here. One did stray up here earlier in the year (Jan 27, see
[this link]), but I am now seeing them regularly. They are hard to tell apart from the American Goldfinches, but have a much smoother coloration in the feathers, not as "splotchy" as the American Goldfinch females.
18-APR-2010
Bushtit #0603
The Bushtits used to flock the suet feeder regularly, but lately they are less common visitors. One or two will show up and poke around the remnants of the suet, but they seem to be more interested in the new growth on the trees. For such tiny little birds, they make a whole lot of noise. I can tell when they are in a tree even when I can't see them, because they are always chattering.
17-APR-2010
Black-chinned Hummingbird #0490
One of our newer spring arrivals is the Black-chinned Hummingbird, who has discovered the feeder we put out earlier in the week. Since seeing him for the first time, he makes fairly regular appearances, about every 5 - 15 minutes, in the early morning and late afternoon. The lower throat feathers show a pretty, iridescent violet color when you see him in the right light (click on thumbnail for a larger image)
16-APR-2010
House Finch #0391
There's a storm moving in, and tomorrow is going to be rainy and cooler. Today was a fairly typical day for birds. We have seen a few Black-Chinned Hummingbirds visiting the feeder, but none have posed long enough to get a decent picture taken. You can see that the blackberry canes are leafing out -- this House Finch is wondering where his feeder went (in for the summer).
15-APR-2010
American Robin #0331
The Robins are spending a lot of time chasing each other around -- I assume that's a spring thing. We worked in the flower gardens late in the afternoon, and when we went inside, a few Robins came around to see what interesting tidbits we stirred up.
13-APR-2010
Female House Finch #0232
Today was another very dry, sunny, windy day. Tomorrow should be better, at least from the standpoint of wind. The House Finches seemed to have paired up -- I always see a male and a female together, but rarely ever see more than two at a time. Based on their songs though, there are plenty of House Finches around. We can hear them singing from the trees when we take walks.
12-APR-2010
American Goldfinch #0157
We are not seeing large flocks of Goldfinches any more, only 3 or 4 at a time. But today was a very windy day (>30 mph, gusts to 40mph), and only a few birds were out in the open battling the breezes. This one appears to have almost completed molting into his summer breeding plumage.
11-APR-2010
Common Grackle #0048
What I once thought was a Brewer's Blackbird is actually a Common Grackle. I made sure this morning that I had my camera with me when I was looking for birds in the early morning. Although the sun is up at 7AM, it is still shadowy in the southeast corner of my little back yard, so after I heard this bird (and three others) chatting with each other, I took this picture of one high up in a tree across the street. To my knowledge, this is the first time I have seen Grackles here (they were common in Texas when I went to school there).
09-APR-2010
Eurasian Collared Dove #9977
I am not seeing much variety in birds at the moment. The birds are probably upset with me because we are spending a lot of time outdoors in the back yard, doing spring cleanup. The Collared Doves are always early to come back and see what's available.
07-APR-2010
Townsend's Solitaire #9826
Our Townsend's Solitaire played around in the pond for a bit longer than usual. Today he decided to see if eating algae would be fun. When we put a little pond in our back yard, I thought it was for birds and fish, but instead, what we seem to be raising is string algae. We need to go out and buy some tadpoles to eat it all up. Tomorrow will be a serious pond-cleaning day.
