06-APR-2010
American Goldfinch #9793
We have returned to New Mexico after almost three weeks of vacation, and I have been curious to see how many bird watching changes there have been during that time. The back yard birds are not used to me watching them, so they seemed more skittish than usual. I saw very few Juncos today, and many fewer House Finches. The largest number of birds were the American Goldfinches, who are definitely sporting much yellower colors than before. This one was about as bright yellow as any I saw today.
03-APR-2010
Laughing Gull #9590
Leucophaeus atricilla (formerly Larus atricilla)
On Saturday 4/3/2010, we decided to visit the zoo in Houston, but everyone else in town had the same idea (the zoo was full), so plan B was to walk the boardwalk in Kemah, TX (generally near Galveston Island). I think almost everyone else in southern Texas had the same plan B, it was very crowded there also. There were, of course, many water birds flying around, and this Laughing Gull was diving into the water for a snack.
02-APR-2010
Northern Mockingbird #9558
The third leg of our vacation was to the Houston area to visit family and friends there. We took a walk on Friday 4/2/2010 through the Oyster Creek Park in Sugar Land, saw a few birds and a lot of people. This Northern Mockingbird was happy to have his picture taken.
27-MAR-2010
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's) #9417
On this Saturday, we took the dog for a walk around Green Lake in Seattle. It was a warm and sunny morning, and everyone in Seattle had the same idea. There were a few birds around, obviously habituated to throngs of people parading about, and we saw this Audubon's Warbler flitting about in a cherry tree (in full bloom).
26-MAR-2010
Mallard #9350
After spending almost a week in Southern California, we went north to Seattle, WA to visit another daughter. The trip was timed to see the rhododendrons blooming, and we've not been disappointed. We took a walk this Friday in the Washington Park Arboretum, and found a Mallard swimming in a little pond. All the little birds could tell that the dog we were walking thought birds would make great chew toys, so although we heard other birds, they were at least 100 feet up in the tops of the trees.
21-MAR-2010
Lark Sparrow #9227
We're still enjoying our vacation to visit our daughter in San Marcos, and we are seeing many birds not common at (our) home. This Lark Sparrow is patrolling the fence line at the horse farm where our daughter works.
18-MAR-2010
Common Yellowthroat #8816
We walked around Discovery Lake in San Marcos, California last week (this entry posted on 3/25/2010), while on vacation to visit family there. We saw quite a few birds there that we do not see at home in the Los Alamos area. This Common Yellowthroat is a very strikingly colored bird, and was sitting on the corner of a pier overlooking the water. This is definitely a place we want to come back to on a later visit.
17-MAR-2010
American Goldfinch #8670
Some of the very large number of American Goldfinches that hang around our feeders are beginning to show patches of the bright yellow feathers characteristic of their summer plumage. I take this as evidence that even the birds know that spring is coming. When there is an El Nino cooking in the Pacific, we usually get wetter/snowier winters, and precipitation this winter has been well above the recent average. But even the snow from two days ago has now completely melted off, so when Spring officially comes next week, I think we'll be ready.
16-MAR-2010
Dark-Eyed Junco (Gray-Headed) #8480
Most of the Juncos we have are Oregon Juncos, Pink-Sided Juncos, and Gray-Headed Juncos. I have seen one or two Slate-Colored Juncos, maybe. This is a good example of the Gray-Headed Junco -- the feathers are dark between the bill and eye, there is a distinct brown patch on the back, the cap and wings are mostly gray, and he is lighter in the belly (with very little or no rufous color).
15-MAR-2010
Northern Flicker (Red x Yellow) #8347
Colaptes auratus cafer x auratus
So after all the snow passed through yesterday, we ended up with 7 very wet inches of snow. All the trees and shrubs were a winter wonderland for a few hours in the morning, before everything mostly melted away by afternoon. This Northern Flicker, an intra-specific hybrid between the Yellow-Shafted and Red-Shafted subspecies of Northern Flicker, has become a regular visitor to the back yard. Here, he's looking for a place to land and dig up seed covered by the snow.
14-MAR-2010
Cassin's Finch #8301
We seem to get a larger variety of birds coming around when a storm is moving in. Today started out sunny, but clouds moved in around noon and we are expecting several inches of snow overnight. The birds seem to know this. (By 7PM, we indeed did have 4-5 inches of snow.) We had a Spotted Towhee drop by and rustle the leaves on the ground, looking for bugs I think, but I was not able to get a clear picture of him. I hope he comes back.
13-MAR-2010
American Goldfinch #8085
The weather is warming up, and we have some nice sunny days where it looks like Spring is not far away. American Goldfinches are the most common visitors we have -- up to 30 individuals at a time. This one found a reasonably nice perch for me in the White Pine tree.