08-JUL-2010
House Finch #6188
I am not getting many choices of pictures to post. The dependable birds are House Finches and House Sparrows. I moved their feeder to a new location so they'll have to look around a bit to find it. This fellow is staring at where the feeder was supposed to be.
07-JUL-2010
Lesser Goldfinch (Drinking from a Leaf) #6091
We had almost an inch of rain today in a big thunderstorm (thanks to hurricane Alex). There were lots a very wet birds. This is not the sharpest picture, but I thought it interesting to see that this male Lesser Goldfinch was getting his water by sipping directly from a leaf on the sumac bush.
06-JUL-2010
House Sparrow #6051
With our rainy season approaching, most of the birds seem to be getting their liquids elsewhere -- we see relatively few visitors to the pond. An exception is the House Sparrows, who will still occasionally sit at the waterfall and take a drink.
05-JUL-2010
Female Brewer's Blackbird #5995
We have been seeing more of the female Brewer's Blackbirds than we have the males. These birds are, as expected, duller in color than the males, but they still show a bit of the bluish iridescence on their feather when the sun hits them just right. They like to march around on the grass and look for bugs (which is fine with me).
04-JUL-2010
Male Brewer's Blackbird #5759
This is a better picture of a Brewer's Blackbird than the one I posted a few weeks ago -- since the sun is shining on this bird, you can see the nice iridescence in his feathers, which makes them look bluish.
03-JUL-2010
Bushtit #5718
It has been more than two months since I posted a picture of a Bushtit, and since we have seen any. They get plenty to eat in the summer without needing to be interested in the suet feeder. These are very active little birds, and very noisy as well. This fellow was pretty far away in an apple tree next doors, so the picture is very heavily cropped.
02-JUL-2010
Common Grackle with Broken Beak #5681
Grackles have very strong beaks, but this one obviously got into something too big for himself. He has been coming around every day, and is readily distinguishable by his chipped beak. It does not seem to bother him.
01-JUL-2010
Eurasian Collared-Dove #5657
Our Collared-Doves are often in the tops of the trees making calling sounds, but seem to be getting enough food and water without making too many forays to the ground where I can get a good look at them.
29-JUN-2010
House Finch in Pine Tree #5573
Today I did not keep any pictures of birds other than this cooperative House Finch in the pine tree. It has been a slow and somewhat frustrating time. There is a bit more bird variety very early and very late in the day, but then it is so dark that it is hard to get a picture that is not too blurry.
28-JUN-2010
House Sparrow Juvenile #5476
Here is one of the juvenile House Sparrows we have been enjoying -- this young bird is exploring some of the rocks around the pond, and later he(she?) went up to the waterfall and took a little drink. It's been fun watching the young birds grow in their independence.
27-JUN-2010
House Finch in the Pear Tree #5377
The weather has been nice, and we live in the middle of a suburban neighborhood. On days when the neighborhood kids are out playing, only the less skittish birds are brave enough to visit. The House Finches will fly away from the feeders when we step outside, but in a few minutes they are back, even if we are walking around in the back yard. If we sit still on the patio and just enjoy the outdoors, almost all the birds will eventually come back and pay a visit to the feeders and the pond.
26-JUN-2010
Lesser Goldfinch #5319
There's still not much bird variety recently. Today I chose this picture of a Lesser Goldfinch female because I liked the little drop of water that was delicately perched on the bird's head. Other than that, I think these birds are attractive.