Anna's Hummingbirds

A hummer can be the cutest whirring-winged creature to us,

but to themselves, it could be the total opposite.   Today I observed continuous battles between two young ones. 

"I'm gonna get my enemy."

"Bang!@#"   The sugar water feeder is now a battlegound.  One can not drink gingerly any longer.  If you do, you'll be a dead bird. 

But between the rounds of chasing and fleeing, the two can pretend not to mind each other on a bare tree for the time being.  Well, even for little birds like a hummer, the life is sometimes very tough.

Cooper's Hawk

One morning I was birdwatching through the patio sliding door with a camera in my hands.  Wow!! Out of nowhere a giant bird flew across the backyard.  Before I did anything else, that bird came right back and landed in front of my patio.

It was a Cooper's Hawk.  I did not dare to move, afraid that the hawk would sense a shadow and fly away at any moment.   I focused the camera lens on the eyes.

It scanned around with wicked eyes, but could not find a squirrel which was here a second earlier.    I was relieved and locked this encounter with my photos.

Downy Woodpecker

I heard a loud calling of "chi, chi, chi."  After a moment a faint calling of "chi, chi, chi" from far away.  Trying to find out who it could be, I sneaked behind an opening in the camouflage curtains out on the patio.

There it was a young male Dawny Woodpecker perched on an apple tree branch busy talking.  It comes to visit my backyard to eat the suet all year around.  A male has this bright red color on its nape.

Red-tailed Hawk

A red-tailed hawk  perches on a tall sequoia tree here, looking around on a nice day.

One time I found a few feathers left thrown in the middle of my backyard lawn.    Another time I found splatters of blood on the patio when I came back from an errand.  No one saw what happened, but I guessed probably a hawk did it.

It is a beautiful creature, but it is a predator. Yesterday when I was in the kitchen still working on the Thanksgiving dinner, two of my guests saw a red-tailed hawk landed on the patio right in front of their eyes. It took only a couple of seconds, failing to grab any victim and flew away. What a memorable moment!!!  I just missed it...

Anna's Hummingbirds

Rain, rain, rain....  Big drops of rain won't hinder little birds to come to my backyard where they are sure to find food during the cold winter months.

Every morning I see an Anna's Hummingbird.  During the summer, I used to have one friendly Mama hummer who used to let me come near to take a closeup shot.  Once when I stuck out my finger, it touched me with its beak!!!  At the end of the summer, it showed up with two young ones.

Now the cold weather is back, I only see a couple of young ones: one male and one female.

Here, a pretty young male Anna's hummer. 

This is a female with a bug at the corner of the mouth.

Purple Finch

A Purple Finch comes to my backyard once in a while.  Last year I noticed in the fall and again this year.  Looking similar to the House Finch, a regular resident of the backyard, I often notice the differences on a computer screen.

#1 Difference:  eyebrow (more showing in a male)

Next day, Mr. Purple Finch showed up at the same place.  His wife might have told him to check on this new feeder.

#2 Difference:  male color is deep pink (not pink or orange of House Finch)

On a sunny day after a week of rain, it decided to explore on the ground a little bit just like the other birds were doing.

 And onto the fence where it was warm and comfy, it stayed there for a while before flying away.

Come back soon.

Golden-crowned Sparrows and Robin

Golden-crowned sparrows come to my backyard in the spring and the fall.  This fall, 3-4 of them are hanging around here before going to the coast to spend the winter.  The other day I noticed a big fight between two males.

  Watch out for the airborne attacker!!

(The one in the back is female.)

Karate Kick!!!

Back off for good!!

At another corner of the backyard, a robin is busy pulling out this LONG worm. 
P-P-Pulling with his all might. 

It was taking longer than usual....

At last,  the worm is out.  Robin swallowed it up in a wink. 

It was a delicious lunch.

Northern Flicker and Varied Thrush

The cold rain has returned after a plentiful harvest of summer berries.  Since food has become scarse, Northern Flickers are busy picking on the suet in my backyard.  Today five of them were flying around, chasing after one another.

One was flying like a bullet from a tall tree towards a hanging suet.

Another one waited for its turn to eat.

Not a frequent visitor, Varied Thrush, likes to find food here, too.

Hawk and Hummer

This afternoon I heard crows making a lot of noise.  Sure enough I spotted a red-tailed hawk being harassed by three crows.

After so much of it, the hawk was off to another hunting place.

Later I found a hummer trying out my new feeder now that all their favorite fushias and red flowers were gone with arrival of freezing temperatures.

Anna's hummingbirds are here all year long.  Some of them let me come very close to take pictures.

Merlin (Falcon), female

A new bird: a female Merlin was looking down on me, showing off her wings and tail on top of a nearby sequoia.

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