Drilling is My Task.

Early afternoon on my magnolia tree, I have seen a Red-breasted Sapsucker a few times.   This time it came and started drilling onto the magnolia tree.

Can you see the drilled holes going around the tree trunk?  Was the bird drinking the sap or eating the bugs below the bark?

As you can see, the light is not ideal for a photo shooting.  The bird likes to come here when the sun is behind the other trees to hide him better.

"I have made all these holes!"

"I am stuck close to the tree so that you can not see me well."

Wetland Revisited

After a week's rain, we grabbed a chance to see birds at the wetland on a sunny day.   As always, a Great Blue Heron silently stood observing the activities of other birds.

From the far right corner of the water, a Great Egret just splashed out to come flying into my view.

As I turned the corner of the trail, I saw a flock of Canada Goose taking off.

Up above,  swans were making a formation to head to another feeding spot nearby.  Too far to identify whether they were Tundra Swan or Trumpeter Swan.

It was a busy day at the reservoir.  A nice walk for us.

One of Many Cousins

In the dark morning, someone sneaked into my backyard.   A couple of years ago I saw one up on my pine tree, but that one  never came to the feeder.   This one was brave enough to let me take a picture.

In the shade:

"Hi,  I am a Fox Sparrow.  On my chest/tummy I have triangular spots."

In the sun:

"I am a sooty colored subspecies of the Pacific Northwest.  

I have a lot of cousins.  Some in Alaska can be reddish; 

others in western mountains are slate colored."

Returned for Winter

It's been dark and rainy for a few days.  A typical Northwest winter weather.  When the weather gets cold, a nice photo is difficult to take due to lack of sufficient light.  But on the other hand, I can see winter birds returning.  Close to the noon one day, I was checking on birds out in the backyard, I noticed the familiar fretting movements amongst the branches.  As I stared into the area, there it was a very tiny winter bird, Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

"I'm eating bugs on the fruit tree leaves."

As it disappeared from my view, to my surprise it flew even closer to me.

"Also I like your suet here."

"I'm in rush as usual.  I will be back."

On a Wet Day

Cedar Waxwings like to eat berries.  I have seen them munching my blueberries in June and other berries out at the nearby wetland during the warm months.  Now that the weather has changed to cold and most of berries are gone, one Cedar Waxwing stopped over  here to dine on some not so sweet beauty berries.

"I just saw these pretty purple berries."

"When food gets scarce,  even sour berries can taste good."

Neon Blue

The sky around here is a territory for Scrub Jays.  Rarely did another Jay venture into here.

But last week was different.  I saw a Stellar Jay who proudly squawked loud and returned a few more times and seemed to hang around here for several days.

"I like it here.  Water and seeds, everything I need is here."

"I am here to stay.  Understood, guys....  "

As the bird warned, I saw him often for a week.  The bright neon blue feathers really showed up in my backyard.

A New Bird on the Block

The weather is now wet.  A typical Oregon autumn/winter weather.  Between the rain, the sun sometimes shows up.

I thought I saw a chickadee, which is a resident here.  But with the help of a zoom lens, I discovered I saw someone new.

"Hi, I come here once in a while, but you never noticed me before."

As I looked closely, he/she had the black marking covering the eye.  It is not the black-capped Chickadee which I always see in my backyard.

"I am "Mountain Chickadee".  Nice to meet you."

Welcome to my backyard!  I hope to see you more often.