At the End of Summer

Lately a flock of American Goldfinches stopped over.  They are changing their color from the bright yellow to dull yellow getting ready for winter.  The right bottom one is a male with the changes taking place.  The left top is a mom teaching the young one (left bottom)  to feed on its own.

Aha, here is another young one who is still being fed from a step mom, who is a Oregon Junco.   The young one looks like a Cowbird.   This summer, just like last summer, this junco raises a cowbird young since mother Cowbird must have laid her egg in the junco's nest again.  God bless the mother Junco for her devotion.

"No wonder you are always hungry.  You are now twice as big as me."

Eclipse Day

This morning we observed the solar eclipse in Oregon.  Many people travelled to central Oregon to see the total eclipse; we stayed home to see the partial eclipse.

For safety, I made a hole on a biscuit and let the solar rays come through onto a white paper (shown upside down).

It took about an hour from the start till the finish.  Because of the partial one in my area, it did not get very dark.  It did, however, became  halfway hazed just like with smog.  Also it became cold with the sun's energy being obstructed.  

What happened to birds around here?  First of all not many birds visited my backyard as if they knew something weird was happening and they rather stayed home.  Per the Science Dept  report from the University of Washington, crows communicate:  their parents tell their off springs what to watch out, which continues thru generations.  So were they careful today?   Have they told other birds to watch out also?  Close to the end of the solar show, a Northern Flicker was squawking loud at the top of a neighbor's tall tree.

"The sun is back now, everyone."

"A young Scrub Jay came down to let me know he was doing fine."

New Equipment

My camera with a 300 mm lens is now old and too heavy for me to hold onto; therefore, I decided to purchase a new lighter camera with similar functions.  It is not a mirror less camera, but is amazingly light due to aluminum and plastic being used. 

A bumble bee came around to be the first model.

A Rufous Hummingbird still likes my fuchsia.

He/she likes a bee balm, too.

"A comfortable perch to slurp the nectar."

Thru the Window Panes

My house now has energy saving triple-pane windows, the good news, but for photo shooting it is bad news.  So if I have to take a photo thru a window pane, I have to keep the camera as straight as possible against the window panes to minimize distortion.  Here it is, the results of experimentation.

Rufous Hummingbird: 

"I like the red honeysuckle this summer.  Super nectar."

"I know someone is taking a picture behind the

window.  Take a good one anyway."

Young Ones

Young ones are still around with their parent in my backyard.  One hot day I saw a mother Spotted Towhee and its young together on the fence.

"Ready for a nice photo.  Say "Cheese."

On another occasion, I saw a American Goldfinch dad with its young.

"Dad, show me how to take a bath here."

All summer long they are busy raising their young ones.

A Summer Visitor

Lavenders are almost finished.  Every year I make lavender wands and lavender sache.  Lately I decorated the sache bags with Turkish Oya lace (needle crocheted).

Last week I saw a female Black-headed Grosbeak at my feeder.

She was hungry and munched while I was staring at her through the camera lens.  A tough woman.

"I came here for the first time this year. "