Sunny Bath

This afternoon was very sunny, had not been watching outside for a few hours. Then around 5 pm, we looked out and saw a brown creeper on our spruce tree copse, and in a few moments, he was on the tripod at the birdbath along with three immatures. They flitted around and finally settled in to bathe. The most we have ever seen is one at a time! This was pretty cool. A lot of immature birds of various species coming in to bathe, the last several days.

Blink of An Eye

Three sightings in the last 3-4 days -- owl flying over our house in the late evening on Solstice, I looked one way and Tom looked the other, he saw the owl, I did not. Next morning, I saw a harrier fly over our backporch while I was glancing out the back window, no more than 10' up off the ground. Tom had just looked down into his breakfast plate. He missed it this time, I was the lucky one. Then yesterday, out on the Kenai River flats, 2nd visit, I stood and stared at the flats and kept looking for the Willet which had been reported. Suddenly the wings flashed by my field of vision (prob. 400 yards or more out) - I looked at the bird landing - he stood there and looked around, ate, walked, did nothing much. I kept hoping he'd fly again to make sure I knew what I was seeing. After about 3-4 minutes he did fly, and the distinctive wing pattern appeared. I watched him fly off for about 5 seconds. Yippee! A new bird on my list. Came back later - more people there, including Tom, no luck. Again this morning, no luck.

Harrier

Great sighting of a northern harrier today, swooping thru and around in our backyard, thru the trees, more amazingly since the harrier's wing span is so huge and there is not much space to navigate, but he turned sideways and went up and over and around. Assumed he was chasing some prey, never did see what it was or if he caught it. Quite a sight. All in all, probably took about 10 seconds or maybe a bit more. One glance in the wrong direction, would have missed it entirely.

Sweet Songster

Early this morning we started hearing the golden-crowned sparrow's song nearby. All day long I heard it in our front yard and frequently saw one of them hopping around our front window. I feel it's possible they have a nest in our yard. If so, it would be the first time since we've lived here for almost 30 years. It was a special treat to hear their song all day.

Secret Sighting

A friend called me to a secret location to look at two hawk owls, that were sitting in two trees, near each other. We stood in awe and viewing with binocs. The one owl, the only we were seeing at the moment, began its soft trilling sound. Answered by a nearby domestic rooster. And several more times. As I left, we looked at the other tree across the opening where the owls had been sighted previously. There sat the other one. Then the gulls began shrieking and diving. Fortunately there was enough cover and distance that the owls sat fairly unperturbed. We were so privileged to see them.