Fun Fun Fun

Two days ago, we saw an immature yellow-rumped warbler, also known as Myrtle's warbler. There was a gathering of juncos and pine siskins at the feeder, during a break in the rain, and one little guy sat off to the side, looking slightly different and behaving slightly differently. I took a look with binoculars, and sure enough, it was an immature warbler. Then yesterday, again during a break in the rain, we saw a ruby-crowned kinglet and a fox sparrow. The fox sparrow was flying around our tripod where we have our recirculating water for the bird bath, but that was disconnected and drained the previous day. So he was looking for his usual bath, but did not find it. Just goes to prove how they are such creatures of habit. The edge of the porch, only a few feet away, holds two small birdbaths, standing water, not recirculating, but the birds tend not to go there unless they are crowded out of the moving birdbath. So he just flew around where it should have been and then left.

Fall is Here

Back after a long absence. Saw some nice birds while Outside, including two new birds, Red-Eyed Vireo and Carolina Wren. Also saw black-throated green warbler, one we've seen before but only one time. The Vireo is not a new sighting either but we've never positively identified it before. Lots of familiar birds, cardinals, blue jays, tufted titmice, white-breasted nuthatches, doves, chickadees, goldfinches and house finches. Saw flying overhead several times, a great blue heron. Also red-tailed hawks and turkey vultures. Plus wild turkeys.

On our return, we noticed a lot of juncos of various maturities, as well as some immature sparrows, and one or two white-crowned adults, an occasional golden-crowned sparrow, and a fox sparrow. Some of these birds we don't see so often, like the fox sparrow, but they often show up at the end of the season. Stellars Jays seem to be back. Although there aren't many fall colors yet and no frost here at our house, the air feels more fall-ish.