November 10, 2007 at 1:35 pm (House Finch, Visitors)
Along with the hordes of American Goldfinches which have discovered us, we also are seeing a few regular House Finches (Carpodacus mexicanus) stop by and visit. They seem to be quick a bit more wary of their surroundings than their golden cousins. Still, its easy to notice them when they’re around since their distinctive reddish/orange heads really stand out among the goldies.
Here he is competing with the Goldfinches.
Enjoy.
November 10, 2007 at 1:25 pm (Anna's Hummingbird, Visitors)
With autumn in full swing and lots of leaves falling and fewer flowers, we noticed more visits from one or two Anna’s Hummingbirds (Calypte anna) around the backyard. They’ve been flitting back and forth and started checking our feeder regularly sometime last week. Not a great snap, but they’re so darned quick its hard to get a decent shot.
With the relatively mild winters here, I don’t know if we’ll see them all winter long, but we’ll keep an eye out. This little guy was content to stop for a quick sip and perch on our feeder for a rest. Here’s a few seconds of video showing him at work.
Enjoy!
November 6, 2007 at 12:10 am (Northern Flicker, Visitors)
I was just about to leave for work in the morning when my wife came in excitedly from retrieving the morning newspaper. Apparently, birdy things were afoot out front. When I got my camera and binoculars, I saw two medium sized birds engaged in some kind of dance in the middle of our street.
Now I love woodpeckers, and from our experiences at our old house, these two sure looked like Northern Flickers (Colaptes auratus) though I didn’t see any red shafting, though that must be what they are. Judging by their size, I’d guess that they are both female rather than juvenile males.
These two kept at it quite a few minutes. An SUV happened by and they scattered only to return a few minutes later. Here is a decent snap of one:
I captured a few minutes of their antics but they both appear to be either juvenile males, females or a perhaps a combination. Seems odd for any kind of mating ritual in the fall, but apparently this activity and its apparent gender indifference is not uncommon. This was news to us and still exciting to see.
So for your viewing enjoyment, here are a few minutes of their dance. Enjoy!
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