Chipping Sparrow & youngin'

I photographed this little Chipping Sparrow and juvenile in our backyard on June 18th:

Chipping Sparrow

Juvenile Chipping Sparrow

Barred Owl again

The birds were in a frenzy again, as seems to be the norm around dusk these days. I think this owl must live nearby and this must be one of his favorite perches. This was from June 16th.

Barred owl

What was interesting this time was that a hummingbird joined in the ruckus frantically chirping about.

I took some more video of it and managed to capture a bird attack it about midway through (1:38) and just before that the hummingbird can be seen if you look closely (keep an eye out just to the left of and behind the owl in the space between the tree at around 1:20).

Eastern phoebe returns!

An Eastern Phoebe made a return appearance in our backyard a few days ago (June 15th) which is a welcome sight after they seemed to disappear after the babies were born. Of course, I'm not sure if it's the same one.

Eastern Phoebe

Also, I saw this Tufted Titmouse on the same day which I haven't seen before:

Tufted Titmouse

(Photos were taken through a dirty window...)

A walk at the park

My wife and I took a walk at Eagle Creek Park on Tuesday. We saw many birds and I managed to capture photos of most of them. Here's what we saw:

Great Blue Heron

Cedar Waxwing

I saw this bird flying over the water, and managed to get a
fairly clear shot of it. It looks like it's a Belted Kingfisher.

Tree swallow

Yellow Warbler

Brown-headed Cowbird (with 2 young ones?) -
this bird lays eggs in other birds nests!

It was a lot of fun to see so many interesting birds. It took forever to get a photo of the yellow warbler as it was moving so quickly without pause, but I finally found one that took a break to pose near the top of a tree.

My first ever "birding" expedition

I went on my first ever birding expedition last weekend. I brought along my binoculars and camera, obviously, and did some hiking at Eagle Creek Park. Not knowing what I'm doing, I more or less just walked around keeping my eyes and ears out for birds. In the woods I didn't see very many. I could hear them, but rarely saw them. I did manage to see one bird in the woods through the binoculars, however, it moved so quickly I didn't get a good look - all I could say is that it was grayish and sparrow-sized - I didn't notice much color. Perhaps a thrasher? I don't know and didn't have time to get a photo.

Out around the reservoir, it was easier to see them due to less foliage. I didn't take many photos, but here are a few that I took:

Female Red-winged Blackbird

I'm not sure what this next one is. It flew by while I was taking photos of the blackbird so I snapped a quick picture of it and was surprised when I looked at it later. I think it looks like an Orchard Oriole, but I'm not certain. I'm also not sure what's in his mouth.

Male Orchard Oriole?

I also saw but didn't photograph: some Cedar Waxwings (I think), and an American Coot. I saw some others, but couldn't get good enough looks at them to identify them or even describe them.

All in all, I'd say it was pretty successful and I enjoyed it and look forward to doing it again.

Eastern Phoebe & babies

This year we were blessed with a Eastern Phoebe nest on our front porch. We watched as Mom sat on the nest and finally four babies were born. Then we watched the parents continually catch bugs all day long and bring them back to the nest for the young-ins. They finally left the nest yesterday.

Eastern Phoebe

Eastern Phoebe babies in their nest.

I was hoping that they stick around and eat all of the mosquitoes, but I haven't seen them since.

Barred Owl

This Barred Owl has been a frequent visitor to our backyard the past few weeks - when the robins start chirping crazily, we know it's nearby.

Barred Owl

I have some video of it posted on my gardening blog.