Birds of Edmonds, WA. 2020

[Bill Anderson]

My son refilled the hanging suet feeder, which drew many birds Wednesday afternoon (7-15-2020).

Red-breasted nuthatch

Chestnut-backed chickadees

Dark-eyed juncos

 

[Terry O]

Looks to me like we have the same selection!

 

[Bill Anderson]

Looks to me like we have the same selection!

You get grosbeaks and rufous hummers, which I don't.

 

[Bill Anderson]

Here are links to info on some of the backyard birds I have been photographing.

red-breasted nuthatch: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-breasted_Nuthatch

black-capped chickadee: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-capped_Chickadee

chestnut-backed chickadee: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Chestnut-backed_Chickadee

dark-eyed junco: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Dark-eyed_Junco

house finch: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/House_Finch

Spotted towhee: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Spotted_Towhee

Bewick's wren: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bewicks_Wren

 

[RickyRed2057]

Love the juncos, Very happy little guys. R.J

 

[Bill Anderson]

While I did not set up all my equipment Thursday (7-16-2020) on the back deck , I did manage some grab shots with the 7DII + 100-400L II telephoto zoom of a red-breasted nuthatch at the suet feeder hanging on the back shed.

 

[Bill Anderson]

I ran out of suet, therefore the suet feeders remained empty for quite some time until the bird food store re-opened. After my son filled the feeders, they become a magnet for various birds.

Nuthatches and a flock of bushits flocked to the feeder Tuesday (7-21-2020) morning. One nuthatch held out against the swarm of bushtits.

The bushtits created interesting shadows on my shed.

My neighbor's cat did not seem to bother the birds.

 

[Terry O]

I especially like the last bushtit shadow shot! Great timing.

 

[Bill Anderson]

Wednesday (7-22-2020) started out overcast, which made for good lighting but high ISO settings. I no sooner got out on the back deck when my son pointed out a pileated woodpecker on the nearest tree. It spent some time at the suet feeder, then flew to one of my Doug firs. .

From there it flew to my neighbors where it hunted for insects in the back yard.

 

[Bill Anderson]

More hunting.

After a bit it flew south towards Pine Ridge Park.

I thought I was finished seeing it for the day, but it made one last appearance on a telephone pole about two blocks west of me.

 

[Bill Anderson]

The hIghlight of the day was a rufous hummingbird in my neighbor's flower bed. Up until now I had never seen a rufous anywhere in Edmonds other than at Pt. Edwards around the condos.

Not good shots, but they show the distinctive tail of the rufous.

A juvie Anna's showed up as well.

 

[Bill Anderson]

The woodpecker parade was not over as a pair of northern flickers made an appearance.

The pale red chevron on the back of the male's neck is barely visible, but it shows that it is a red-shafted/yellow-shafted intergrade bird. I have photographed many of them in Edmonds.

 

[Bill Anderson]

The bushtits continue to come to the suet feeders. I initially thought it was a flock, but I now think it might be the fledglings of the two adults I photographed earlier. if you study the photos closely, you can see an adult feeding one of the other birds.

Same story at the ground feeder.

 

[Bill Anderson]

Thursday morning (7-23-2020) shots with 1DxII + 100-400L II telephoto zoom.

The flickers were quite active in the backyard this morning. They are quite skittish and I could only get a grab shot of a male at the ground suet feeder. I need to pull some of the grass in front of the feeder.

A brown creeper was climbing up one of the Doug firs.

 

[Bill Anderson]

The rufous hummingbird continues to hang around my neighbor's flower bed. I am finding it harder to photograph than an Anna's.

I believe this is a juvie as it does not have a red spot on its throat like a mature female.

I saw another hummer chase the rufous. I wonder if it was the juvie Anna's I photographed yesterday.

 

[Terry O]

Wow - great variety, Bill. Exciting pileated sequence! Nice to see the Rufous hummers too. I also think they are juvies. At least one looks like a male.

 

[Bill Anderson]

From the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology.

Rufous Hummingbird Photos and Videos for, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

<p>One of the feistiest hummingbird in North America. The brilliant orange male and the green-and-orange female Rufous Hummingbird are relentless attackers at flowers and feeders, going after (if not always defeating) even the large hummingbirds of the Southwest, which can be double their...

www.allaboutbirds.org

 

[Bill Anderson]

Hummer action continued Thursday afternoon as two chased each other around our backyards. I thought both were rufous, but the one on the left looks like a rufous while the one on the right looks like an Anna's in the only photo I got of the two of them together. I call it a Sasquatch shot, which is one step lower in quality than an ID shot.

Rufous.

 

[Bill Anderson]

The Anna's perched on parts of the plants while feeding on the blossoms. I have never seen a hummer do this. It certainly saves a lot of energy, akin to shutting off your car's engine while filling up at the gas pump.

 

[Bill Anderson]

I tried to take a sequence of birds coming and going from the suet feeder. To do so, I shot handheld at 1/1000 @ f/16 with the 1DxII + 100-400L II telephoto zoom in order to both freeze the action and increase the depth of field.

The best sequence I got was of a red-breasted nuthatch warding off a chestnut-backed chickadee that was trying to land on the feeder. The chickadee is approaching the feeder in the lower right corner.

Scram! I was here first!

The chickadee decides not to stay and argue.