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Thursday afternoon (2-20-2020, an interesting date number) I arrived at the marsh near sunset.
The herons were taking off to roost in the trees on the south side of the marsh or the roofs of the boat ports at the marina. They cannot spend the night on the ground at the marsh due to coyotes.
I hope recent improvements to my health will continue that will allow me to get back out to photograph. Wesley was glad to see me back at the marsh late Thursday afternoon (2-27-2020) and flew in for come closeups. Taken handheld with the 1DxII + 100-400L II telephoto zoom. Fairly sharp for 2000 ISO and cropped.
Tuesday morning (3-24-20) I hit the shelter-in-place trifecta with a pair of pileated woodpeckers, a pair of Douglas' squirrels, and a pair of varied thrushes in my back yard.
Monday my neighbor told my wife he had seen the pileateds in our back yard. I spotted them Tuesday morning hammering away on the habitat trees. These photos were taken through a window with the 1Dx II + 100-400L II telephoto zoom.
I am always glad to see a native Douglas's squirrel in our back yard. Two of them were (quite appropriately) in two of our backyard Douglas's firs Thursday (9-14-18). Squirrel #1. Squirrel #2 My and my neighbors backyard fences form a squirrel freeway to Pine Ridge Park, home to...
A female flicker at my my ground seut feeder. Taken from my dining room Thursday (4-3-2020) looking through the glass of the sliding door. Flickers are usually very skittish and I did not want to scare it by opening the door and going out on to the back deck for a closer shot.
Taken handheld with the 1DxII + 100-400L II telephoto zoom. Not bad for an auto ISO setting of 4000.
Tuesday morning (3-24-20) I hit the shelter-in-place trifecta with a pair of pileated woodpeckers, a pair of Douglas' squirrels, and a pair of varied thrushes in my back yard.
Monday my neighbor told my wife he had seen the pileateds in our back yard. I spotted them Tuesday morning hammering away on the habitat trees. These photos were taken through a window with the 1Dx II + 100-400L II telephoto zoom.
Friday (4-10-2020) was a warm, sunny day, so I had my son drag the "big" lens (600L telephoto) up to the back deck so we could sun ourselves and hopefully take some photos of backyard birds.
Juncos have taken over the feeders this year. I did get shots of a chestnut-backed chickadee, but missed on a red-breasted nuthatch.
It took a bit of waiting, but more interesting birds finally showed up. A female pileated woodpecker landed on one of our Douglas firs. It was so close that I took this uncropped photo with the 1DxII + 100-400L II telephoto zoom. After calling for its mate to no avail, it flew into the backyards of my neighbors before returning to Pine Ridge Park.
A pair of red-shafted northern flickers have been feeding at my suet feeders. I once read that they do not feed near their nests, so I guess my house is safe form them trying to burrow into the attic. I do wish they would try to nest in one of my habitat trees, but the trees may not be sheltered enough or too close to the suet feeders for their liking.
Female
Male
I always try to get a shot of a male's nape to look for a red chevron, the sign of a red-shafted/yellow-shafted intergrade bird. Over the years I have photographed several intergrade males in Edmonds, but only one yellow-shafted male.
Sunshine and warm temps returned Saturday afternoon (4-11-2020), so my son Daren and I returned to the back deck where we photographed some new birds.
Bewick's wren
Pine siskin
Spotted towhee
Brown creeper
A flock of band-tailed pigeons has roosted in my neighbor's tree for several years. I don't know what their diet is, but I have never seen them at my feeders.
I planted myself on the back deck again Sunday (4-11-2020). I thought the backyard Douglas's squirrel was behaving strangely as it chirped and did not come down off the fence to forage for seeds beneath the bird feeders. Some time later I discovered what may have been the cause.
Age old question: Cooper's hawk or sharp-shinned hawk? It looks like a juvenile as it still has yellowish eyes and vertical stripes on its neck. I am surprised I don't see more hawks in the backyard as my seed feeders attract both squirrels and birds.
I planted myself on the back deck again Sunday (4-11-2020). I thought the backyard Douglas's squirrel was behaving strangely as it chirped and did not come down off the fence to forage for seeds beneath the bird feeders. Some time later I discovered what may have been the cause.
Age old question: Cooper's hawk or sharp-shinned hawk? It looks like a juvenile as it still has yellowish eyes and vertical stripes on its neck. I am surprised I don't see more hawks in the backyard as my seed feeders attract both squirrels and birds.
I'm pretty sure this is an immature Sharpie. I've managed to forget his name (worked at Paws) identified a very similar bird is photographed in our yard. The identifying feature he mentioned was the lack of feathers on his legs. Great shots, Bill.
A little about my back deck setup.
More is not necessarily better. After learning the hard way, I have decided against using a teleconverter with the 5DIII + 600L telephoto. I missed shots of squirrel skirmishes because the 600L + 1.4x TC (effective 820mm) got me too close. Sometimes I need a wider field of view to get everything in the shot or to follow fast moving critter action. I do keep the 1.4x and 2x TC's on a nearby table "just in case."
I think the Douglas's squirrels and some of the birds, like the pileated woodpeckers, are habituating to my presence. They have gotten close enough for full frame shots with the 1DxII + 100-400L II telephoto zoom, which I keep within arm's reach.
Now for shots from Monday afternoon (4-13-2020).
I heard a song that I did not recognize and tracked it down to a Bewick's wren perched on some shrubs.
Juncos have taken over my backyard this year. One decided that the tops of my habitat trees offered a good view of the backyard. Not a really good place to perch if that hawk is still in the area.
The male pileated woodpecker flew in over our heads to dine at the suet feeder. It provided an interesting contrast in size with a chestnut-backed chickadee.
The pileated woodpecker is the largest bird to feed at the suet feeder and I believe bushtits are the smallest. Coincidentally, a pair of them came to the feeder after the pileated left. The female is the bird on the left with the spooky yellow eyes. Bushtits pair up for nesting season but travel in fast moving flocks during the winter, when I have seen what may have been twenty birds hit my suet feeder at once.
The red-breasted nuthatch is another small bird that visits both the suet feeder and the seed feeders. If it picks a seed it doesn't like, it will flip it away like a Frisbee.
More backyard birds from Wednesday afternoon (4-15-2020).
The Bewick's wren continues to make stops at the feeders.
I wanted to get a shot with the 600L telephoto of the band-tailed pigeons that roost in the yard two neighbors to the north before the trees leaf out and I can no longer see them.
The pair of bushtits were back. As time passes I'll have to keep an eye out for a nest.
For several years I have been filling one of the seed feeders with safflower seeds. In the past I had to frequently refill the feeder, but this year it has hardly been touched. The answer to this mystery became apparent with the arrival of a lone male house finch.
House finches were the dominant birds at my feeders in years past. They were the ones that were consuming the safflower seeds.
For reasons unknown to me, house finches have been a no-show at the feeders going back to last year, hence no activity at the safflower seed feeder. Maybe this guy will tell his friends that their favorite food is still available in my backyard.
A pair of red-breasted nuthatches was checking out my habitat trees. Nuthatches have a distinct call which enables me to know when they are in the area.
Nuthatches are cavity nesters. I don't know if the holes in my habitat tree, made by piliated woodpeckers and flickers, are deep enough for them to use.
A Bewick's wren was at my ground suet feeder, then flew up to the feeder containing safflower plus a few other seeds I had mixed in to encourage the birds to feed.
I now know why the safflower feeder, which had remained untouched all winter, has suddenly needed frequent filling. Those white things in mid air are safflower seeds that the wren was shoveling out of the feeder.
The wren finally found a seed to its liking and took off with it.
The safflower seeds will not go to waste as they will be picked up by squirrels and juncos foraging beneath the feeders.
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