Just because...

From a few weeks ago, another white-throated sparrow.

Yellow Warbler!

Seen (for the first time!) swimming through our wet birch tree.

Singing a Happy Tune

The tree next to my kitchen window is a house finch condo so I hear them sing a lot. When they do, they puff their feathers out and extend their neck, like this guy is doing.

Neon

Nature's highlighter.

Kisses

It's mating season and the cardinals do up romance the best by feeding each other. Looks like kissing.

Chic Magnet

There are a couple of male red-winged blackbirds that visit my feeder. One has a very thin, pale line along his shoulders where the "red" is but you can't really see the full color until he's in flight (he's featured here). 

But then there's this guy, full two-toned color on the shoulders. He is beautiful, and when I first saw him I thought, wow, I bet you gets all the ladies. And it's probably true- these guys are the playboys of birds with many males having more than one mate at a time. 

Orioles Return

The oriole returned a few times since I first saw him. I even had a female stop by briefly. They still haven't found the sweet stuff I keep putting out for them. 

Male

Female

Indigo Bunting

I haven't seen an indigo bunting since July of 2010, so I was very excited to see this one today (and to be able to photograph him with a better camera this time).

Tiny Bird

For being so tiny, wrens sure are fast and noisy! They chitter so much as they bounce here and there. It's like watching in fast-forward and my book describes it as "hyperactive." 

Copycat Catbird

Every summer growing up I remember hearing a strange "mew" as part of the regular neighborhood ambient noise. Though I never saw what it was, I figured it was either a squirrel or even a cat. It wasn't until just a few years ago I realized the sound I had been hearing all that time was actually, haha, a catbird!

They can mimic sounds to make their very own song and just today I saw one in the tree sounding like a robin who had not practiced his call enough times. Such a copycat (har, har)!

I've been trying to get a picture of a catbird for several years and finally got it!

Pit Stop

I'm surprised at the number of birds that have just happened to stop in my yard or nearby during their seasonal migration. Is my yard a special pit stop? This is the Harris's Sparrow, and he still has quite a ways to go, heading all the way to northern Canada. 

Other migratory birds pit stopping in my yard or nearby were the snow goose last fall, the white-crowned sparrow I saw a year ago and again early this spring, and most recently the fox sparrow who moved on as soon as the temps hit 60 for longer than a few days.

Impeccable Timing

Almost a year to the date of my last Oriole sighting, another one stopped by. I've since put a ripe peach out there in case he returns.