Backyard Birds

There is no lack of excitement going on in our backyard. I guess when you live in a oasis of trees in the middle of a desert, migrants are going to want to take a break. And I like to think the bird word has gotten around...there's always tons to eat at our place!

 

I just wanted to catch up on some of the awesome birds we've been seeing in our yard since the temperature really warmed up. My first favorites are the hummingbirds. I put out nectar really early because I didn't want to miss any early birds (haha, get it?) passing through. Snag 'em early, hopefully keep them all summer long!

 

 

So far, we've had three species of hummingbird (out of four possible). Up above is the adorable female Rufous Hummingbird. Trying to figure out the Oriole Feeder. And below the Black-chinned on the left and Calliope (!!!) on the right. When the Calliope showed up, I squealed like a child.

 

Then came the Lazuli Buntings! Such a beautiful blue bird, we welcomed him to our yard...



 



...then we welcomed all his friends. ; )  We had Indigo Buntings out east, and they never came to our feeders.



 I guess we have bugs, because a Western Kingbird has been hanging out. OMG, our fence is nasty. I'll have you know I spray that thing off twice a week. The fence tends to look like a soup kitchen line, for birds. But, I digress.

Then Western Tanagers starting singing, pit-er-ick, which I thought was a broken American Robin until I figured out the real culprit. And finally they arrived in droves and even came into the yard to feast on moths.

We've even have a male and female Black-headed grosbeak! They usually visit the feeders twice a day.

Songbirds galore. But, we have our share of raptors. Like this pair of Swainson's Hawks that fly overhead at least once a day screaming...at me? the owls? life in general? Who knows, but they sure can make a racket. 

There are a handful of birds I skipped, because they deserve a post all on their own. Keep birding!

An Owlet

Remember when those two Great Horned Owls in our backyard...ahem, got together? Well, their birdy union had me anticipating the fuzzy owlets.

 

Finally, I got a picture of the little guy. There was only one that I could find, but watching him explore is such a treat!

 

So cute, I can barely stand it. Of course, an adult was sitting pretty close by. Probably ready to rip my head of if I got to close. 

Birding Boise: Kathryn Albertson Park

At a recent visit to Kathryn Albertson Park in Boise, we found a Red-breasted Nuthatch working hard on a cavity. A birding group had been talking and posting pictures of it for a while, but we hadn't had success in finding it! Finally we got to see it in action.

It was a nice afternoon and a herd of mule deer were taking a nap just along the trail.

 



I even managed to get some good pictures of a Black-capped Chickadee. I usually don't find chickadees to be so cooperative, but this one just sat and posed.

 

And finally, we found another bird the birding group had been buzzing about. It took 30 minutes to track this one down, but we finally found this new lifer, a Western Screech Owl. It was doing a great job blending in with the Russian Olive tree is was sleeping in.

 

Great Horned Owl

 

 

Need I say anything?

A Horned Lark

Horned Larks are high on my list of favorite birds. They always make it difficult for me to get a good picture, flitting away from me just as I get close. The other day was a different story. These two particular larks wanted to sit and sing...must be a sign of spring!

 

It gave me an excellent opportunity to get a few decent shots.

 

The last picture is my favorite - all that attitude. 

Raptor vs. Dove

There was some excitement in our backyard today. There were a lot of feeder birds out today, and they were in the process of cleaning me out. I decided to head and fill the feeders before the birds started to retaliate - as I got to the back door all the birds took off and I was just in time to see this Sharp Shinned Hawk (far as I can tell) take out an Eurasian Collared Dove.

 

I guess that's what happens when you feed birds - you supply a lunch buffet for raptors, too!

 

This picture was before I slid open the sliding glass door. You can see the dove had only lost a few feathers at this point

 



I could tell I was starting to make it nervous, so I let it be to go to the store. When we got back, there was nothing but feathers! Plus a small pile of bird seed, that I think came out of the bird's crop which is pretty awesome. There's Dakota checking out the carnage...and licking the feathers, silly dog.

A Very Gray Jay

This past weekend, we went up to the McCall, Idaho area. There was a winter festival taking place, with ice sculptures and things like that. We spent a little time in the town, but mostly we just enjoyed the drive up there. Its a scenic byway that follows the Payette river and it's a beautiful drive.

We wanted to check out a hot spring that was about 30 minutes outside of Cascade, unfortunately the hot spring was busier than we like. But, I did get to add a new bird to my list.

 

It's a beautiful thing living in a state like Idaho, where there are pockets of different ecosystems and habitat throughout the state. We spent our time "up north" in about four feet of snow, drove three hours south to our home and were basking in 40 degree weather, and scrub brush.

 

Being able to get to different habitats very quickly means I have a better chance of seeing a variety of birds. Like this Gray Jay, who would never dream of visiting our semi-arid climate.

 

 Showing me his tail feathers...

 



 

I love these birds. Their beady little black eyes, and cute little bill, they easily make my top 10 favorite birds.  : )

White Crowned Sparrow

Sparrows are difficult - in a birding sense. They're small, they're brown, each has a few defining characteristics to help identify these little suckers. White Crowned Sparrows are everywhere here! I'm always trying to identify new birds, and with sparrows I constantly have to grab my binoculars to get a closer look.

Watching these little guys is pretty fun. The adults have a striking white crown on their heads, while the juveniles are less flashy with brown stripes along their head. The ones I photographed should get their white crown this spring.

 

Small birds are just plain cute, when they ruffle their feathers and get that poofy, fat bird look. It's irresistible, at least to me. : )



Keep an eye out for these fun little sparrows. They have range across all of North America, at least some time during the year. 

A Great Egret Spooks

Put a bunch of birders together and most would probably agree that Great Egret, and other heron birds are about as graceful as you can get in the bird world. They're like ballerinas on stilts, with wings. To watch them walk along the shore, jabbing their bills in the sand, wings outstretched - you'd swear you were watching a performance.

 

I last left off with our Black Crowned Night Heron sighting at Hagerman, and we were mesmerized by it's swooping flight. We didn't realize there was another bird just a few feet away from us. As we got up to leave, we were both startled by a huge commotion; rustling, flopping sounds. Not five feet from where we had been sitting a Great Egret was flapping out of the grasses. It wasn't all that graceful - it actually looked a little stuck. It flapped trying to get higher above the grasses and it took me a few seconds to turn my camera on to get the action.

 

I missed the struggle, but got some shots as it was flying off. We feel pretty badly that we ruined it's resting spot for the night, we had no idea it was there, and never would have if it hadn't spooked.

 

 

Ok, this picture sucks...but look in the top right corner. It's a Belted Kingfisher!!! I only saw it when I got home and reviewed the shots. I have no decent photos of a Kingfisher.

 



And off it went, to find a nice place to rest - without us crazy birders.