hi all ... activity in the yard has been busy ... we have lots of
adults and youngsters passing through ...

the BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE families are all over the place ... LOTS of them ...

the CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEES have come back and seem to be regular
visitors ... the obvious "family group of four" from last month is
down now to two regulars (the youngsters ???) and every now and then
one scruffy-looking guy with a much richer but yet duller feathers
and worn-looking feathers (the adult ???) ...

there are two RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHS ... the one with the red
underside (the adult ???) seems to like the berry suet and the niger
seed ... the one with a mostly creme body with red splotches (the
youngster ???) is always at the peanut-butter suet and the seed block ...
http://columbiariverimages.com/Birds/Images12July/vancouver_red-breasted_nuthatch_07-14-12.jpg

every few days a BUSHTIT flock of 30 to 40 come through ... love
seeing them ...

a female NORTHERN FLICKER is being followed by a male INTERGRADE one
... when she's on the suet block he sits on the seed block expecting
handouts ... we've seen him by himself on the suet but yet he keeps
waiting for her to feed him ...

the ANNAS HUMMINGBIRDS are a family of four --- we can ID a female, a
male, and two others which have heavier throat markings with a few
flashing throat feathers ...

there seems to be a FOX SPARROW youngster which just showed up ... he
spent a day following the resident SONG SPARROW around ... he's
currently disappeared tho ...

LOTS of AMERICAN ROBINS ... they've taken over the bird's drinking
water bowl and have turned it into a bird bath ...

there's a male and female SPOTTED TOWHEE who showed up last week ...

a BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK youngster showed up for a morning as did one
DARK-EYED JUNCO ...

a HOUSE SPARROW family of four is hanging around (drats) ... we've
seen a few HOUSE FINCHES too ... the male doesn't come into the
feeders but the female/youngsers do ... the male seems to like
singing from the tree tops ...

the LESSER GOLDFINCHES have one really nice dark male and one lighter
backed male coming to the water bowl while the females (or
youngsters) are coming to the Niger ...

two WESTERN SCRUB-JAY youngsters have been hanging around ... there's
also been one STELLERS JAY too but it looks and acts like an adult ...

this morning a DOWNY WOODPECKER family came through ... a male,
female, and one youngster (mottled red head feathers) ... the
youngster is fun to watch ... he just hangs for ages on the suet and
doesn't move ... all three of them BTW are going for the berry suet ...

and, while we've had two BEWICK WREN nestings on the patio earlier
this spring/summer they all didn't appear to stay hanging around
... there only appears to be one wren popping in now and then and
singing from the trees ...

later,
Lyn






Lyn Topinka
http://EnglishRiverWebsite.com
http://ColumbiaRiverImages.com
http://RidgefieldBirds.com