Subject: [Tweeters] Kalama backyard bird life, as late
Date: Sep 26 23:53:23 2012
From: Amy Hill - 60stops2home at kalama.com




Hello Tweeters,

Now that my hubby is on the mend from back
surgery, I have more time to pay attention to goings on in our yard. I
also have been able to turn him into a somewhat reluctant birder.
Meanwhile, he keeps trying to teach me the model names of
the?civilian helicopters and small airplanes that frequent our
neighborhood airspace. We've spent hours upon hours on the front porch the
last 12 days.

In our back yard, on September 6, I saw twice
(and photographed once) my first ever BLACK-THROATED GRAY?WARBLER.
Here's a link to his image on my flickr album http://flic.kr/p/d794nG?.?I've
seen the BTGW twice more since Sept. 6, the latest sighting being
September 25, also in our back yard. I was gazing out the window while I
washed dinner dishes, and there he was. Wow!

The RED-BREASTED
NUTHATCHES have been very active.?They are quick, so I felt pretty
lucky to catch one sipping some water http://flic.kr/p/d68qf1?in our
back yard this month.

Sept. 19, I spotted a GOLDEN-CROWNED
SPARROW http://flic.kr/p/detWWf?sharing
space with Dark-eyed Juncos. It sipped from the bird bath while a Junco
soaked in it.? Also foraging around that same day were two
WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS. The didn't sit for photos, unfortunately.

Through patience, we've finally coaxed some young WESTERN SCRUB JAYS to
appear in the yard when we "yoo-hoo" whistle from the front
porch. They are rewarded with roasted, unsalted peanuts in the shell. They
will sit in the outermost boughs of the Douglas Firs and "purr"
until we toss a nut, which is promptly retrieved and either eaten or
stashed.

Unfortunately, the "me too" Steller's Jays
have also discovered our little game and will shove their way in every
once in a while. They are a bit lazy, though. Mostly, they prefer to wait
for the occasional kernel that pops out of the shell when a peanut hits a
rock in the yard instead of cracking it open themselves.

On
Sept 23, this STELLER'S JAY was busy?collecting sunflower kernels
when he discovered a peanut. In this photo, you can see the?kernels
still in his beak behind the peanut he just picked up : http://flic.kr/p/detPV8?.

Our trees (mostly Douglas Fir) have been almost swarming with CEDAR
WAXWINGs the past week. Also, the STARLINGS have started moving back into
the neighborhood. We've both seen and heard a pair of PILEATED WOODPECKERS
moving about the trees. The female flew at almost eye level across the
front yard on September 25. This pair has nested on on our neighbors'
property for the last 7 years.

Today, a RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER
nearly collided with my car when it tried to fly across Cloverdale Road in
Kalama at the same time I was driving by. Fortunately, it banked away just
in time to avoid me.

Tuesday (Sept. 25), my husband - who can
now identify a Red-breasted Nuthatch - said he saw a Nuthatch near the
suet cake, but that it had yellow on its head. Say what? A few hours
later, I was on the front porch with my binoculars when the very same
"nuthatch" appeared in the Douglas Firs, zipping around,
foraging in?the tips of the branches and hopping around just like a
nuthatch. Except this one had wing bars and a yellow crest.?Now we've
both seen our first?GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET.

This morning
(Wednesday), a pair of SONG SPARROWS were getting surly with each other. I
thought I was watching a cock fight in miniature. The winner??http://flic.kr/p/detNsZ?scratched
up some seeds before leaving the yard to the Juncos.

I'm not
sure how to upload it, but I made an audio recording with my ipod at 3:15
a.m. on Sept. 6 of a weird bird squawk that awakened me. The sound seemed
to be?a cross between a goose and a peacock. Since there was also a
GREAT-HORNED OWL duet on the recording I made, I started searching that
angle. Sure enough, that weird squawk?turned out to be?a female
Great Horned Owl.

Happy Fall Migration!




Amy Hill
Kalama, Washington
628 ft up in Cowlitz
County
60stops2home at kalama.com