Yesterday morning -- again, during a temporary break in the rain -- I went back to the Arcata Marsh. I'm finally starting to take advantage of how close I live to this amazing place! Just like last week, the marsh was hosting lots and lots of ducks, as well as various other birds, including several hunters in a large pool that must have been brimming with fish. I loved getting to see herons and grebes at work, especially at such close range. (I don't know whether it's because of the abundance of wildlife or the abundance of people that hang out in this relatively small area, but the birds at the Arcata Marsh seem especially willing to stay near the paths even when people walk by!)
Two gorgeous Western Grebes were popping in and out of the water:
This grebe is about to slice into the water for another dive:
I've only ever seen these big grebes from afar before, so this was quite a treat. What a bird:
I can't get over those red eyes, and that knife-like beak:
Two smaller Eared Grebes were hunting in these waters as well. OK, wait, these eyes are the best, with that ring of yellow in the middle of the orange-red:
One of the two Eared Grebes was looking especially fluffy, but it was doing just as much diving as its fellow:
A Great Blue Heron and a Great Egret were prowling nearby:
And this turned out to be an amazing chance to watch a Great Blue Heron at work up close. First, I just had to admire this giant bird:
Herons look so funny from the front, but I absolutely love the patterns on this creature's neck and chest:
This heron proved to be an excellent hunter, nabbing a fish every few minutes. (The Great Egret wasn't having quite as much success.) Got one:
Ah, too many eyes!
And down it goes! (Not shown: the fish was still wriggling as it was swallowed.)
And there's another fish soon afterward:
So yeah, I would not want to be a fish in this pond, that's for sure.
In another pond, Green-winged Teal were busy filtering food from the water's surface, motoring around like flat little boats:
A few Lesser Scaup (including some dapper males this time) were in another pond:
And a very sleepy Horned Grebe was floating around as well:
(I also saw a Pied-billed Grebe, making a total of four grebe species; not bad for one visit!) I can't help taking more pictures of Marsh Wrens when these handsome little birds keep popping up right next to me:
Sing, little Marsh Wren!
I wonder if these birds have started building nests yet, or if they're still working on establishing their territories:
Lovely little bird:
Could this be the same Northern Harrier that flew past me last week, in exactly this same spot?
A Red-shouldered Hawk watched a meadow from a nearby tree:
And a flock of Golden-crowned Sparrows waited calmly in some brambles for me to walk past so they could return to feeding in the path:
And all that in a short visit between rain storms! Hooray for the Arcata Marsh!
As 2015 winds to a close, I finally find myself with time to share some sightings I've had in my pocket for a month or two!
Our little suburban-yard-on-a-peninsula has been doing an amazing job of attracting birds, and I love seeing the feathered creatures that show up to pick over the dirt/weeds or grab sunflower seeds from our feeders. Since about November (when I took most of these pictures), the cast of characters has stabilized, and I've gotten to know some of these northwestern birds pretty well.
Red-breasted Nuthatches are so dainty -- especially compared to the White-breasted Nuthatches I'm much more familiar with. We don't have any White-breasted Nuthatches in our yard, but we do get frequent visits from their smaller, fairy-like cousins:
This fellow posed for me before diving down to grab a sunflower seed; nuthatches are so pointy:
And they get extra adorable when all puffed up:
Seed obtained, it's off to a nearby pine tree for processing:
Black-capped Chickadees are often around:
But Chestnut-backed Chickadees are especially frequent visitors. I love these little birds in their fancy brown vests:
Down on the ground (but sometimes bold enough to come up to the feeders), we get lots of sparrows. Our Dark-eyed Juncos are of the Oregon sub-species, with their brown bodies and coal-dipped heads:
The Fox Sparrows here are also different from the eastern version of this species; they're darker ("Sooty," as the subspecies name says):
I think Fox Sparrows have the handsomest triangle-patterned breasts:
These are almost certainly my favorite sparrows around here; they're big and bulky and beautiful, and they're super fun to watch as they dig up the ground:
The totally new sparrow for me is the Golden-crowned Sparrow, another bulky-looking bird that's often running over the ground in our yard:
Golden-crowned indeed, although these winter adults and juveniles are pretty plain compared to the adults in their summer breeding costumes (which I've not yet seen in person):
Even in the winter, I think these sparrows are quite handsome:
As for finches, House Finches stop by every few days:
But our most constant finch visitors since about mid-November are the Pine Siskins:
What beautiful yellow highlights you have in your wings, fancy bird:
These little birds are extremely bold -- we can easily stand inches away from them as they eat from our window feeders -- and they're also incredibly bossy. (The Pine Siskins who showed up at our feeders last winter in Ohio were the same way.) If one of our siskins wants to eat from the feeder, it will invariably scare off other birds (including other siskins) who want to try to grab a seed. Some siskins are almost always around -- we often have one bird camped out at each of our three feeders -- but a few times so far we've gotten some big flocks of siskins coming through our yard all at once. Paul took this video of one of our Pine Siskin fiestas in early December; I'm sure traveling in a big flock like this has its advantages, but it sure doesn't let anybody get food easily from our small feeders:
It's been such a treat to get to know our November and December yard birds. Who knows what birds will show up in our yard in the new year!
