Gone South

Monday we followed our summer birds south to capture a little more warm weather before winter.  We are in the Pacific Northwest visiting family and enjoying the sunshine.  We've been to McMinnville, Oregon, and Woodland, Washington, and today we are on Vashon Island in Puget Sound.  We've got a few more stops to make and I probably won't be able to post very much, but I'm taking lots of photos.  I'll post more of them when we get home and catch up with what everyone else has been doing.

Scenes From My Backyard

Spring has arrived in my back yard.  The leaves are very close to popping out.  

There are still remnants of snow in a few shady spots, but most of the snow melt has disappeared and the ground is dry.

 My perennial beds are showing signs of life with Jacob's ladder, wild iris, columbine, rhubarb, ornamental onion, and more.

As we sat on the deck yesterday morning there was activity from the birds that have been arriving over the last few weeks.  The Robins and Juncos were bouncing around on the ground, and I saw a Yellow-rumped Warbler in the trees.  Flying overhead was a Seagull, and later I saw Ravens and a pair of Trumpeter Swans, which I didn't get photos of.  There were also several mechanical birds as they approached or took off from the little airport not too far from our house.

My favorite sighting though was an Eagle drifting along on the air currents, looking for a meal.  He's welcome to any of the many voles we've been seeing in our yard this year.

The day began with sunny skies but by late afternoon clouds began to roll in.  All in all it was a good day to do a little yard cleanup.

Another Traveler

Along with the ducks and geese and cranes, a sweet little bird that is still flitting about my backyard will soon be heading south.  The slate-colored subspecies of the Dark-eyed Junco spend  their winters in the Eastern part of the US, but they fly north to nest in Canada and Alaska.  Their departure won't be dramatic like the cranes' huge spiraling ascent or the V-shaped formation of the geese.  I will just notice their absence, and know another sign of the approaching winter is here. 



Junco Family Outing

This afternoon the Junco family that have made their headquarters under our deck had the family out and about. They were very hungry and were searching for food.

They found a few of the sunflower seeds that had fallen from the winter feeders that hang above the deck.

They tested the lawn furniture and found it to be a good vantage point to see what everyone else was doing.

They spent a lot of time flitting about here and there. It will take a lot of practice to be ready when the big day comes that the family packs their bags and makes the long trip south. That will happen in a few short weeks. I will be sad to see our summer birds go, but when they arrive at their winter destinations they will receive a warm welcome from all the people who are glad to see their winter birds return.

Dark-eyed Juncos in the North

Many of you may call this little bird a snowbird, but here in Alaska it is a bird of summer. The Junco that visits us is the slated-colored subspecies. There are some places where the Junco is a year-round bird, but those that migrate fly up into Canada and Alaska to breed. They have just arrived in town and I saw the first one on Sunday. Since then there have been many in my yard, all busily feeding and gearing up for nest building.

This bird was busily cleaning up the seeds that were scattered on the ground by our resident Chickadees and Redpolls when they came to the feeders all winter. He seemed unconcerned that I was so close to him.

He was very hungry after his long flight north and had some catching up to do.

Another bird was busy in the trees at the back of the yard.

You can tell it's a Junco when you see the white feathers on his tail as he flies away.

Last summer I saw the Juncos flying under our deck quite a bit and I suspect they might have had a nest under there. There is about six inches of space between the deck and the ground, plenty enough for them to fly in and out. Last August I posted some shots of some young birds as they were getting ready to migrate south. You can see those by clicking here and here. The Junco is a fairly common bird, but I think it is a little beauty.

The Junco Crowd

Today I am posting some more photos of the many birds that were in the Junco crowd yesterday. I think they were mostly Juncos, but a few shots leave me with some questions. The two below look like the female Juncos, but seem to be much smaller. Doing a Google search, it appears they have 2 to 3 broods a year, so perhaps these are from a second set of babies. The nests are built on the ground, and the babies foot muscles develop rapidly so they are able to run if the nest is disturbed.

The photo below looks like one of the juveniles, but it seems browner than the other shots. I did not get a shot of him that showed his breast so I can't tell if it is lighter in color or not.

The next photo is of a juvenile Junco.

The photo in the header and the next photo have two birds with their backs turned, and I think the one on the left is another juvenile Junco. The one on the right though looks more like a little warbler and the pattern across the wings does not look like a Junco. Click on the photo to enlarge it.

I do think these are all Juncos, with the exception of the one little bird in the photo above. The Juncos seen in the Eastern portion of the U.S. in the winter migrate to Canada and Alaska to breed. So while to most of you they are a winter bird, to me they are a summer bird. I find it interesting that many of the birds that I see here migrate from the Eastern half of the U.S. rather than the Western half.

Junco Family

This afternoon we were standing in my husband's new shop building that is under construction when a bunch of birds flew onto a stack of pallets and brush from the construction. There were at least a dozen birds, although it was hard to tell because of the coming and going. They were feeding all around the brush pile, in the trees, into a puddle, in the grass, and in general very busy feeding for about 15 minutes. I managed to get several shots of Juncos. We have the Slate-colored subspecies of the Dark-eyed Junco here. The first two photos are females. I thought it was interesting that the bird in this photo had picked up what appears to be a little stick. I have a series of shots where she is holding it. It is well past nest building time so it is a little curious.

This is one of the babies.

The next photo is a male, and he was a little elusive. I never did get a really good shot of a male bird. The coloring on the male, female, and baby bird are quite a bit different.

I also saw some chickadees in the group, and some of the photos appear to be different birds. I'll post some more tomorrow.

Junco Shopper

This junco was shopping today in the garden department at Home Depot. He was looking at the evergreen trees and trying several out. I don't know if he found one he liked because every time I came near to ask he flitted to another tree. He seemed to be a very picky shopper.

Dark-eyed Juncos

I took this photo of a Dark-eyed Junco last June 21st on our longest day. Juncos have a great geographic variation in color. The ones who visit Fairbanks are in the Slate-colored subspecies. They are a common bird, but really quite handsome.I took the two photos below a few days ago.