Bird Watch

Day 286: Both of Merry's kitty perches are immediately on the inside of the window from bird feeders. The hummingbirds intrigue him more than the larger birds (Grosbeaks, Jays, etc.) who come to eat at the suet basket, possibly because they move so much faster. For the most part, they stay on the far side, watching the Watcher, although occasionally one will hover near the glass. Skunk and Tippy both enjoyed watching birds, and neither of them became particularly agitated. That wasn't the case with Pete, the first cat I had as an adult. At the time, I lived on the east coast where Bluejays were prevalent. Pete was allowed outdoors, and the jays often attacked him when he went outside, flying down and smacking him in the back of the head. When Pete was inside, a jay sometimes perched on a branch directly outside the window. Pete's lower jaw would begin to tremble, and his teeth would chatter, despising his tormentors. I never knew him to kill a bird, but I am certain the urge was strong. Merry seems content to watch, and of course he will always be kept indoors and away from my feathered friends.

Red's Back!

Day 182: Red's back! Unlike the Anna's, my Rufous Hummingbirds don't over-winter here with very rare and individual exceptions, and thus it was cause for celebration when I spotted Red at the feeder a few days ago. I haven't noticed a female yet, but they resemble Anna's closely enough that I simply may not have been paying attention to whether the breast was grey or just rain-wet. That said, there's no mistaking Red in his rust-coloured coat! They tend to be the dominant species through the summer, often arguing territorial rights with the Anna's, but having a reliable and abundant food supply keeps friction to a minimum. Nevertheless, one famous ornithologist was heard to remark that "a hummingbird's vocabulary consists of 90% swear-words," and although my crowd may not get into serious fights very often, they can certainly turn the air blue with insults!

Rufous Hummingbirds

Day 203: For much of the thirty years I've lived in this location, the only hummingbirds I ever saw were Rufous. A few years ago, I spotted what I believed to be an Anna's female, and subsequent birds confirmed the identification readily. Then last year, I had some odd "Anna's," and when they didn't quite match the field guide descriptions, I began reading everything I could find on possible hybrids of Anna's x Costa's. I discovered that in the last ten years or so, Costa's has been expanding its range northward, and that yes, they do interbreed with Anna's, and the cross had been observed in southwest Washington. Then I got the surprise of my life when one day I looked out at the feeder and saw a male which was unquestionably Costa's. The purple crown and gorget were distinctly different from anything I'd seen previously. I wasn't quick enough with the camera, but I'm ready for him now if he comes back! The Anna's stick around all winter, but in summer, the population of Rufous swells until the distribution is about 50/50. Rufous is more territorial than Anna's, but the Anna's aren't giving any ground. I hope Costa's can find a comfortable niche.

More Birds

Day 210: Believe me, no one is any more surprised than I am by these sketches. A month ago, I was telling friends that I couldn't draw a recognizable cardboard box, and I meant it. The few things I have drawn well (a portrait of my poodle, done when I was about 11, a Sphinx moth and a handful of pen-and-ink backcountry landscapes) were works I considered "happy accidents." However, there was a clue among those few successes: the love I felt for the subject matter. Perhaps that hint explains these birds, at least in part. Anyone who has ever exchanged more than a few sentences with me will have discovered that I am a "bird person," something which goes beyond mere birding/birdwatching. I try to get inside their heads, to figure out how they think, why they do what they do, to understand the way they perceive a world which is very different from my own vision of it. I attempt to communicate with them on their level, learning a few carefully modulated phrases in the conceptual spoken language of the crows, for instance, or refraining from smiling when a chickadee is eating from my hand lest the bird interprets the upturned corners of my mouth as the beginnings of a predatory threat. I do not make eye contact until the bird initiates it, allowing it to be the one who makes the first social gesture. There is no question that I love my "birdies," so please indulge me as I present another set of portraits of the friends who come to my yard: male and female Rufous Hummingbirds, Cedar Waxwing and Steller's Jay.

Red Aggressor

Day 181: It wouldn't be bad if there were only three or four of them, but there are...wait, that was number 32,794 who just zipped by...there are DOZENS of them, and they're all in bad moods, driven by the biological imperative to attack each other, the Anna's, Evening Grosbeaks, Steller's Jays and even me if I happen to be trying to hang up a refilled feeder. Sitting at the rigid heddle loom with my back to the front window, I could be excused for thinking there was a logging operation going on in my front yard, so loud is the buzz and whir. I've mentioned previously that there seem to be an inordinate number of birds in my yard presently, and that includes a veritable swarm of Rufous Hummingbirds (mostly male). Their most active period is at dusk, each trying to seize a spot in the queue for the feeders but being so preoccupied with defending their territory against all comers that only a lucky few actually reach a port. They say that red is the colour of aggression; Rufous is out to prove it.

Red's Branch

Day 240: I have to admit to cheating here. I don't usually doctor nature photos unless it's to remove small bits of dirt or holes from leaves and petals, and even that is something I do rarely, preferring to show the specimen exactly as I saw it. However, Red is just cute as a bug's ear, and his preferred shelter is a broken wisteria trig caught under the soffit of my carport. It protects him from both wind and rain, an alternative to the clothesline under my back porch awning when the breeze is from a different quarter. The wisteria branch projects out just far enough for the light to catch his brilliant throat feathers, but the background of ugly soffit was more than I could stand. I took a deliberately out-of-focus shot of the dogwood beside the driveway and pasted Red and his twig over it, paring away 90% of the original photo. I think he'll be much happier in this setting until the weather changes.

Clothespin Red

Day 189: Clothespin Red is a smart little guy. When the weather is nasty, he perches on the clothesline underneath my back porch awning. If he'd moved just another six inches to the right, I'd have been able to show you his size compared to a wooden spring-style clothespin. He's broader, but just about as long from the crown of his head to the tip of his tailfeathers. In sunlight, that black patch under his chin is iridescent red. What is he? A Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus), described by Cornell Labs as being "one of the feistiest hummingbirds in North America," and you'd better believe it. They have even been reported as attacking squirrels and chipmunks which have gotten to close to their feeding/breeding areas. Yes, Clothespin Red defends his proprietary right to the clothesline! While some people in the Pacific Northwest may tell you that their Rufouses stick around all year, that's not actually the case. Selaphorus rufus is a migratory species. The birds in my yard today may winter in Mexico, replaced at my feeders by Alaskan birds who have "gone south" to holiday in Washington's milder climate; the avian equivalent of the changing of the guard.

Sphyrapicus Ruber, Red-Breasted Sapsucker

Day 198: Until recently, I hadn't paid much attention to how many different bird species were coming to my feeders and yard. Today added two more: Red-Breasted Sapsuckers (a pair) and the first English Sparrow I've seen locally. The Sapsuckers are seasonal, and for all that I love them dearly, I wish they would stop pecking at the Mountain Ash and red Dogwood trees. I've wrapped the trunks loosely in chicken wire, but Sapsucker is not to be foiled so easily. They simply move up the tree, or sometimes even work their way in under the wire. Interestingly enough, studies have shown that in particular, Rufous Hummingbirds take advantage of the sap oozing from Sapsuckers' drill-holes as a source of food. Although I have not personally witnessed this, it may be that I've missed the behaviour. I'll have to pay closer attention to the hummers.

Breakfast On The Fly

Day 265: With another day of very hot temps in the offing, I am making sure to keep my garden watered and the birdbath refreshed. Most of the activity occurs in the early hours of morning now, hummers flitting between the feeders and Crocosmia as if they can't make up their minds which they prefer, Grosbeaks lining up three abreast to drink fresh, cool water. By 1:30 PM when the thermometer stood at a blazing 95°, not a bird or butterfly was to be seen in the still air hanging weightily on the neighbourhood. When a light breeze picked up in late afternoon and shadows fell on the flowerbeds, a handful of visitors returned to try their luck.

Remember, folks, this weather isn't just hard on you. It's hard on everyone. Keep clean water out for the "little people" who give you such joy when they come to your flowers.

Mrs. Rufous

Day 243: Although they're not swarming yet, the population of Rufous Hummingbirds in my yard makes it dangerous to stand within ten feet of the feeders. Hummer wars are often engaged, males vying with one another for possession of the ports or for a female's attentions, or females squabbling over who has right of prior domain. The defeated party almost always flies off at high speed, not necessarily watching for obstacles like a human on the sidewalk. I have come very close to taking a hummer in the face on multiple occasions, and it's not uncommon at all to have my hair ruffled by the passage of wings when an abrupt change of direction has been deemed necessary by the flier. The magnitude of inbound and outbound airborne traffic is increasing daily, indicating that I should probably think about moving one shepherd's hook to the other end of the garden as a secondary destination.

Selasphorus Rufus, Rufous Hummingbird

Day 189: Hummingbird season has just begun, but there are at least a dozen, the sexes equally represented, vying for positions at the feeder. I only have one station up at this point, but as word gets out, I'll need to put up at least two more. Species Rufous has marked my yard on the map, and each year, my clientele is growing.

The female Rufous Hummingbird (left) can be distinguished from the similarly sized Anna's Hummingbird by a blush of soft rust on her flanks and rusty band on the upper tail. The Rufous male has an iridescent red throat which in certain lighting conditions appears dark (as indeed it does in the photo on the right). Allen's (nearly identical) does not occur in the Pacific Northwest, but for those of you living in areas where the two species mingle (California, for example), look for narrow, almost thread-like outer tailfeathers on Allen's.The voices of both species are also similar, and according to one naturalist whose name I have forgotten, "consists of 90% swear-words." For a tiny little fellow, Rufous makes up for his size with his vocabulary!

Some folks can't get enough of Snowy Owls. Others fancy Bald Eagles or other raptors. Personally, I could watch Rufous Hummingbirds all day long and would never tire of listening to them cursing like sailors.

Little Miss Rufous

Day 279: I'm of the opinion that you cannot have too many hummingbirds, although the little stinkers have been putting a sizeable dent in my grocery budget since mid-April. Sugar is something I only use for baking, but somehow a five-pound bag doesn't seem to last long enough to make three batches of cookies. That said, it's a treat to watch them at the feeders and to listen to their verbal battles with one another, throwing insults left and right, and even occasionally cussing out a hapless Goldfinch or Pine Siskin who made the mistake of perching on the "shepherd's crook" stake. I've come close to taking a Hummer in the eye or the back of my head when I've been slow to replace an empty bottle, and have had them hover within inches of my hand as they wait in line.

Selasphorus rufus, the Rufous Hummingbird, is a tiny little thing. The males exhibit a beautiful rust-colored back and brilliant metallic red throat, the back coloration readily separating them from male Allen's which are green with a rufous tail. The females are green-backed with rusty flanks, deeper in shade than that of the smaller female Calliope Hummingbird. Female Anna's have grey flanks. My population consists entirely of Rufous.

Clothespin

 

Day 234: Really, I ought to make these guys wear nametags. I can't tell one Clothespin from another one other than determining that some are boys and some are girls. Tiny little thing is Rufous Hummer (Selasphorus rufus). When they perch next to a wooden clothes peg on the line under the back porch awning, it towers over them by at least half an inch. That's a piece of standard 1/4" clothesline Clothespin is sitting on, if you'd like a reference for his size.

They have the awning figured out, too. They perch on the exposed line when the weather's decent, but return to cover when it rains. I'd imagine a raindrop smacking you on the head would be quite a jolt if you were as small as this. But oh, what they lack in size, they make up for in voice! An unknown ornithologist once said that a Hummingbird's vocabulary is 90% swear-words, and if you could hear them disputing territorial rights at the feeder, you'd up that estimate to 99%. The females are just as potty-mouthed as the males. I would not want to make a Hummer mad at me!

Rufous Twofer

Day 188: Hummer Season is in full swing! The little varmints are sucking down the nectar as fast as I can make it, often hovering in line three or four deep even though I have two feeders out. There are more males this year than last, and the fellow with the beautiful cheek patches is extremely territorial. He came close to driving a young, dark male in through the open window while I was taking pictures!

Selasphorus rufus is one of the smallest hummingbird species in the United States. It has a wingspan of approximately 4.5 inches, measures only 3.75 inches long and weighs in at a whopping 3.5 grams. It has been said that a hummingbird's vocabulary consists 90% of swear-words. The names these little beauties call each other would make a sailor blush!

Red Light District

Day 180: It's a little difficult to tell boys from girls when they're in the Red Light district. The Rufous Hummingbirds returned a few days ago, and I immediately cooked up a batch of nectar for them. This young lady preferred to dine in the red glow coming through the feeder. I almost mistook her for a male!

That said, this has been a great day for birdwatching in my own yard. I have seen both male and female Hummingbirds without any doubt, and had Red-Winged Blackbirds earlier this morning. If that wasn't enough, Mr. Raven allowed me to approach within twenty feet of him to deliver his breakfast to the crow board. I am sure he must be one of my resident pair or he would not be so bold.