A few bird photo's

[John H]

Sounds exciting. Not as exciting as getting a good shot of a pileated woodpecker but pretty exciting.

[DLJeff]

Been meaning to get photos of a yellow headed blackbird that hangs out around some local ponds. Wasn't doing a thing today so decided to just drive up and dedicate an hour or so to photograph the birds. Got a couple decent shots.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

I don't think I have ever seen one.

Beautiful bird.

[DLJeff]

[John H]

What is the story on those shots?

I don’t see the horned owl out in the open much. He is usually buried in the trees and when he sees me gets nervous and takes off. I went out a couple times this summer looking for them and all I got was some hooting. I am in Oregon now Looking for birds. I see them but don’t seem to be able to get a decent picture. I will keep trying. I think I will go to Cannon Beach and look for a tufted puffin. I just read the big year. Good book.

[DLJeff]

I'm pretty sure this is a young owl, maybe born last winter. It's very light colored and the tail is not fully developed. We had a pair of owls nesting around here over the last few years and I suspect this is part of that crowd. We usually see it perched on a stump in my neighbor's yard or on his deck rail. But the morning I took those shots he was perched in our ghost juniper watching the collared doves....and me. Didn't stay for long, flew over onto our deck rail and then flew off into the junipers by the golf course. But it appears very healthy so must be a good hunter. A week or so ago I counted 9 spotted ground squirrels out there. Now I only see two.

[John H]

I read this book and it said in the language of bears ground squirrel translates to meat in holes.

[DLJeff]

I watched a black bear dig into a ground squirrel hole over by Grand Junction one time. There was a lot of dirt flying.

[John H]

My dog, may she test in peace, dug one out a few years ago. I got a video of it. Berryessa went over the spillway one night and the creek went from 50 cfs to 5000 or so overnight and flooded all the ground squirrels out. They went to high ground and dug new burrows. It was maybe a foot and a half in and she could smell that it was close. I did not know what she was doing but took a video and she came out with one and dispatched it. Quite a surprise to me. She was pleased with her kill.

[DLJeff]

We've had three hummingbirds hanging around most of the summer. One Anna's and two Rufous. The Rufous are smaller but seem to be able to dominate the Anna's most of the time.


Our birds seem to come in waves. Lately we have a flush of house finches, some are really red (one even had me thinking it was a drab western tanager until I got a closer look). And now we have a bunch of lesser goldfinches. Their colors fade as the breeding cycle ends but they're still pretty little birds.