This is kind of exciting: yesterday I spotted a Sedge Wren in my backyard, just for a few moments. It's normally a marsh bird; I guess all the rain we've been having confused it. I'm not expecting this bird to stick around our backyard, so I'm really lucky I managed to catch a glimpse of it!


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It turns out that we have both house finches *and* purple finches. I saw what was definitely a male house finch yesterday, and he was much less red than the other two finches I've seen. So, looks like we have some of both. That makes me happy ( Read more... )

Here's a picture of the mystery bird:

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We've got a very outgoing small bird that likes to walk on our back steps. It's about 3", mostly brown, with a ruddy red patch on the back of its head. I haven't been able to identify it in either of my bird books. Either the potential match is the right size with no red patch, or red patch but way too big. Anyone have any ideas ( Read more... )

I was wrong: it's not a Downy Woodpecker. It's a Northern Mockingbird. Also, our birdfeeder has been bested by squirrels. I don't mean they eat out of it, I mean they've broken it.

We have another woodpecker in our backyard. This one is a yellow-shafted Common Flicker. S/he is very stunning, with a red hat and checkered suit. And I think the other woodpecker is probably a Hairy Woodpecker.

I've started watching the birds in our backyard and trying to identify them. Robins, cardinals, orioles, and bluejays are easy. But we also have a woodpecker now that seems to be either a Downy or a Hairy woodpecker. S/he disappeared while I was looking in the bird book, so I wasn't able to identify him/her for certain. It's kind of fun, though, ( Read more... )