Breakfast with the birds. What a great way to start the day!
The 30 plus hummingbirds that were eating throughout the day at our 4 feeders have disappeared. Only a couple remain. I'm guessing most of them headed down to warm, sunny Palm Desert for the Winter.
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| White-headed Woodpecker |
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| Northern Flicker |
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| Acorn Wooodpecker |
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| Nuttall's Woodpecker |
Every morning as I drink a cup of coffee, I am joined by these 4 woodpeckers. How lucky!
They come to the water or the Black Oak tree.
Two of these beautiful pink bellied Lewis's Woodpeckers from up north joined the others this week briefly. They love snags like this one on our hill to search for flying insects. Besides insects, they love acorns like the Acorn Woodpecker.
The Yellow-rumped Warblers will be seen occasionally through the winter.
However, this Black-throated Grey Warbler is probably one of the last we will see until next Spring when they return.
A sparrow is not just another LBJ (little brown job). Many birders totally ignore these little birds since they can be hard to identify. This one is pretty easy though when you glance at his golden head. This is the Golden-crowned Sparrow.
Not all Dark-eyed Juncos are the same either! This subspecies from the Southern Rockies is a rare visitor to California. We have never seen this Grey-headed Junco until this week!
It is no surprise that the dripping water and bird bath are popular spots in the morning. Four Western Bluebirds and Mt Chickadees are sure to visit during breakfast.
Today, however, we were shocked to see a California Thrasher.Check out that long down curved beak! They usually hide out under the Chaparral plants. The dripping water was too much to resist during this dry season. It came out of its secretive spot to drink drops of water from the bird bath.
I love Mountain Chickadees. They always surprise me with their skills. This one was hanging on between the porch slats while checking out another bird bath.
Birds disappear in a flash when a bird eater like this Sharp-shinned Hawk shows up...Whew! No one was captured while we were watching...
If you aren't used to eating breakfast outside, try it! It's the best way to start the morning!
Click on photos to enlarge.
Photos and content by Robin Roberts.
