Reader Dick Kleinknecht sent some bird photos, which are better than he makes out in the apologetic notes below. I’ll leave you to identify them.
I have sent photos before of interesting activities by wildlife, but these aren’t very exciting, Their chief claim to fame is they were all taken from inside my house or on the back deck. We live near the boundary between forest and civilization so there is quite a sampling of birds and furry critters to watch during the year.
They were taken from my home in King county, about 25 miles southeast of Seattle. Near the forest/civilization boundary, which is in the foothills of the western slope of the Cascade Mountains.
Love it!
O my, Mr Kleinknecht, these are just precious !
Such color !
Blue
On the contrary, the pictures are very interesting. I live in the city of Seattle proper and I do not see as much variety in birds. I must get out of the city more.
Bullock’s Oriole
Great Blue Heron
Gold Finch
Black-headed Grosbeak
Downy Woodpecker
Unknown red-head
Nuthatch
Piliated woodpecker
House finch
Steller’s jay
Tree swallow
Oooo, Mr rickflick, .that. is g o o o o d !
Blue
Don’t mail the check right away. Others will wade in. 😎
My id’s:
1. Black-headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus)
2. Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
3. American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis), with Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis), the “Oregon Junco” subspecies, formerly considered a full species
4. Hairy Woodpecker (Leuconotopicus villosus)
5. Western Tanager (Piranga ludoviciana)
6. Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)
7. Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)
8. Purple Finch (Haemorhous purpureus). Another possibility is the very similar Cassin’s Finch (Haemorhous cassinii), a western species with which, as an Easterner, I’m not familiar. But the bird looks like a Purple Finch to me.
9. Steller’s Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri)
10. Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)
Thanks for the info on the Oregon junco. I was until recently also an Easterner. I became aware of the ‘Oregon’ designation but I didn’t know the history. Here in Idaho I see dark eyed juncos. In they East they were slate colored juncos.
There used to be a lot more species of juncos (e.g., Slate-coloured, Oregon, White-winged) but a bunch of them got lumped into Dark-eyed Junco a while back. These days the trend is for splitting rather than lumping species, so I suppose it’s not impossible that some of these species could be revived. I haven’t heard any rumours to that effect, though. I believe the various forms of Dark-eyed Junco hybridize very freely where they come into contact, so I’m not holding my breath for any Dark-eyed Junco splitting.
1st one is not bullock’s oriole but black-headed grosbeak i believe.
Unknown red head is western tanager.
i think the woodpecker may be hairy rather than downy based on bill shape.
As a UK resident I am happy to be corrected if someone knows better!
I was not sure about several so thank you. I was thinking the unknown redhead was a rosy finch.
Sorry, different red head. I don’t know what that one was.
I think the “unknown red head” is a western tanager (male) – I saw one while in northern California a few years ago – stunning birds!
Very nice, and a great variety!