Don’t forget to keep those wildlife photos coming in.
Today reader Doug Hayes of Richmond, Virginia continues documenting the avian world near his home with another episode of “The Breakfast Crew.” Doug’s captions are indented; click on the photos to enlarge them.
Welcome to the tenth installment of the Breakfast Crew. There are several new members of the Crew this time around as the cold and rainy weather has brought several species I haven’t seen before to the yard. In and around the Forest Hill Park area in Richmond, Virginia.
One rainy day, an entire flock of red winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) converged on the backyard. There must have been a couple dozen of them. They mostly went for the seed feeders. Despite being fairly large birds (about the size of starlings), they had no trouble perching and eating their fill. This one is a male.
This is an immature male red winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) shot the same day as the adult male specimen.
New to the yard are the ruby-crowned kinglet (Regulus calendula). They are the smallest birds in the area (with the exception of hummingbirds, which have migrated for the winter), and are smaller than a sparrow. They are also quite fearless. I have been working in the yard no more than three feet from the suet feeders and the kinglets will land and eat, keeping an eye on me from time to time, but carrying on as if I were not there.
Another new bird, a dark-eyed junco (Junco hyemalis). More and more of these have been visiting the yard the past two months. Probably driven up from the park area in search of food.
A female pileated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus). These are the most spectacular looking birds in our area with their black and white feathers and flaming red crests. They usually keep to the more heavily wooded areas of the park (There are two large dead trees there, covered with holes where pileated woodpeckers have been nesting for years that I call the “woodpecker condo”), but from time to time they venture into the neighborhood.
A rather drenched American goldfinch (Spinus tristis). This one didn’t let a little rain get in the way of an easy meal.
Meanwhile, down at the lake, Double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auratus) are a common sight along the James River. During the late fall, a few will head for the lake in Forest Hill Park. Probably for the easy fishing with less competition. These three are juveniles just hanging out and drying their feathers after a busy morning searching for food.
The bluejays (Cyanocitta cristata)are hanging around the yard more often now that food is becoming scarce in the wooded areas they normally frequent. Photographs just don’t do justice to the intense blue of their feathers.
A white-throated sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) taking a break from the crowds around the feeders.
A tufted titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) about to take off with its prize. These little guys are hit and run feeders. They don’t linger and eat like the sparrows and house finches. It is pretty rare to see them on the ground feeding on seeds scattered by the other birds.
A female red-bellied woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus). This one seems to prefer seeds to suet (she will eat suet sometimes) unlike the other woodpeckers that visit the yard.
A male downy woodpecker (Picoides pubescens). One of a pair of regulars, the other is female. They may or may not be mates. I have seen two males show up at the same time. The usually wind up trying to chase each other away.
Mourning doves (Zenaida macroura) are fairly common sight, but their usual hangout is at a church a few blocks away.
An American robin (Turdus migratorius) searching for worms and insects under fallen leaves.
Nothing can stop an Eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) determined to get a free meal. They can pretty much outwit any “squirrel proof” feeder and get used to being hit with water guns and Nerf darts. A couple of times they have managed to pull down the suet feeders and make off with the entire block of suet.
Camera info: Sony A7RIV DSLR body (full and crop sensor modes), Sony FE 200-600 zoom + 1.4X teleconverter. All shots are hand held with camera body and lens image stabilization enabled. ISO 5000 at f/11, shutter speed controlled by lighting conditions.
Great pix, Doug! Thanks!!!
Really loved these spectacular photos of our everyday birds (and squirrel).
Nice photos, thanks for sharing these.
Beautiful! The woodpeckers are amazing. And I may have said it before, but red winged blackbirds were one of my mother’s favorite birds, so they always make me think of her, usually calling out, simply, “Ooh! It’s a red winged blackbird!”
Is your gmail back to normalish? Mine seems to be.
Yes, thank you.
Great stuff! I need to try setting out the bird feeder again. This looks like fun.
Wow! The blue in that bluejay is really gorgeous.
All wonderful photos! Please keep posting!
It’s interesting to note the different shapes of the bills on these birds. You can pretty much guess their diet by the shape alone.
Great photos, thanks for sharing.
Go RedWings!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Detroit_Red_Wings_logo.svg
They have a cool song (the birds, I mean)
Thanks – beautiful photos. Makes me wish the squirrels didn’t make me give up bird feeders.
Every time I see a pic of a PIleated Woodpecker (I’ve never seen one in the flesh), I wonder how far they are from being Ivory-billed. Do we have genomic sequences for each?
Ivory-bills haven’t been seen since 2004 (if one can believe the reports). I doubt there are any genomic sequences since they are so rare…some think they’re extinct.
There are archived specimens in collections. If we can do Neandertals, we oughtta be able to do Ivory-bills.
Oh yeah…don’t need live samples. Thanks for the head check.
What a blue! 😀
Fun photos. What a nice variety of birds you have visiting. I wonder how long it takes a squirrel to eat an entire block of suet. Too funny!
How come I’m not seeing any redwings? We have pretty much the same visitors at our feeder, but I haven’t seen a redwing in years. Bluejays have to be the noisiest birds out there; they can’t seem to swoop down to the feeder without announcing themselves to the neighborhood. You have to love the kinglet, cheeky devil, with those oversize eyes. As always, wonderful photos.
The red winged blackbirds seem to show up in numbers when we have heavy rains. Normally, I only see one or two at the feeders. It rained most of the day Monday, and the yard was full of blackbirds.
These are wonderful, Doug. I learned something new from you – the kinglet is a little bird I always misidentified as a wren resembling a pine siskin.
It’s always fun going to the links and listening to the sounds emitted by these dinosaurs in miniature. I must say the cormorant grunts are startling.
I love the soft blue on the bluejay’s back.
Thanks! I love to see those eastern US birds! Warms my heart!
Fantastic. Thank you. If they had Vogue Magazine for Birds these guys would be the celebrity pix.
D.A., NYC
Love the photos, thanks for sharing!
The white-throated sparrow has the cutest song of all birds IMO. I hear them often on my walks but never see them.