It’s Sunday, ergo we get to see bird photos taken by biologist John Avise. John’s IDs and captions are indented, and you can enlarge his photos by clicking on them.
Today we have a holiday theme, and John wishes us all a happy holiday. I, for one, reciprocate, as he’s provided us with Sunday bird photos for 108 straight weeks—over two years! Thanks and happy holidays to John!
Holiday Cheers
My bird photos this week are themed for the holiday season: lots of bright reds and greens, plus in some cases a dash or two of snow. Whatever you’re celebrating, be it Christmas, Hannukah, Coynezaa, the arrival of a New Year, or just the beauty of winter, I want to wish PCC(E) and all of his readers a most joyous holiday season! I photographed The Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) in Michigan and Georgia, the Red-crowned Amazon (Amazona voridigenalis) in California, the Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) in California, Anna’s Hummingbird (Calypte anna) in California, the American Redstarts (Setophaga ruticilla) in Michigan, the American Dipper (Cinclus mexicana) in Colorado, and the Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) and American Tree Sparrow (Bombycilla cedrorum) in Ohio.
Red-crowned Amazon showing red and green:
Anna’s Hummingbird showing red and green:
Northern Cardinal male surrounded by green:
Northern Cardinal female against a green backdrop:
Northern Cardinal male against a green backdrop:
American Redstart against a green backdrop:
American Redstart seemingly in a wreath:
Cedar Waxwing eating red berries:
American Dipper in snow:
American Tree Sparrow in snow:
Tufted Titmouse in snow:
Wonderful pictures as always. My favorite is the American Redstart. The red berries consumed by the Cedar Waxwing are likely Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia) berries, a favorite for Christmas decorations in California.
The American Dipper–it would have made a great name for a passenger train back in the 40s and 50s.
Delightful!
… I’ll check later if there was a partridge in a pear tree…
I wonder if many birdsongs inspired many carols or other music of the solstice in the Northern hemisphere…
Great pics again. We see a lot of the northern cardinal. I’ve come to think of the female as the more beautiful bird. The male’s got the spectacular red of course, but that even becomes ‘a bit much’.
One ‘unfortunate’ thing is how the (bigger and more numerous) blue jays here will bully the cardinals. But that’s nature. Anyway I think the blue jay is a beautiful and graceful flyer in among trees. It never ‘puts a foot wrong’ landing beautifully every time, with a little swoop down and then coasting up onto the tree branch.
Maybe the blue jay should be an Easter bird, not Xmas of course.
Lovely photos as always – thanks, and best wishes for the festive season!
Very well done!
John, I always look forward to your wonderful Sunday bird photos and teachings. Thank you for sharing them!