Saturday's Critters

The chipmunks are spending way too much time on the back patio.

It's impossible for Parvati to ignore them. 

I run interference as best I can.

The bunnies stay a bit further away...

...it's safer out in the yard.

And the eating is better.

These two were playing Chase!

The quail can overwhelm the bunnies...

If they get too close, the bunnies will start and hop away.

These two birds look like they are watching an exhibit.  "Wild Bunny" it's called. 

Blackberries anyone?

Six deer...

Too many - they have a pecking order and some of the 'lesser' deer moved off.

Getting it figured out...

Who goes where?

Not there lady!

Rat-a-Tat-Tat

Well Rat-a is done anyway if not 'tat-tat' quite yet. The chart calls to use Kreinik for the red head of the bird and a yellow band on the drum.  I really do not like working with Kreinik so I think I'll stick with DMC for everything, though Kreinik does add a nice glittery effect. Sigh...decisions.

While I'm pondering, here's a nice big, glossy black Raven.

The Acorn Woodpeckers aren't the only ones stashing acorns.

The Steller's Jays are caching nuts too.  

My male Lesser Goldfinch is much brighter than his American Goldfinch bretheren.

Here's a male House Finch for a small pop of color.

My first photo of one of my Winter Returnees - a Fox Sparrow.

The White-crowned Sparrows are back in numbers...

I think they are prettier than the...

Golden-crowned Sparrows...

Though I supposed you disagree! 

I'm seeing more and more Juncos...

They look like sweet birds, but they fight amongst one another.

Wow!  Look at this gathering of Cedar Waxwings, with a Flicker on the top right to make it interesting.

I expect this female Western Tanager is a migrant - just passing through.

She caught a bite to eat...

...so stopped for a quick lunch.

She is rather dull looking - maybe a young bird?

I wonder how many more migrants I'll see before it ends in mid-October.

The Response Was Overwhelming!

Thanks to everyone who took the time to weigh in on the Cedar Waxwing's tail.  The response was overwhelmingly in favor of changing the last row to yellow.  I orginally tried DMC 422 but decided it was not bright enough.

So here's DMC 726 - I think this is truer to the bird. 

He does too, so he's happy now...

...everybody is happy now!

Just when I thought we could take down our 'Watch out for baby quail" sign...

We have several young California Quail again.

Much, much smaller than all the other birds.

There's a group of two youngsters who appear to be hanging out on their own, and then this group of three with their Mama Bird.

She looks to be doing a good job.

I am now seeing White-crowned Sparrows every day.  They are one of my Winter Regular birds.

At first I thought this young Robin was a fir cone, but upon further investigation...

We looks very newly fledged to me.

This bird was my Big Excitement Dancing Up and Down on Sunday morning.

He's a male Common Yellowthroat. 

You'd think I'd have seen anything named 'Common' long before now...

...but no!  He is a new Yard Bird, new County Bird, and new State Bird for me!

Also on Sunday morning I suddenly realized that I was hearing the weird and haunting call of several Varied Thrush.

I was able to locate this female and snap off a couple of photos. These birds disappear deep into mature forests to raise their young, so it is by far more common to see them in the fall and winter when they reemerge.  If you are interested, here's a link to their Typical Voice. Take a listen, it is very different from any other bird you've heard.