Songbirds

It must officially be Summer since, with the exception of year-round ducks and geese, recent birding has pretty much been limited to songbirds. Still haven’t gotten the great shots of Tree Swallows that I’ve become accustomed to in past summers, but I did manage to get awfully close to this male Thursday,

male Tree Swallow

probably because the wind was blowing so hard that it didn’t want to leave the treehouse it was clinging to desperately.

Earlier, in sunnier, calmer times I managed to get my first picture of the summer of an American Goldfinch, the Washington State Bird,

American Goldfinch

a sure sign around here that summer has officially returned, though my tomatoes and corn would certainly seem to indicate otherwise.

On Friday I managed to get a pretty good shot of a White-Crowned Sparrow,
and I’m always pleased when I can get a clear shot of these small birds because they’re generally too shy to capture in any kind of unobstructed pose.

White-Crowned Sparrow

Before you know it, the hummingbirds will return to my yard and I can focus on them for awhile.

4 thoughts on “Songbirds”

  1. That tree swallow is really interesting Loren because its shape and the look of its face is exactly like our swallows but ours are black rather than that lovely blue.

    1. It is amazing how colors vary from country to country but shapes are often quite similar.

      That seems particularly striking to me with Kingfishers.

  2. re: Tree Swallow – don’t see them here but do see lots of violet-green swallows. Interesting seeing as how we both live on the same river 🙂 The look on that swallow must be where they got the inspiration for the birds in Angry Birds app LOL

    1. The situation seems reversed here, Doug, since I see way more Tree Swallows than Violet-Green Swallows.

      I don’t know nearly enough about the habitat requirements of the different species, though.

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