Ninety-nine percent of the photos I post on In a Dark Time are photos I’ve taken on a day-trip or a vacation. In the real world, though, I spend about ninety-nine percent of my time at home and one percent elsewhere, especially in the last year. But perhaps the greatest thing about birding is that you don’t have to leave home to observe local wildlife, at least if you design your yard to attract wildlife like we have.
Our biggest attraction seems to be the birdbath, which has to be filled two or three times a day to keep it from going dry. You don’t have to observe it too long to see why it has to be filled so often.
It’s definitely worth the effort it takes to maintain it when you manage to attract even birds that you don’t see regularly like this Wilson Warbler who seemed to need a refreshing dip during his migration.
These American Goldfinches also dropped by early in Spring even though we rarely see them nearby.
This Northern Flicker must live nearby because we hear it beating on our chimney in early Spring and hear its cry in the woods across the road semi-regularly.
Our sprinkler system is set to fill the birdbath every other day, and, though I’ve only seen it in the bath once or twice, I suspect it’s the bird that empties the bird bath almost immediately after its been filled.
The birdbath may be the magnet that draws visitors to our yard, but our landscaping has become home to several birds. This House Finch leads his large family to our birdbath several times a day.
I haven’t positively identified any young Spotted Towhee, but there’s definitely a pair that show up at the birdbath regularly.
Black-Capped Chickadees forage in our fir tree frequently, but they’re much easier to photograph at the birdbath.
Though I’ve never seen a hummingbird in the birdbath Leslie tells me she has, but the main attraction at the moment are the volunteer Columbines that have spread like weeds throughout the garden, but because they attract bees and hummingbirds we don’t discourage their growth.
As long-time readers might remember, Hummingbirds have long been a favorite photographic subject. We love our hummingbirds except when one of them decides it’s his yard and drives out other hummingbirds. I have a hard time telling them apart, but one actually hit an intruder so hard that it bounced off the patio bricks. I suspect the culprit was the same one that confronted Leslie when she went to fill up the birdbath but decided that a glare was all that was needed to confirm its ownership of the entire garden.
Strangely enough, I don’t have a single shot of the most common bird that visits regularly and seems to have a nest in the plum tree, the Oregon Junco, a year-long visitor that loves the cones from the fir tree.