Although I’ll have to admit that I was obsessed with getting good shots of the Gambel’s Quail and the Curve-billed Thrashers, I certainly didn’t ignore all of the other birds that appeared in Alice’s backyard, including this Mockingbird,
which took me a while to recognize because I’m only used to seeing them in Santa Rosa.
It didn’t take me long to recognize the Mourning Doves that frequented the yard because they look like the ones that hang out around our Tacoma home.
Eurasian Collared Doves are rarer in Washington, but I have seen them several times in Washington.
I’ve never seen a Long-Tailed Grackle in the PNW, but I have seen them several times in Colorado and California. I see them so rarely, though, that I loved seeing them several times in Goodyear, AZ.
I think this Cactus Wren
may be a Lifer, but he frustrated me repeatedly because he came so close that I barely managed to get two or three shots even though he was a frequent visitor. Right after we left Alice sent a picture of one that actually came into the house looking for food.
There were several birds I saw that I couldn’t capture a shot of like the Verdin I saw several times but couldn’t get a picture of because it flitted so much that I could never get the camera to focus quickly enough. I also spent considerable time trying to get a shot of the hummingbirds drinking out of the fountain, but they were either so close or so fast that I couldn’t pull that off either.