Acorn Woodpecker and Western Scrub-jay photos by Larry Jordan
This is day two of the Great Backyard Bird Count. It is actually day one for me because I had to work on Friday so I wasn’t able to do a count. I thought I would start in my backyard, early in the morning. It was 35 degrees and snowing. The birds were hungry.
I had four Acorn Woodpeckers on my count. These two males were sharing the woodpecker feeder, visiting the nut feeder (above) and, of course, the suet feeders.
The Spotted Towhees spent most of their time doing their two-legged scratch under the photinias but every once in a while they would fly up into the trees for a photo op.
The Mourning Doves spent their time on the ground, cleaning up after the songbirds above.
They were joined by Golden-crowned Sparrows and a plethora of Dark-eyed Juncos. The Lesser Goldfinches that couldn’t find room at the finch feeders were cleaning up too.
I counted a dozen Pine Siskins at the thistle feeders too. They are pretty aggressive when it comes to keeping their perches at the feeders but, surprisingly, this photo has no Pine Siskins in it. Probably because they were hogging the other thistle feeder.
At one point all the birds took to the air as a Red-tailed Hawk strafed the yard.
It was a good day for a backyard count, even though, for some reason, my hummingbirds have left me (probably having to do with this cold snap). I counted 19 species in a little over an hour. Besides the hawk flying over, my best bird (I thought) was the Hermit Thrush that was flicking its tail nearby.
My first count of the 2011 Great Backyard Bird Count:
- Pine Siskin 12
- Lesser Goldfinch 23
- Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) 45
- Golden-crowned Sparrow 6
- Oak Titmouse 2
- Spotted Towhee 2
- House Finch 9
- Purple Finch 4
- Nuttall’s Woodpecker 1
- Western Scrub-jay 7
- Northern Flicker 1
- American Robin 7
- Acorn Woodpecker 4
- Red-tailed Hawk 1
- Mourning Dove 7
- White-breasted Nuthatch 1
- Hermit Thrush 1
- Western Bluebird 11
- Turkey Vulture 1
Tomorrow I will be counting from the photo blind at Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge! I’m thinking I will have a few more species to report from that outing, and some good photos too!
To see more great bird photos, check out Bird Photography Weekly!
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Nice totals for a backyard count. The yellow Goldfinch all on that feeder is eye-catching! I had a second at the temperature and then realized it is Fahrenheit. We had just over 32 Celsius today – i.e. 90 degrees and humid!
Congrats on your counts! I love the pics of the two Woodpeckers – we don’t have these kinds over here.
Busy days for you Larry. Love the Spotted Towhee and what a cool name it has too.
You and your yard epitomize the fun of the GBBC! What cool species to have in your yard. I’ve got DE Junco, Western Scrub-jays, BC Chickadees, House Finches and House Sparrows at my feeders right now. Here in Bountiful Utah we have several inches of snow from last night and it keeps on coming down.
Hi there, wow! Really gorgeous photos!!
I found your site through Twitter as you are following SongbirdSOS, these are the people behind Songbird Survival (for more info about this organisation http://www.againstcorvidtraps.co.uk/songbird_survival/) they are trying to fund a ‘scientific cull’ on corvids. There is a petition against it here: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/8/stop-the-cull-of-crows-and-magpies/
We ask you please to unfollow and block them from your followers on twitter and please recommend others do the same!
Many thanks,
Kate
Nice , Larry! That finch feeder sure is popular- whoa! Love your acorn woodpeckers too – cool birds!
…you had a very good showing! I love the Acorn Woodpeckers and the Lesser Goldfinch…
I love the Acorn Woodpecker images and that wonderful row of goldfinch on the feeder. A feeder in a tree would never survive raccoons where I live in east TN. I have never seen the Acorn Woodpecker and look forward that!
A nice list! Every time I did my count, I saw the same Anna’s and usually some crows and robins- until a Pileated Woodpecker appeared across the street!
the last photo made me grin. One yellow bird on every pin. At first I thought it was a treetrunk. But then I saw it is a feeder. But still, it´s fun. 🙂