As I’ve noted, posting has been slow around here while I write the ol’ dissertation, but I’ve had plenty of company, just outside my window. From outside the window where I write at home, this is my setup:


Quite a few more birds have been frequenting the area though, albeit mostly the usuals: titmice, chickadees, a house finch or two, a carolina wren, downy and hairy woodpeckers, w-b nuthatches, an occaisional junco, dozens of goldfinches, and a few cardinals. Goldfinches – goodness! I saw 35+ at one time on one occaision, and there’s usually been 20+ at any given time. I’ve been looking for red-breasted nuthatches at the feeder, but they’ve been staying off in the woods. Most juncos have left for the Fall already, with only an occaisional male visiting. Occaisionally I catch a glimpse of pileated or red-bellied woodpeckers also. And the cardinals fledged a couple weeks ago. Seeing the parents feeding the two juveniles was quite nice:

And while I haven’t gotten any *good* pics of migrant songbirds passing through, I’ve seen a few visitors recently that made my day – without even actually going on a birdwatching day. Among them:
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Yellow-rumped Warbler
American Redstart
Palm Warbler
Yellow Warbler
…among others.

The G-c kinglet especially caught me by surprise last week, as it crashed one of the windows here at home, and posed for a while as it recovered from being stunned – the best look of a golden-crowned kinglet I’ve ever gotten.