Random wildlife photos

We have so much wildlife around here that photos are oozing out my camera. So here, take a peek out our windows.

Magpies. These will bear watching when we get chickens. They are inveterate egg thieves.

Red-shafted flicker. These birds can be dramatically destructive to houses. Back at our old place, they tore holes in the side of the house that eventually forced us to replace the entire side of the house.

I caught a glimpse of what seemed like some courtship behavior of these guys out in a field.

Hairy woodpecker. I like these birds much better. They don't eat eggs or destroy houses.

Elk, elk, and more elk. Obviously we're right in this herd's territory, and we see them regularly.

 Deer. Are. Everywhere.

This little lady was bedded down right across the driveway one chilly morning. She was so close to the house that at first I thought she might be injured. But no, she was fine. I guess it was just a convenient spot for a nap.

We saw some mysterious footprints in the snow. What could they be?

The mystery was solved a night or two later when we caught this culprit up a tree in our yard.

In the 17 years we lived in our old place, we literally never saw a single raccoon. Apparently they're common here – another reason to make our future chicken coop nuclear.

Turkeys turkeys turkeys. We see them constantly.

A junco by itself on a snowy branch.

Pheasant. It's devilishly hard to photograph these skittish birds. I took this photo through porch rails, hence the large black band in the upper left corner.

Here I've cropped out the porch slats.

When we had heavy snow on the ground a couple weeks ago, we picked up some wild bird seed to help the poor critters struggling in the cold. It also gives me a chance to see what kind of winter birds we have around here.

Oregon junco.

Hoary redpoll.

Ash-throated flycatcher.

I'm thinking this is a song sparrow because of the bib on its chest. No white on its tail, so it's not a vesper sparrow. (This is the kind of bird my ornithology professor used to call LBJ: Little Brown Jobbie. They're challenging to identify under field conditions. Much more helpful to have a photo.)

Bonus photo: A little bit of dawn color.

More bonus photos: Full moon setting behind some clouds at dawn.

The snow is melting and we're starting to hear more birdsong outdoors. The robins are even starting to return. I can't wait to see what kind of wildlife spring brings us.

Lotsa birds

We have lots of birds hanging around, often in a half-grown state.

Here are a couple of half-grown robins:

...with an alert parent bird nearby, keeping an eye on things:

At this stage, the fledglings are still being fed by the parents.

Here's a swallow fledgling (possibly a bank swallow, but it was very far away) clamoring for food.

This is an immature barn swallow.

I photographed what I thought was a pair of sparrows perched on a wire fence, gobbling grass seeds. Note the streaked breasts.

These are what my ornithology professor used to call "LBJs" (Little Brown Jobbies) in class because there are so many anonymous little brown birds which are notoriously hard to identify. I thought at first they were Fox or Lincoln sparrows...

...but note the dull yellow streaks in the wings and tail. I'm thinking they're pine siskins. Anyone know for sure?

A pair of hoary redpolls (male and female).

And a showy male, by himself.

And a couple of half-grown California quail.

It's fun to watch all the babies grow up.