The aforementioned Oregon #Junco pair continues to be active in the vicinity of our house, and the female has now started to lay in the nest! This wee cup is quite well concealed to casual observation within a bush in our garden. #Birding#DarkEyedJunco#Oregon#Spring
Feeling more human today after picking up a bug at a conference last week. Got out with the #BIF rig this evening. I think the the warbler is pissed off and mad about it.
Nikon D500; 200-500mm
The dark-eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis) seem to like to hang out under or near my shed. There is a feeder with a block of seed hanging overhead near this bird. I do sometimes see them on the feeders or in the trees, but mostly they like it on the ground and in the grass.
"Dark-eyed Juncos are neat, even flashy little sparrows that flit about forest floors of the western mountains and Canada, then flood the rest of North America for winter. They’re easy to recognize by their crisp (though extremely variable) markings and the bright white tail feathers they habitually flash in flight. Dark-eyed Juncos are among the most abundant forest birds of North America. Look for them on woodland walks as well as in flocks at your feeders or on the ground beneath them." - allaboutbirds.org
Well, they have arrived, another herald of the cold to come. First Dark-eyed Juncos arrived this morning. We are just a tad south of their year-round territory, meaning we only see them here in the city in the cold months.
I was outside yesterday photographing some chipping sparrows, when I noticed other small birds among them. It just so happens, a Mastodon friend told me a few days ago that he saw some of these. So, I was kind of watching for them.
"Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you." - Nathaniel Hawthorne