American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)

Now that fall has arrived we are seeing more different birds visiting our back yard bird feeder. Above is one recent visitor, an American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis).

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

This little Chestnut-backed Chickadee is a regular visitor now to our backyard bird feeder. He is not shy at all and often lands on the feeder even when I am filling it. If I had more patience I am sure he would let me hand feed him.

Red-Breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)

Here's a fairly common local bird that has just begun to visit our backyard bird feeder, a Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis).I am happy that it has decided to feed here since they are difficult to photograph in the wild - jumping and hopping around very rapidly when they are foraging for insects and seeds in trees. Our backyard feeder has been taken over by House Finches and House Sparrows and this forces the little Nuthatch to seek spilled food on the ground or wait for an opportunity at the feeder.

Leucistic House Finch

In a cunning segue from yesterday's post today's feature is a leucistic House Finch. When I saw this white finch this morning I nearly fell off my perch. Usually the male of this species has lots of red feathers and the female is like the brown bird pictured to the right. Leucism is when all or part of an animal is white. It differs from albinism in that the eyes are normally colored, not pink or red as with albinos.

Leucistic Fox Sparrow

I first caught a glimpse of this bird a few weeks ago while he was hopping around in the back yard. Then I saw him again at the bird feeder but both times he came and went too quickly for me to capture a photo. I didn't know what kind of bird this was, only that it was something I had not seen before. Yesterday he visited the feeder again and I had my camera nearby to get the above photo. I sought some identification help from a local bird-watcher's site and learned a new word. This is not a new species but a genetic pigment variation known as leucism. The bird above is a leucistic Fox Sparrow. Leucism is a little like albinism but not quite the same. For the technical details I'll refer you to this article in Wikipedia. The small photo to the right is a normal Fox Sparrow.

Northern Pintail (Anas acuta)

My visit to Esquimalt Lagoon last week yielded, in addition to Saturday's photo of the Mute Swans, this photo of one of my favorite dabbling ducks, the Northern Pintail (Anas acuta).

House Sparrow

This is a House Sparrow (Passer domesticus), according to Wikipedia, "...the most widely distributed wild bird..." on this planet, though one that has not graced the pages of Victoria Daily Photo in the past, a regrettable omission. Part of my self-imposed discipline as a neophyte birdwatcher is to learn to recognize all the nearly indistinguishable little brown/gray birds that flutter around in the background of our lives here. There are about a half dozen kinds of sparrow around here and a bunch more close relatives such as the Chickadees. The other local challenge is sorting out the gulls - many different species look quite similar and I still can't tell one from the other with any confidence.

Winter Wren (Troglodytes hiemalis)

When Fern and I were out at Goldstream Park last week I was pleased to spy this little fellow, a Winter Wren (Troglodytes hiemalis), hopping around in the undergrowth and fallen logs while he searched for the little insects that are his diet. Another new species to add to my life-list! It's wonderful that no matter how often I go out into the forest I almost always see something new and interesting or some new facet of an old friend. Later this week when I've had a chance to edit the video, I'll share a Hooded Merganser mating dance I saw for the first time this week, though I've enjoyed these birds' winter company for more than a few years.

Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens)

Here's another bird that likes to hop around upside down. This is a Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens), probably a female since the males have a red patch on the back of their heads and I couldn't see any red on this one as she hopped around looking for bugs in the bark. (Click here to see some shots of a male Downy Woodpecker.) She was sharing the same Garry Oak as the Brown Creeper we looked at a few days ago. They actually seemed to be hunting together since they arrived together and departed at the same time.

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The West Bay Walkway continues to provide an amazing amount of wildlife sightings for an urban environment. This morning on an hour's walk I saw a Harbour Seal, 3 Northern River Otters, 2 Belted Kingfishers, 5 Hooded Mergansers, a Great Blue Heron, small flocks of European Starlings and Robins, a Chestnut-backed Chickadee, as well as a wide variety of joggers and walkers.

Brown Creeper (Certhia americana)

This tiny little bird is a Brown Creeper (Certhia americana) and here he is pictured hunting for insects in the bark of a Garry Oak overlooking the West Bay Walkway. I was thinking this was a fairly insignificant bird and then I realized what he was doing. Remember, in the above photo he is hanging upside down. As he poked here and there in bark crevices, he hopped upwards. The more I think about it, it seems, like the flight of the bumblebee, to be impossible. Why, as soon as he lets go with his feet, doesn't he plummet towards the earth? Well, all I can say is that he doesn't, and he makes this defiance of gravity look easy. Wonderful!

Sanderling (Calidris alba)

I joined causeway artist Dean Lewis for a walk along the Ogden Point Breakwater this morning and we were happy to spy these two little shorebirds having breakfast amongst the barnacles and limpets on the lower edges of the breakwater. I have identified these as Sanderling (Calidris alba) though I'm not 100% certain since there are many small sandpiper-like birds that are very similar. Any birders out there who can confirm or correct this identification are invited to make a comment. After we watched these birds a bit Dean and I took the hint and went and had breakfast ourselves at the nearby Ogden Point Cafe. Dean had the barnacles on toast and I satisfied myself with some fried kelp and a side of limpets.

Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)

I went to Bear Hill Regional Park recently to check on the spring flowers (Ladyslippers especially) there. When I reached the summit of the hill I was rewarded by the sight of a half dozen Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura) cruising on the thermals. Seeing these birds always reminds me of those dusty spaghetti westerns that were the only place I saw vultures during my youth. I suspect this was because one rarely sees them on the ground here and unless you're a bit of bird watcher they are not easily identifiable in the air.

Wood Duck (Female) (Aix sponsa)

As you can see the female Wood Duck is not so dramatically colored or patterned as the drake (yesterday's post) but her plumage is a splendid palette of earthy tones with some rich blue and purple and she has a patterning similar to the male on her breast.

Golden Crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla)

While I'm on a bird jag (see last week's posts) I might as well add another of what I call "those little brown birds" - those hard-to-identify little birds that flutter and forage near the outside tables at Starbucks and such places, finding food amongst the cookie crumbs. This one is more identifiable than most with its distinctive yellow and black cap, the feature that gives this bird its name, the Golden Crowned Sparrow (Zonitrichia atricapilla).

Harlequin Ducks (Histrionicus histrionicus)

Yesterday some other winter visitors turned up along the shore, these Harlequin Ducks, favorites of mine because of their wonderful colors and markings. Above are a male and female.

Dark-Eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)

I mentioned yesterday that there were lots of birds on the West Bay Walkway on Sunday morning and here is another, the Dark-Eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis). This variety is also known as the Oregon Junco.

Bonaparte's Gull

Every time I think I've seen or photographed everything, something new and interesting pops up. This morning it was this lovely little gull, Bonaparte's Gull (Chroicocephalus philadelphia). It was swimming near another gull. I suddenly realized that it was much smaller than the other gull and I took another look through the telephoto lens. That distinctive spot behind its eye told me I was looking at something I had not seen before. Then, as though it was aware of my intense scrutiny, it spread its wings and took flight. According to Wikipedia, this gull was named after Prince Charles Lucien Bonaparte, a zoologist and nephew of Napoleon.

The Elusive Harlequin

Here are the latest fruits of my pursuit of the shy Harlequin Ducks (Histrionicus histrionicus) that have been occasionally hanging out along the shoreline of the West Bay Walkway. Generally as soon as they see me coming they start paddling away from the shore into deeper water. On this particular morning I was armed with a mid-range telephoto (Minolta 100-200mm zoom) and used a digital zoom feature on my Sony to double the magnification to the equivalent of 400mm. The result is a little fuzzy and dark (handheld and shooting into the sun) but is my best capture to date of these wonderfully colored and patterned little ducks. On the left is another characteristic of these sea ducks that makes them challenging to photograph. They spend a lot of time cruising with their heads under the water like snorkelers, just raising their heads for a second or two to take a breath from time to time and diving whenever they see something worth investigating more closely.