Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Backyard Waxwings

Speaking of Cedar Waxwings, here's a shot of my backyard bird bath from over the lunch hour today:

Cedar Waxwings

Migration wind-down

The bulk of migration has passed by now. There are probably a few ducks and geese that may come through yet, but by-and-large the warblers are gone, and even the sparrows are mostly gone for the year. From here on, it'll be mostly the year-round residents (Chickadees, Crows, Downy Woodpeckers, etc), and possibly a few northern species that come down to our latitude for the winter.

Purple Finch (female)
Female Purple Finch
by Syd Phillips (CC BY-SA)

In the last category, I spotted 4 female (or juvenile) Purple Finches this morning. The similar House Finch is regular year-round, but this is the first time I've seen Purple Finches in the park. Hopefully a rose-colored male or two will show up to join the brown females; perhaps they'll even stick around through the winter.

This past week has also been a good one for migrating Cedar Waxwings. There have been roving gangs of 30 or more waxwings hanging around the juniper trees in the southeast corner of the park (and in other spots as well). Also of note: An American Coot has been hanging out near the dock behind the park building, and there are still a couple of Double-crested Cormorants hanging out on the island.