This Rufous Hummingbird is our second bona-fide spring migrant of the year (17 March 2022). (A few Turkey Vultures beat their arrival.) These hummingbirds have an interesting, elliptical migration route—west in the spring, more east in the fall (taking advantage of the prolific late-summer wildflowers in the Rocky Mountains). Rufous Hummingbirds are also interesting because some males, like this one, have rufous backs, while others have various amounts of green on their backs. The reasons for this variability are unknown, but some ornithologists suspect this variation could be attributable to ..read more

A Wood Duck pair—this time at the McLane Creek Nature Trail on 10 March 2022. In the early 1900s, ornithologists believed the species might be heading towards extinction. According to Hepp and Belrose (2020), Wood Duck populations are increasing by about 2.5% yearly as a result of bag limits during hunting season. Habitat management and nest box programs also assist the Wood Duck population recovery from historic lows.    ..read more

After a light rain on 1 March 2022 at the Billy Frank Jr National Wildlife Refuge, Erika and I photographed a distant Red-tailed Hawk. The bird, one of the dark, western races of the species, appeared to be drying itself. I was pleased by the quality of the recovery of this image by my upgraded versions of my Topaz Labs software ..read more

American Robins, like this one preening on 1 March 2022 at the Nisqually national wildlife refuge, winter in western Washington. During the last couple of weeks, robins have become abundant and must represent the beginnings of spring migration. During early March, my photo processing has evolved, with the upgrading of a couple of Topaz Labs AI apps. I use Topaz Studio, Sharpen AI, and Megapixel. I recommend this software and you can try the apps out for free before you decide to purchase them. (I have not been paid for this shout-out.)  ..read more

Perhaps not as gaudy as their mates, hen Surf Scoters are nonetheless handsome ducks. Erika and I took this image on 7 February 2022 at the Billy Frank Jr National Wildlife Refuge. Each season, Surf Scoters return to the same breeding and wintering areas. Males, females, and young, however, migrate separately and may use different routes. Surf Scoters winter along both North American coasts. Although there is some overlap in their breeding ranges, western and eastern birds appear to be faithful to either the Pacific or Atlantic coasts (Anderson et al. 2020 ..read more

The pale sides and white behind the upper mandible suggest this image is of a female Common Merganser. Erika and I found it on 19 February 2022 at the Tumwater Historical Park next to Olympia. I have tried recently to capture the serrations on merganser bills, and finally I am just about successful. These structures assist the duck in capturing prey but are not a type of tooth ..read more

I think dippers are found all year along Tumwater Falls near Olympia. We check the falls and rapids about once a month, but seeing these bird is difficult. We only find them on about two-thirds of our searches. This image is our first for 2022, having missed them in December. This photo was taken on 8 February 2022. American Dippers are wonderful, robin-sized birds that feed in and around tumbling mountain streams. Often they feed under the water, but usually they work the stream edges and rocks. Their feathers are remarkably waterproof. We are a bit perplexed by the white edged wing feather ..read more

This image is of our first Spotted Sandpiper if the year, 10 February 2022, at the Woodard Bay Natural Area just east of Olympia. We quickly made our identification by the bird’s habit of bobbing its tail up and down. We had our eyes out for this species, as we read a few reports of other Spotted Sandpipers in the vicinity. A common migrant and summer resident in most of Washington, this species is uncommon and irregular in the winter ..read more

Here is an image of a drake Common Goldeneye on 9 February 2022 at the Billy Frank Jr National Wildlife Refuge. Erika wishes that all birds were named for their field marks. Indeed, the national  ornithological community is currently in the throws of considering renaminng birds. Oldsquaw are now offically called Long-tailed Ducks. McCown’s Longspurs, originally named after a Confederate general, are now known as Thick-billed Longspurs. I trust my readers appreciate why some people find the original name to be offensive. Other ornithologists think that no bird should b ..read more

The second jay on our 20 January 2022 two-jay day was this California Scrub-Jay. This species is common along the Pacific Coast of North America. I have written before about how these jays are spreading north. They are now increasingly found in British Columbia, eastern Washington, Idaho and western Montana. Adults tend to be extremely territorial, forcing young birds to “float,” sometimes for several years as they search for mates and unoccupied territory. Populations can get disrupted and mixed during poor acorn years (Curry et al. 2020 ..read more