At the salad bar

Sparrows gettting their veggies:

Immature golden-crowned sparrow, with a beakful.

Yum!

Sparrows are omnivorous. Insects, spiders, seeds, fruit, grains ... And in the spring, they like a salad of fresh, green sprouts.

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Un par de gorriones gorridorados, disfrutando una ensalada primaveral.  Comen de todo; insectos, arañas, semillas, frutas ... Y en la primavera, les gustan los primeros brotes verdes.

LBBB

 We call them LBBs, little brown birds. We really need another B. Little brown bouncy birds.

The beauty of digital cameras is that I can take dozens and dozens of photos, so maybe one or two will be in focus, with the whole bird, not just the tip of a wing or tail.

Here's a golden-crowned sparrow at the bird bath.

Thinking about it.

The water feels good!

And then he splashed about, tossing water everywhere. The camera wasn't fast enough for that.

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Los llamamos, en inglés, LBB, o sea, pequeños pájaros color de café. En verdad, deberíamos añadir otra B, para tener pequeños (L) pájaros (B) brincadores (B) color de café (B).

La belleza de las cámaras digitales es que puedes sacar cientos de fotos, para asegurarte que una o tal vez dos salgan enfocadas, con todo el pajarito y no solamente unas cuantas plumas de una ala.

Aquí hay dos fotos de un gorrión gorridorado pensando en tomar un buen baño.

Just birds.

Backyard inventory: the usual visitors. Sometimes we forget to notice these; just another little brown bird, just another robin. And those starlings! What a nuisance, gobbling down all the suet!

How blind we can be at times!

Birdbath, with starlings and garden angel.

Another bath, this one with a robin.

Sparrow looking over the selection of peanuts.

Towhee and peanut tray.

Varied thrush are shy birds. I came one step closer and he left and didn't come back.

Golden-crowned sparrow.

That downy woodpecker again. Not a regular. I liked the pattern of the busy wings.

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Casi no los vemos a veces; los pájaros "normales', los que siempre visitan nuestros jardines familiares. Otro gorrión, decimos, otro petirrojo. Nada especial. ¡Y esos estorninos! ¡Son una plaga; se comen toda el sebo y no dejan nada para los otros!

A veces parece que estamos ciegos.

Aquí, unos de esos pájaros que pasamos por alto.

1. El baño de pájaros con estorninos.
2. Otro baño, este con un petirrojo.
3. Un gorrión contemplando la charola de los cacahuates.
4. Un rascador (toquí).
5. Un zorzal pinto. Estos pájaros son muy tímidos. Apenas di un paso más, y voló. Y no regresó.
6. Otro gorrión, este con la corona dorada.
7. El pajarito carpintero otra vez. Una visita insólita. Me gustó como se ven las alas en movimiento.
8. 
   

Feathery

And here we are, in the final hours of this terrible, lonely, heart-breaking year. 2021 is (for me, plagued with insomnia as I am) one short sleep away. I'll sit up tomorrow, as usual, watching the celebrations as they wend their way around the globe, reaching here in the far west after almost everyone else has gone off to bed, with just Alaska and Hawaii still waiting.

And then? There are vaccines coming. And maybe a bit of sanity. Maybe a re-thinking. Time with family and friends again. Brighter days ahead. I can hope. 2021, I'm counting on you!

Quote: Emily Dickinson.

So: Happy New Year, everyone. In Spanish, we say "Prosperous New Year", and in French, just "Good Year!" (Bonne Année!) May 2021 become good, prosperous and happy. And hopeful.

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Y aquí estamos, en las horas finales de este año tan terrible, tan desolador. 2021 dista (para mí, atormentada por la insomnia como lo soy) apenas un sueño cortísimo. Mañana, como acostumbro, me ocuparé observando las festividades mientras avanzan alrededor del globo, llegando finalmente aquí en el oeste después de que casi todo el mundo se ha ido a la cama, aparte de Alaska y Hawaii, que tendrán que esperar un poco más.

¿Y luego? ¡Vienen las vacunas! Y tal vez un poco de sentido común. Quizás un cambio de ideas. Nos reuniremos otra vez con amigos y familiares. ¡Días con más luz! Puedo esperar. 2021, está en tus manos.

La cita en la foto, "La esperanza es la cosa con plumas", viene de un poema de Emily Dickinson.

Pues entonces, que tengan ¡Un Próspero Año Nuevo! O como decimos en inglés, ¡Feliz Año Nuevo!, y en francés, ¡Buen Año! (Bonne Année) Que este año 2021 llegue a ser bueno, próspero, y feliz. Y lleno de esperanza.

Last-minute heron

I had done the circuit of Tyee Spit, twice, looking at weeds and mushrooms and squinting at distant cormorants and mallards, hoping for swans and herons, but there were none, near or far. And now I was cold and hungry. I was in the car, with the motor running. I lifted the visor - there was no sun to worry about any more - and there was a heron right in front of me.

Great blue heron, and 7 golden-crowned sparrows.

I assume those are golden-crowns, because I kept seeing them in among the weeds.

Golden-crowned sparrow, standing still for half a second. The plants are wild rose, Oregon grape, Himalayan blackberry, and a few grasses.

Today's Arachtober spider is a big cross spider patrolling the carport.

Spike

#Arachtober

Failed camouflage

Golden-crowned sparrow, with rose hips.

On Tyee Spit

For most of the year, these wild rose bushes on Tyee Spit are full of the twitterings and flittings of small birds, mostly invisible, though I stand straining my eyes to catch a glimpse of one. There are fewer in the winter; I expect most have moved inland to the backyard bird feeders. But at least those few hold-outs are visible. For now. Until it snows and fills in the gaps between branches.

Crowned heads

Our juncos have gone north for the summer, but the crowned sparrows have arrived to take their place. Today there were a dozen or so white-crowns in my garden:

Adult sparrow, whether male or female, only they know. Not a sage, whatever the sign says, although s/he's wearing  a thoughtful look.

They like my flower pots.

Bath time.

"Are you still watching?"

The few Golden-crowned sparrows are more elusive ...

Even a wire fence helps to hide. At least, it confuses the camera.

Caught dashing across the cement, to check out the crumbs from the chickadee feeder.

The eyebrow markings are solid black, without the white stripe of the white-crowned sparrow.

Another pair behind the "fence".

From Cornell, "All About Birds":

White-crowned Sparrow
Adult:

• Bold black and white head stripes
• Clean gray throat and breast
• Gray face and nape
• Pink or orangish bill

Adult Pacific form has:

• Brown sides and flanks
• Yellowish bill

And,

Golden-crowned sparrow
Adult Description

• Large sparrow, small songbird.
• Yellow crown, bordered by black.
• Gray face and chest.
• White wingbars.
• Back brown with black stripes.
• Long tail.