The Birds of Summer

Joining in with Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday, and later Anni'e Bird d'Pot.  A play on the title of a movie and song, here are some of the birds who visited us over the summer....

Falcon and Ospreys

This falcon (or one similar) has visited the railing on my deck as well as a nearby tree, but I was unable to get photos of him then.  However, my grandson and I saw him perched on a power line and I was finally able to get a shot.  The ospreys are two from one of the highway nests near Redmond that we pass all the time.  Sharing both for Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and later Anni's Bird d'Pot:

Summer Hummers

I haven't shared photos of the hummingbirds in quite a while.  And they have continued to be wonderful.  I started out with three, and now have at least five, maybe six, who stay close and feed often...fighting one another for their places at the feeders.  Their presence is a never-ending joy!  The best I can determine, there are Calliope, Rufous and Annas.  Any corrections on that account would be most welcome.  I think the increase in numbers may be attributed to fledglings from a nearby nest this summer.  Joining with Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and later Anni's Bird'Pot with some of my hummingbird photos....

                    My favorite shot is this one I've enlarged.  He has a lot of green in his coloring.

Perched in the top of a very tall juniper!

My attempt to show two hummers fighting...can you see them both?

Falcon Sighting

I spied this raptor flying above me and trained my lens on him, but was not overly sure of his ID.  I think he may be a Peregrine Falcon.  The wing coloration looks more like a Swainson's Hawk but the shape of the feathers at the tips of the wings seem too pointed for a hawk of any kind.  Sharing with Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and Anni's Bird d'Pot.  Any thoughts on a definite ID?

UPDATE:  Phil says the wings are too broad to be a falcon, so it is probably a Swainson's Hawk!  I suspected it was a hawk because of the size but thought I must be wrong.  So glad to hear from Phil, who knows his STUFF! 

One Morning on the Deck

All these bird photos were taken on a single morning, looking out onto our back deck.  Joining with Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and later Anni's Bird d'Pot:

Success with Osprey shots...at last!

We were traveling the back roads through the Warm Spring Indian Reservation as we returned from Portland this past week, headed to Culver for a pit-stop on our way home.  And we came upon the Putnam Dam on the Deschutes River.  The Deschutes flows through Bend and runs behind our Crooked River Ranch home in the Deschutes River Canyon...it flows many miles.  I had no idea it was also dammed.  More photos will follow, but we spied an osprey nest and decided to stop, hoping to get some pictures of the birds. We were not disappointed!  What a treat this was!!! For Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and later Anni's Bird d'Pot, I share the photos I got that day:

My first shot...Mom is coming in for a landing!   

Super proud of this one!

This is the only cropped shot in the series.  She was flying way up in the sky above us.  I literally just pointed the camera towards her, she was flying so high and had no idea if she would be in frame or not.

Another one I am really proud of!

I don't have a decent zoom lens on my camera!   My attempts at getting photos of the ospreys in the nests next to the highway close to Redmond have all been really lacking.  Part of the problem is that they are next to the highway...it's hard to pull off and get any kind of shot.  But my inefficient zoom doesn't help!   But I am always happy to see them as we go drive by...Anyway, these are my efforts with those three nests:

With a smaller bird perched nearby

I was happy to get this one of the adult feeding a chick!