Wild Fidalgo

Double-crested Cormorants ( Phalacrocorax auritus ) "The meeting will come to order.  We have a guest speaker today.  Seagull will talk about anchor buoy hazards in Skagit Bay."

Spotted Towhee Female ( Pipilo maculatus ) In the same family as Sparrows and Juncos, Towhees are the largest birds of the group.  The Spotted Towhee ( Pipilo maculatus ) is our western Washington representative.  The bird originally called the Rufous-sided Towhee was divided into Eastern Towhee ( P. erythrophthalmus ) and the Spotted Towhee.  White spotted markings on the wings distinguish the latter.  Our local oreganus race shows the least white spotting among regional groups.  Draw a line from the western border of Minnesota south to roughly define the territories of the two species.  Both Easterns and Spotteds may have the unusual fiery red eyes.  Spotted Towhee Male with House Sparrow  They are midway in size between Sparrows and Robbins.  Male Spotted Towhees have black markings and females dark brown.  Pronounce their name TOE-hee or TOE-ee.  These are very congenial citizens around the feeders that never use their size...

Male and Female Dark-eyed Junco ( Junco hyemalis ) Like the swallows to Capistrano and buzzards to Hinckley , the Juncos return to South Fidalgo every fall.  This event adds another chime to our seasonal clock.  The Dark-eyed Junco ( Junco hyemalis ) has always been one of my favorite birds.  They are not flashy or brightly colored.  Nevertheless, their tasteful, muted tones gives us one of our most attractive little birds.  Ours are the "Oregon" variant with a black hood for males and gray hood for females.  Take a pair of these charming birds, add a snowy holly branch, and you have a perfect Christmas card image. In other parts of North America, your Dark-eyed Juncos may look completely different.  Depending on region, they also come in "Slate-colored," "Pink-sided," "White-winged," "Red-backed" and "Gray-headed" variants.  At the moment, they are all considered the same species, an indication they possess a high ge...

Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker  Since November, the Northern Flickers ( Colaptes auratus ) visiting the BirdCam station have all appeared to be of the "Yellow-shafted" morph.  The bird above clearly has yellow-shafted tail feathers, gray crown and tan cheeks.  The problem has been the lack of a red nape chevron also characteristic of the Yellow-shafteds.  Hmmm. Some references put Yellow-shafted birds in the East and Red-shafteds in the West with hybrids found in the Great Plains or Rocky Mountains.  This is obviously too simplistic.  More complete sources indicate that the Yellows are found in the eastern U.S., western Canada and Alaska.  No doubt, we benefit here from our proximity to western Canada.  We are only 30 miles/48 km due east of Victoria, B.C., and about 50 miles/80 km south of Vancouver. Red-shafted Northern Flicker Male Beginning New Year's Day, Red-shafted Northern Flickers started to visit the station.  This bird ...

Just a couple of pals hangin' out at the rhododendron watchin' the snow melt. Dark-eyed Junco ( Junco hyemalis ) Song Sparrow ( Melospiza melodia )

Red-breasted Nuthatches ( Sitta canadensis ) Red-breasted Nuthatches make a warm spot on a snowy Sunday.

Chestnut-backed Chickadee ( Poecile rufescens ) "Banditry" is the collective noun for a group of Chickadees.  Presumably, the term refers to their masked appearance, not their behavior.  When they are not relishing suet, they like to eat the seeds from Douglas Fir cones .  I also see them picking at the cone-like catkins of Red Alder.  Only the most agile and athletic can negotiate these food sources.