birds at birdbath
Terri Webster Schrandt

Sunday Stills: #Birdwatching in Eastern WA — Spring and Summer Showcase

We are blessed to witness over 30 bird species that visit our corner of the world in Eastern WA. While I was enamored with my nesting Phoebes and their offspring, I also captured many other birds with my lens. They deserve their place on the blog. Think of this as part two to celebrate birds.

This week, share your bird photos, your feathered friends, and photos of wings of any kind.

Seen Around the Backyard in Spring

The Early birds

“The early bird catches the worm.” – William Camden

Dark-Eyed Juncos land in winter and feed on sunflower seeds strewn on the ground or here, plated on the lumber.

Dark-Eyed Junco Feeding Banquet Style
Dark-Eyed Junco Feeding Banquet Style

House finches enjoy their winter foraging. They are resident birds and tend to stay close to home in Eastern Washington year-round.

Female Finch
Female House Finch

Spring has officially sprung when the robins show up. In this image, taken on March 1st, you can see the frost on the solar light on the bottom right. Also, note that the water in the bird bath is frozen.

robin
Chilly Robin Chillin’

Nest building for many species of birds begins in early spring. Say’s Phoebes begin their nesting cycle in March.

Western Flycatcher
Mr Phoebe

Spring Welcomes Songbirds and Swallows

“A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.” – Maya Angelou

Goldfinches head for the feeders in April. They begin their nesting cycle in the summer months.

goldfinch
Male Goldfinch
Breeding Yellow Male Goldfinch
Breeding Male Goldfinch
Goldfinches at feeder
Finches at the Feeder
house finch
Finch-y Fun at the Feeders

We mainly see Violet-Green Swallows here, a specialty of the far Western US. The air is lively with their darting and acrobatics! They are cavity nesters, preferring holes in trees or nest boxes.

“True hope is swift, and flies with swallow’s wings.” ― William Shakespeare

Violet-Green Swallow
Violet-Green Swallow Scoping for a Nest
violet green swallow
I like this House!

After hubby built the garden shed, we relocated two nesting boxes under its eaves to keep the sun off the nests. I believe the swallows were quite happy!

Swallows nesting
Nesting Violet-Green Swallows
two nesting swallows
Two Nesting Swallows

Swiftly darting and flitting around the fields and yards are various hummingbirds. I was thrilled to capture this Black-chinned hummingbird. The green fence post on the right is an inch wide, which gives you perspective on the size of this hummingbird.

tiny hummingbird
Black-Chinned Hummingbird

We put out the feeders in mid-April but we don’t usually see hummers up our way until May.

Feeding Hummingbird

Summertime Splash Dance

While the Ring-Necked Doves explore the ground beneath the feeders…

dove
Ring-Necked Dove
two doves
Ring-Necked Dove Pair

…Other birds are vying for the birdbaths!

western bluebirds bathing
Western Bluebird Pair

My neighbor has a large, deep bird bath. By July, various species of birds that prefer HER five acres of trees happily hang out in it.

These juvenile Western Bluebirds and a Crossbill finch seem to enjoy the cool water together.

juvenile birds
juvenile western bluebird
Juvenile Western Bluebird

Robins are big and gregarious enough to splash the water OUT of the birdbath!

robin bird bath

“In the flutter of a robin’s wings, we find the spirit of joy and renewal.” – Unknown

Here’s a closer look at the Crossbill Finches. Notice their bill is really crossed at the tip.

finch
Juvenile Crossbill Finch

“Using their crossed mandibles for leverage, crossbills are able to efficiently separate the scales of conifer cones and extract the seeds on which they feed.” Source

crossbill finch

Many of you were enraptured with the saga of the summer Phoebes (Tyrant or Western Flycatcher). Some bloggers have encouraged me to write a children’s book about the Phoebe Saga. Stay tuned for that. 😊

Sharing for Birds of the Week.

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Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Reminders

The Sunday Stills weekly-themed photo challenge is easy to join. You have all week to share and link your post. Please use your own original images, whether new or from your archives.

  • Remember to title your blog post a little differently from mine.
  • Please create a new post for the theme or link to a recent one.
  • Entries for this theme can be posted all week.
  • Tag your post “Sunday Stills.”
  • Don’t forget to create a pingback to this post so that other participants can read your post.
  • I also recommend adding your post’s URL to the comments.

If you are participating in the photo challenge, I can’t wait to see how you interpret this week’s theme! Creativity is encouraged, so please share your own photographs (old or new), poems, original short stories, and music inspired by the theme. Join me next week as we explore TREES!

“He will cover you with His feathers and under His wings you will find refuge…” Psalm 9:14

birds at birdbath
Bitmoji Birding

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114 comments

  3. Terri,

    Awesome job of capturing the varieties. The green swallows are beautiful, and the hummer is stunning. My favorite bird in your part of the country is the Stellar Jaybird. Gorgeous in blue. Have a super weekend. Joe

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  4. Amazing, Terri. Your bird photography is brilliant. I can never get any good photos of birds. I was interested to read that Robins (which are different to the kind we get in the UK) don’t show up until the spring. Here in the UK, Robins are year-round and are especially associated with Christmas because of their red breast. You often see them on many Christmas cards and wrapping paper. They even appear on Christmas tableware.

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    • Thanks so much, Hugh! My camera has an amazing zoom lens and the birds are fairly close. I can get a decent shot or two with my galaxy phone but not often.
      That’s so interesting to read about Robins in the UK. There are countless species of birds and more subspecies. I know cardinals are also associated with Christmas. We’re hoping to have a white Christmas this year, speaking of. I bought a new fake tree. I’m ready! 🎄

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  9. Wow! You have a lot of birds! Your swallows birdhouses and your beautiful photos of them are fabulous!
    I never saw a black throated hummingbird, how wonderful for you!
    We have a birdbath and I have never seen a robin in ours. We have lots of robins too. You are so lucky!
    Great post! So fun! Thank you!

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  16. This is an amazing post of birds. They are so colorful. I agree, not as colorful as the Australian birds that Brian posts, but gorgeous. I hate to give you another project, but how about magazine covers for the Audubon Society? What? You’re retired? This is just a hobby? I don’t think so. Not with those skills! 🙂 xxxxxxxxxxx

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  20. I like the Dark-eyed Juncos in the Winter too Terri. All you see is the dark part of their bodies as they forage for seeds on the ground. I don’t see many Finches, except the Goldfinch and I’ve only seen one of them, a male, this year. That’s a nice photo of the Robin – perfect colors against the background. Our Robins stay here all Winter now, but that’s been happening for a while, not just recently due to climate change. Somewhere in my blog I have a Robin sitting on a snowy branch in the Winter. You have a nice collection of feathered friends here. I know you made the Swallows’ day by relocating the nesting boxes to keep the young’uns warm and dry. I did not see any nesting songbirds this year, so that was a disappointment, but I did see goslings, ducklings and cygnets and today’s post will be about the Osprey offspring, but they are big babies and a bit on the ornery side as well. 😊

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    • Thank you, Linda! Our house still sits between two empty lots, so the birds like hanging here. And Brodie keeps any cats away. Our neighbors to the west are on 5 acres full of ponderosa pines forest, where the birds roost. We’ll likely be home most of the winter. I plan to do the bird count again. It will be fun to see any changes.

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  21. You know how to get my attention Terri.

    Your post has so many great photos of a variety of birds. Thanks for ID’ing them. The swallows are far prettier than the ones here. I like the photo of the Phoebe.

    I had no idea what to post. Going back in time seemed like a good way as a lot of people wouldn’t have seen these photos

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  30. I love birds. I am overwhelmed by the number of birds in my backyard now. They all see very hungry. Some are getting ready to leave and I will miss them. This summer has been so brutally hot I think my 2 bird baths were as important as the food. I particular like your image of the phoebe…the colors are so sutbtle, you hardly ever notice the enderside colors on that bird. Very nice. Of course I love the bluebirds and the hummers too, and the swallows are always beautiful. But that peaceful, calm phoebe is my favorite.

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    • Thank you, Dawn! Between our love for birds, our dogs and photography, we are kindred spirits! Many birds, incuding the Phoebes, seem to have disappeared. More birds of prey are typically in the area now which may explain this. This was the second year the Phoebes nested in our patio. They were used to seeing us.

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