Another dog hair nest and a moaning clicking Crow

While gardening this morning before noon I watched a Rufous
hummingbird buzz in twice for a quick drink at my window feeder.

2 European Starlings* (normally do not frequent my yard)
2 Crow (one Crow was making a moaning sound with a "click" in between
moans) perched in a tree.

I have two visiting Crows that in-frequently fly into and feed in my
yard. Usually, when I am spotted, they fly away. One Crow doesn't
mind that I am near, however, and perches in a tree to watch me ...
watch him. This Crow makes a strange sound, a clicking noise and
moans, unlike the other Crows that "caw". During the moan, he will
raise his head and then lower it. I watched him as he was fished
around in the yard debris for nesting material and flew off with a
beak full of Australian Shepard hair. (Maybe he swallowed it! Do Crows
get hair balls, too? It sounded like something was wrong.) Pine
Siskins are NOT the only birds to like dog hair for nesting material,
evidently. Still learning....

4 Pine Siskins
3 Oregon Juncos
1 Robin
2 Stellar Jay
4 Swallow* (straight ended tail feathers - not notched)


The majority of the Junco's seem to have moved on.....?

[*First yard appearance in 2010.]

Yardbirds

Two pine siskin have been feeding regularly at the feeder full of
black oil sunflower and millet. They will sit togather one on each
side, balancing the feeder and have lunch.

One of five local squirrels attacked that feeder yesterday and snipped
the string holding it in the tree. The string was replaced promptly
with a metal coat hanger. *Gotcha*

Three red-winged black birds sang at the canal in and above the thorny
brush. There are about 15 Juncos that feed regularly here, along with
a pair of red-breasted nuthatches, and the occassional downy
woodpecker.

Watched *something* (Merlin?) dive from a moderate altitude above the
treetop several times. Pointed wing tips. Medium sized bird, about
the size of a large Raven or Crow. This bird dives straight down
really fast. Just before the dive he will flutter in place in
mid-air. Watched him/her dive three or four times. Really neat to
watch.

Oftentimes the crows here will alert us here of soaring Eagles.

There were over 190 ducks and at least 10 Canadian Geese on American
Lake - Lakewood, Pierce County, Saturday. Didn't see any Eagles
Saturday.

Woodpecker and Junco’s and Loitering

Woodpecker flew up into a tree yesterday. I’m not sure what kind he was, but did appear to have a red tinged triangle at his head and black and white wing tips on…

The Junco’s are back after a brief haitus and are just tearing up the feeder and playing in the trees, lately.

The hummingbird feeders have been refilled and washed. One more feeder was added to the backyard, in addition to one vertical regular feeder.

The bird bath was empty two days ago, washed and refilled in time for the Junco’s to play. Last night near the bath, a bird was chirping an alert - sure enough there is a stray cat. He exited as soon as he saw me, and then another cat appeared… he soon exited but no quite fast enough for me. He was loitering around me newly planted rose bush. Likely, looking for a fresh place to squat.

eBird

Observation type: Casual Observation
Observation date: 7/9/09 Distance covered: N/A
Start time: 5:55 PM Area covered: 1.0 acre(s)
Duration: 1 hour(s) 0 minute(s) Elevation: N/A
Number of people in party: 1
Comments: This is the second day in a row that the Pileated woodpecker showed up and my first Anna’s hummbingbird for the summer.
Species

Are you submitting a complete checklist of the birds you saw/heard? No

1 Anna’s Hummingbird
1 Pileated Woodpecker
2 Steller’s Jay
4 American/Northwestern Crow
1 Black-capped Chickadee
1 Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon)