Critters

I was in the courtyard today with my camera intending to take some photos of Bob planting a couple of new xeriscape acquisitions when I noticed this little goldfinch taking seeds from the front feeder. He was not startled by my appearance in the courtyard and just stayed perched on the feeder taking the Nyjer seeds. I approached him and got several shots like the one above before he finally took off.

I looked up goldfinch on Wikipedia and found that there are several varieties of them. The ones that come around here are called the Dark Backed “Lesser” Goldfinch. They are a very small songbird according to the Wikipedia Article:

The lesser goldfinch or dark-backed goldfinch (Spinus psaltria) is a very small songbird of the Americas. Together with its relatives the American goldfinch and Lawrence’s goldfinch, it forms the American goldfinches clade in the genus Spinus sensu stricto.

The American goldfinches can be distinguished by the males having a black (rarely green) forehead, whereas the latter is (like the rest of the face) red or yellow in the European goldfinch and its relatives. North American males are markedly polymorphic and 5 subspecies are often named; at least 2 of them seem to represent a less-progressed stage in evolution however.

I have a couple of these feeders outside the back patio screen. This summer, I have had to refill them more often than I seem to recall having done so in the past. The tiny birds browse them all day long and into the evening when it’s almost dark.

This little visitor was white with gray and green tones in his feathers. I have no idea what the name of this variety of hummingbird might be, but it is a cute little guy helping itself to what’s left in the east feeder. The bird and feeder were about five or six feet from where I snapped this photo. Click on the image to enlarge.

It is always a pleasure to see the little hummingbirds partake of Damsel’s feeders behind the patio. I was on the RV drive after hanging a bird seed bell up on the hill when this little guy came buzzing up to the feeder a few feet away. I had the camera with me so I pointed and shot several images as the bird browsed the feeder.

I have been (sometimes) in the habit of taking the camera with me when doing something outdoors just in case a photo opportunity should present itself. Had I had the camera with me this morning (and I didn’t) when I took the dogs out for a run, I might have been able to capture a shot of a pair of adult quail and about a dozen little ones we encountered on the RV drive as we were returning from the road. The broods of quail have been plentiful around the area, but I really haven’t been able to get a decent shot of them. Maybe later.

Camera Specs: Canon EOS REBEL SL1, 1/400 sec, F5.6, ISO 250, Focal Length 300mm. Click on the image to enlarge.