Summer Migrators

This female or immature Rufous Hummingbird showed up and perched on the window feeder in the summer of 2012. It was the first Rufous I identified in my backyard (in SW Idaho) since I had begun bird watching.  They are feisty little things; bullies even.  I had to move my feeder out of the sight of the other feeder, otherwise the Rufous would fly back and forth chasing away any other hummers that needed a taste of the sweet nectar I was offering.  It was fun to watch the interaction with this new visitor added to the mix, but I still wanted them all to get their share.  It worked pretty well.

This is the time of year I will anticipate the possible arrival of the Rufous Hummingbird in my yard again.  Fun!  It's always exciting to see what birds show up and just when I think I've seen all that will come to my yard, a new visitor stops by and makes my day.  

This is only one summer migrator; there are others. Check out this information and map from the allaboutbirds.org blog, to see the migration routes of some unexpected birds this summer that may be coming through your area. 

The Rufous Hummingbird is also ABA's 2014 Bird of the Year! 

Well, owl be!

I recently entered the Birds of Prey 2014 Photo Competition that was held by The Peregrine Fund.  There were a total of 318 photos entered.   I didn't win the popular vote by the general public, what I did win means much more to me.

First, one of my photos was chosen by The Peregrine Fund’s selection committee as one of 10 Honorable Mentions!  That prize includes: Free membership in The Peregrine Fund ($25 value). Receive the next Birds of Prey Calendar, 10% gift shop discount, and unlimited admission at the World Center for Birds of Prey for one year.

The best "prize" of all I found out about just today.  My Northern Saw-whet owl photo will be published in the 2015 Birds of Prey Calendar!  Woot! Woot! or should I say, Hoot! Hoot!? :)  This means I've met my "get published again" goal I had set for myself this year.  It's been a few years...since before my corneal transplants and such; so yes, I'm STOKED! 

​Here is the photo that was chosen...