Birds Just Wanna Be Fed

“Or, when will you learn to feed yourself?”

Last spring, a pair of Northern Mockingbirds raised two babies in our backyard. Very cool.

Watching those two youngsters grow up helped Katherine’s and my birding. We more easily recognize juveniles before they’ve grown their adult feathers.

We’ve also caught many juveniles being fed. I’d gone my whole life without seeing an adult bird feeding a baby. Since last spring, I’ve seen it on several occasions, as seen below.

This Red-shouldered Hawk baby (and its sibling, not shown) were nesting high up in a Eucalyptus tree. I tried two different lenses on my Canon EOS 5D Mark IV and also the Panasonic DC-FZ80 hoping to get a viewable image. Not sure I entirely succeeded!

Is there a cuter bird than a Bushtit? And that cuteness factor is multiplied when they are flocking and foraging and chattering together in the morning and late afternoon.

Seeing the Bewick’s Wren in the backyard was an unexpected surprise. I’d only ever seen it before in a forest. Catching the adult feeding its youngster was awesome. I didn’t even realize what I’d photographed until I downloaded the pictures.

Yeah, my eyes kinda suck.

These grebes were pretty well hidden in the Tule. Later, we’d see the Pied-billed Grebes learning to fish out in the open at Antonelli Pond. See here and here.

I was sorry that I missed the actual beak-to-beak action with the swallows, but I did get to see where the Violet-green Swallow got its name from!