The Big Yard: Notes from a Pajama Birdwatcher

A young Cooper’s Hawk appears in the peach tree moments after I set out a sick chicken for recycling.

September 22, 2022

To mark the fall equinox and the coming unsympathetic short shrift of days, I take solace in the lingering of birds.

 So far this month, the Big Yard has counted 81 species, the second highest number for any month this year (April saw 91).  And, except for a surprise juvenile rufous-crowned, the sparrows have yet to appear.

Rufous-crowned Sparrow

Black-throated Gray Warbler

Warbling Vireo

Hybrid Hummingbird Anna’s X Broad-billed

Northern Flicker

Inca Dove

Lazuli Bunting

Swainson’s Thrush

I’m off to eastern Arizona for a few days of fly fishing (and birds), one last venture this year into the rugged canyons of the East Fork for solitude with an elk hair caddis and rising brown trout.  My report will be forthcoming.

Thanks for reading!