Eagles on the Farm

This morning, the day before Christmas, while feeding horses in the early morning darkness, I kept hearing what sounded like a calling eagle. Over and over. It was too dark to see anything on tops of the tall firs, so I was left to wonder until later, when I went back to milk goats and let the horses out for the day. It was definitely an eagle and I could see it from the goat barn ramp, still calling now and then. I took photos. It is directly above the peak of the machine shed roof in the photos below, lost in the sky until zoomed in.

And here it is zoomed in...

By the time I let the horses out, I could see the eagle from their paddock so I took photos from there, too.

 At some point, I realized that there was a second eagle not too far from the first, to the right. It is, in fact, in the photo below, on the left side of the fir directly above the edge of the machine shed roof.

Both eagles are in the photo below, the first one at the far left atop the fir and the other one at the far right. How I missed that dot of white originally, I don't know.

Now it is centered in the photo.

Getting closer (and fuzzier)...

Those two eagles sat in their separate locations all morning. At noon, they were still there with one occasionally calling. (I never could tell which one or if they took turns.) At 2:30, when I checked again, I could no longer see the eagle on the right but the original eagle was still there. I watched it fly off in a circle over the horse field, then back to land in the same place.

We have had an eagle here off and on many times, but never to stick around for so long and never to call.

Two days ago (Saturday morning), friends saw two eagles flying over nearby Spirit Mountain, circling together with a talon out display that could have been a mating ritual? I'm guessing the two eagles here today are those two. Time will tell if they nest somewhere around. I'll be watching for an eagle carrying a big stick somewhere.

This Monday eagle visit has made for a fun day-before-Christmas happening.

Accipiter Conundrum

These photos were taken in September of 2018, here on our farm. When I first saw this bird, it seemed very big to me and I wondered if it could be a juvenile Goshawk. But I'd never seen one anywhere around here before and this bird was amazingly unafraid of me. It sat on top of the chicken yard fence as though it was quite accustomed to being there. We had lost a couple chickens not long ago... After taking a zillion photos and studying them, I decided it was just a very big female Cooper's. But while gathering photos for family calendars I make each year, I came across these photos and started wondering all over again. The National Geo field guide says that Goshawks have thin, pale, wavy bands bordering the dark bands on their tails. So, in spite of that suspicious pale supercilium, I guess this is a Cooper's Hawk. Comments welcome.

Paul Sullivan confirmed Cooper's Hawk with reasons:

This bird's head does show a supercilium, but it may not be enough to make this a Goshawk.  The National Geographic guide shows an immature Cooper's with a similar supercilium.

The breast (photo #1) looks white, with fine dark spots.  More white than dark.  That points toward Cooper's.

The width of the dark and gray tail bands are roughly equal which points toward Cooper's. 

I don't see any thin whitish lines dividing the dark tail bands from the gray bands. 

The tail bands aren't wavy.(photos 3, 4, & 6)

Two White-throated Sparrows

We used to have a White-throated Sparrow join the Golden-crowned Sparrows every winter, but last year it did not return. This year, however, one showed up on Oct. 23 and today, Oct. 24, another.  At least, I think that's what happened. Yesterday's bird was a white-stripe variety while today's bird is tan-stripe. I think. But I attempted photos of both today and both birds I got photos of look like white-stripe. To add to the confusion, the photo I took yesterday has another bird out of focus to the right that looks like a white-stripe white-throated sparrow. Might I have 3 white-throated sparrows and not yet a photo of the tan-stripe version? It's a mystery...

Yesterday's photo...

And another photo from yesterday with a mystery bird at the right...

Mystery bird zoomed in (and out of focus)...

White-throated Sparrow photo taken today that looks like a white stripe although I had first seen a definite tan stripe and assumed that's what I was taking a photo of. Maybe this is a tan stripe brightened by the sun? I'll try again tomorrow, maybe, if I don't get rained out. Our unseasonably dry weather is supposed to end.

Today's white-striped White-throated Sparrow

And here it (or one, at least) is from the back...

I also took photos of the other birds in front of the barn, as I sat in a chair watching for half an hour. One Mourning Dove was quite compatible with the California Quail, who seem quite compatible with everybody.

Papa Quail is quite handsome

Steller's Jay

Spotted Towhee

American Robin

Red-shafted Flicker

European Starlings atop a hybrid poplar

Scrub Jay now called California Scrub Jay or something

I missed getting photos of the fast disappearing Downy Woodpecker and Dark-eyed Junco. And never saw the talking Bewick's Wren, Black-capped Chickadees or Red-breasted Nuthatch.

Baird's Sandpiper?

I'm calling it a Baird's on the basis of wings longer than tail and back pattern and dark legs. A juvenile maybe? Would love to hear opinions from shorebird experts, which I am, obviously, not. It was alone on the beach north of Cape Kiwanda on 8/20/18 afternoon, wandering around, never flew while I watched.

The experts have spoken and it is, indeed, a Baird's Sandpiper. Cool!

Juvenile Lincoln's Sparrow or Chipping Sparrow??

High, frequent call note. Looked like it just had a bath in the brushy creek by the willows which is next to a pasture on our place. Was not shy. There were two of them hanging out together, sort of.

Unanimous opinion of Those Who Know is Savannah Sparrow. Why I didn't think of that is a mystery.