Garden Critters - Raccoons and Birds - May 18

 

Lots of activity at the bird feeder and in the garden in general.  Very cute raccoon taking a nap in one of our big Douglas Firs.

Garden Birds

After several years with limited success this spring our hummingbird feeder is very popular with the little flyers! So far identified: Anna’s female and male and Rufous female. Its very entertaining to watch over breakfast and a good reason to have another cup of coffee later. Well worth boiling some sugar water once in a while.

Update May 16th: Mr. Rufous made an appearance too.

Every few years our cherry trees are infested by caterpillars having a good munch on the leaves. On the bright side they attract several species of warblers; MacGillivray, Willson’s and Yellow Rumped (Myrtle) warbler.

But it wasn’t just us enjoying the many songbirds in our garden. One day this Cooper’s hawk (or sharp-shinned hawk?) landed on one of our big Douglas Firs and had its lunch. Couldn't identify what sort of bird s/he caught, but it looked like a bigger one, maybe a Robin?

A while back I got some nice shots of a crow attacking a bald eagle that was resting on a fir in one of our neighbors gardens.