Jon and I spent Thanksgiving with my grandmother in the suburbs of Chicago.  She has several feeders where the birds come and they’re pretty used to people so I got some fantastic shots.  It was better than all my birding in California the last couple of months.  My favorite was the female cardinal.     [...]

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Mockingbirds are so funny.  There is a mockingbird that owns a tree in my father-in-law’s yard.  He was in the exact same spot last year. Mockingbirds are extremely possessive of their territory. I watched two mockingbirds fight with each other. They were growling at each other. They were completely engaged in fighting until the real [...]

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I was going to regale you with pictures of orioles that I saw in Arizona, but then yesterday I saw a Western Tanager in Utah!!!  Specifically, I saw him at the Red Butte Gardens. I saw my first Western Tanager almost two years ago in Golden Gate Park.  But I only saw the female who [...]

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“Hepatic” is the Greek word for liver, which is a very red organ.  Hepatic Tanagers are named for their brilliant red color. We haven’t had a tanager on this blog for years.  And in that case I only got pictures of the female so this is my first post of a bright looking tanager. We [...]

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Growing up in Massachusetts, I saw Northern Cardinals and Blue Jays every day.  So going to Georgia and South Carolina was a chance to see my friends again.  Unfortunately, cardinals are shy little guys.  At least in the South. The picture above is a male.  The female is substantially more subdued. Sharon has some great [...]

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Golden Gate Park is wonderful in the fall. New birds have moved in, some of the days are clear, the tourists are fewer in number. Yesterday was a great day for birding; I saw my first western tanager. This is my favorite picture. I love how her eyes are focused on the berry. This is [...]

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