On the first walk with Sid in China, there was a plant with long stalks positioned over a river.  It had a bunch of little birds on it.  They’re called White-rumped Munias.       They’re very attractive little birds.  Sid surmised that we were seeing several together because people will buy them and release [...]

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I moved into a new office this week, just a block away from the original building.  The best thing about the move is I went from having an inner office to one with two giant windows.  There are two big trees next to the window and I get to see a House Finch sing his [...]

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Back in August when I was in California, I drove over the Golden Gate Bridge and made my way up the coast in Marin County.  I stopped at Fort Barry and took pictures of the birds.  I found a juvenile goldfinch making an incredible racket.  Here’s mom molting into her winter wear:     I [...]

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Turning back to Costa Rica birds, the Spot-crowned Euphonia is one of the more interesting species because the males and females both have interesting plumage.  The female is easier to distinguish among euphonias because she has a rufous-colored crown and a rufous-colored underbelly. Here’s the underbelly. The male Spot-crowned Euphonia looks a lot like other [...]

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I’ve seen a lot of Pine Siskins over the past year.  They travel in flocks so I don’t see them often, but when I do see them it’s in a flurry of activity.  This picture was taken at my feeder. You can tell that they’re siskins and not female House Finches, by the yellow wing [...]

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Female house finches are really good at tricking you into thinking you have a more interesting bird like a Pine Siskin. She really enjoyed those berries. Some people only want to find rare birds and I do get excited by finding new birds, but I can also appreciate an opportunity to take nice photographs. The [...]

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One of the first signs of Spring is that the House Finches start to sing for extended periods of time. They are very frequent visitors to the backyard, so I get to hear a lot of songs. They’re not very scared of me.  Sometimes they stay on the trellis while I change the seed. I [...]

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I’ve been waiting for almost a year to talk about goldfinches.  The one on the left is probably a female Lesser Goldfinch.  It’s not a perfect identification because female goldfinch species have similar patterns.  The one on the right is a non-breeding plumage male Lesser Goldfinch. You can tell the difference between the American and [...]

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Salt Lake City has several prime areas for skiing.  One of them is Big Cottonwood Canyons, which is a gorgeous area in the mountains.  There are several lakes in Big Cottonwood Canyon that you can hike; one is Silver Lake.  It’s very pretty! Unfortunately, everyone else knows how pretty it is.  Salt Lake City has [...]

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We have a lot of House Finches in the neighborhood.

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