Change of Seasons

 It always comes sooner than I'd like, knowing winter is just around the corner, but there are nice things to be said for fall, too. Birds are on the move, but then where I live at 8,000 feet, they're on the move out of here.

The last of the Rufous Hummingbirds was gone about 5 or 6 days after my post last month. Sad to see those feeders going unused, but now they're all cleaned up and stored away until next spring.

On a shopping trip just last week I did see a raft of American White Pelicans on a lake along my route, probably on their way to Salton Sea in California.

Around home it has been dry, so the usual suspects I'd expect to see around the birdbath have been coming regularly, though for the past couple of days, at least, early in the morning all they find is ice.

Robins and Townsend's Solitaires will be around most of the winter, and seem to enjoy the water. One thing I need to really think about is a heated bath - would be interesting to see how much activity it would get (and maybe present some nice, snowy photo ops, too).

Both Pygmy and White-breasted Nuthatches are regulars, the Pygmys coming around in noisy groups of five or six, chattering away the whole time they are there.

The Mountain Chickadees also come, usually in twos or threes, and announce their presence with a hearty "chick-a-dee-dee-dee."

The Gray-headed race of Dark-eyed Junco breeds around my neighborhood and I see them a lot from spring to fall, but while I was watching the bath today . . .

I saw a couple of early arriving Oregon race juncos - they will probably be spending the winter while their cousins move south.

Red Crossbills also come in flocks and, this time of year, are in an array of different plumages. The adults, like the male above, look pretty nice . . .

But then I see these mottled immatures mixed in with the adults, as well as juveniles that are mostly brown with a striped breast that make me think "female Cassin's Finch" at first glance (until I see the crossed bill).

While the birding is tough, there is still the added benefit this time of year seeing the beautiful colors to be found around the High Plateaus of southern Utah (albeit with one eye also keeping a look out for the folks wearing blaze orange and toting high-powered rifles . . . ).

Have fun birding and see you in November!