Bird Sanctuary

Not exactly a stunning photograph, as it is more for interest I guess. This is a glimpse of part of the wooded lot behind our house. It has a nice mix of trees, evergreens and deciduous. I've read about the importance of this type of eco-system, but of course, I can't find what I want on the Internet at the moment. But, suffice to say, that this raw land is very important and it will be rather sad for the birds when it is eventually developed. This land is like an oasis for birds (and other critters, I'm sure) in the suburban landscape. Although it is more true in a more densely populated city. It is privately owned by a family whose grandparents had this land, and they have no intention of selling it to developers. At least not in the foreseeable future.

I have no idea how many different birds use this for their nesting site, but I know that crows, hummingbirds, hawks, robins, tanagers, grosbeaks (both evening and black-headed), wrens, warblers, mourning doves, downy woodpeckers, flickers, jays (steller's and scrub), chickadees, (both kinds) Varied Thrush, nuthatches, kinglets, cedar waxwing (who like the berries on this one tree in the late summer, and I can't at the moment access that file in my brain as to what it is.), fox sparrow, song sparrow, white and golden crowned sparrow, towhee, junco, starlings (where aren't starlings?), I'm sure I've seen a vireo, and the beautiful goldfinch and other kinds of finches and probably a few others that have slipped in without me seeing them, and the ones I've probably forgotten to mention have all been seen in our yard. The feeders bring in the seed/suet eaters, and the water is important for all of them. Every year the hawks, red-tailed hawks probably, nest in the tall fir trees and we hear their haunting "scree, scree" during the day. I know these are all fairly common back yard birds, but I don't remember ever living in a place where we have seen so many different kinds of birds. I did see a big woodpecker one time shortly after we moved in. I don't know if it was the Lewis Woodpecker, but it was big. Then it was gone, and I've never seen it since. I've never seen an owl here either. But we hear the 'coo coo' of the mourning doves all summer. It's a great space for our little feathered dinosaurs.

So I need to win that camera* (admittedly a long shot, a really long shot) and then I need to get that 300 mm lens and then I can get a photograph of all my backyard birds!! Don't you think that would be a good idea? One can dream, can't one?

hee hee
*Pro Photo Contest for the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival