Shattered spirals

Garden snail shells

Dapper

English House Sparrow in an autumn-toned tree:

(A sight so picturesque it broke my camera.)

Ibises

Sometimes the most wonderful birds turn up in the most unexpected places-- in this case, a suburban golf course:

Subtle iridescence

Bonus Great Egret

Specifically, these are White-Faced Ibises, a species native to here but somewhat uncommon.

Bushtits

Fishing birds

Cormorant, Black-Crowned Night Heron, Green Heron, Great Egret, and Belted Kingfisher:

The lake dragon unfurls its wings!

What big eyes you have

Snapping up tiny fish

Passerines

Bushtit

Waxwings

Whydah

Bluebird enjoying a berry

Jay!

Another jay

Poised to swoop

Scrub Jay in search of peanuts

Lakeside birds 2

Egret and bonus turtle

The female Mulard I saw last time

She has piebald feet

My shoe is not a snack

Another Mulard female (or perhaps a Muscovy)

With lovely feathers

Do not open any sort of food packaging with coots around

I can't believe I got a photo of a Swift

Wigeon

Kinglet

Silkfloss tree in November

Branches thin and bare as a syntax diagram, tipped with birds instead of words

Lonely flower after the leaves have dropped

Bluebirds atop their house

The fluff for which this tree is named

Watchful

Red-Shouldered Hawk

Turning its head to keep an eye on me; I saw it blink its transparent eyelids several times

Adventures in backyard birdfeeding

A Cooper's Hawk has been visiting my backyard, lurking in the trees just above the birdfeeders. Here is a shot of it somewhat blurred by the windowscreen, but I think it still captures the bird's beauty and menace:

As the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's webpage puts it, this bird is "looking for an easy meal (but not one of sunflower seeds)." Judging by the amount of House Finch and dove feathers I've found on the ground, it's been eating well.

These Lesser Goldfinches, however, seemed unconcerned-- perhaps they realize that they are small and speedy enough to escape the hawk, if they get its attention at all:

A squirrel had been hanging around going yap-yap-grumble at the hawk-- then this happened:

Don't worry, the hawk didn't go after the squirrel.

As an aside, I found an interesting statement on Wikipedia's page about the Cooper's Hawk: "They may pursue prey on the ground by half running and half flying." How dinosaurian!

Wren

This tiny bird was remarkably responsive to pishing. I only held out my hand to give some idea of its size and proximity in my video, but I half expected the wren to jump onto my finger: 

Sundog

Leucistic sparrow

Unusually pigmented White-Crowned Sparrow

Normally colored flockmate, for comparison

Lakeside birds

Coot

More coots

And another coot

Spotted Sandpiper

My old friend Fuzzy Duck

Snowy Egret

An odd duck that appears to be a Mallard/Muscovy hybrid

Note the traces of a Muscovy-like mask (compare the drake here, likely this duck's father)

Iridescence