I Met Some New Friends Today -- With WINGS! (Photo-Essay)

Well... Okay... Some of them weren't "new", per se, but I got some great photos!

I was sitting here at my 'puter when I heard what sounded like somebody whistling outside... If I were to put the whistle into words, it might sound like "Poor Sam Peabody" with the first 3 syllables repeated notes, the last two about an octave lower and the last one drawn out...

So, I grabbed my camera and went outside and found this little fellow was the "whistler"!

I believe he's a "white-throated sparrow" but his call sure sounds like a human being whistling!

While I was outside, I saw a couple of "old friends" like the "dusky flycatcher":

And the dear, little "oak titmouse":

Right then there was a huge "flash" of red feathers and, all of a sudden, there was the female "red-shafted flicker" that I see around all the time sitting on an old piece of junk right in FRONT of me!

I know this is the female because, if she were the male, you would see a very bright, strawberry-colored "swipe" on her side. You can still see the red color in her tail, though, with the light shining through it:

I think they're SUCH attractive birds -- with their little black spots and wide, black "cravatte" on their chest -- don't you?

Of course our little "neighborhood watch-bird" -- the Anna's hummingbird -- is never very far away:

While I was admiring the flicker, I heard a bird call that I don't remember hearing around here before... I looked where the sound was coming from and a spot of brilliant yellow in a tree caught my eye:

He flew to another tree and, in the late afternoon sun, his feathers looked positively ORANGE!

I just can't resist including another shot of the colorful "American Goldfinch" -- a very, very beautiful bird, indeed!

Thanks for coming along with me today on my stroll to look at all the birds here in Cloverdale... We'll have to do it again -- REAL SOON! :o)