Friday's Hunt v 2.10

It's Friday, so that means it's time for Friday's Hunt, hosted by Eden Hills. As usual, there are 3 topics for today: Starts with J, Week's favourite, and Surprise.

Starts with J

Today, I give you the humble, but very sweet, junco.  This is a ubiquitous bird in my area, and it's common in much of Canada and the US.  The official name is the dark-eyed junco (Junco hyemalis) although most people just call it a junco.  (In case you're not familiar with it, that's a hard-c sound, like junk-o).  It's an ordinary little bird, but a very efficient ground feeder who cleans up underneath the feeder where other birds toss seeds to the ground.

What I didn't know about the junco, until I consulted my field guide today, is that there are actually 16 different subspecies that have been described, including "red-headed" and "pink-sided" versions, which I have never seen.  Here, we get what is described as the "slate-coloured" subspecies.  I have the impression that they get a darker grey during winter, but that may be because they stand out more readily against the snow.  Here's one scratching an itch.

They are primarily ground feeders, although sometimes they also perch at my tube feeder.  Here's one sharing space with a red-breasted nuthatch.

They're pretty good at blending with the background.  Here's a junco among my ajuga (which form part of the "lawn" under the feeder).  Did it take you a second to find it?  

Although they are mostly thought of as grey and white, the females, in particular, can have quite a lot of brown on them.  This one is about to enjoy her sunflower seed treat.

Week's Favourite

I was happy with a few hummingbird shots that I took this week.  I find they can be difficult birds to photograph, so I'm pleased when I get a clear shot.  I shot some in my parents' garden earlier this week, but then I got some even better ones at home, so here are a few favourites (can't pick just one!) to share.

This ruby-throated hummingbird is feeding at the last flowers of Chamerion angustifolium, also known as fireweed.  In England, it's called Rosebay Willowherb, which I think is a much nicer common name than fireweed.  That said, it isn't related to roses, bay leaves, or willow!

I love this shot - even though the wings are a blur.

Finally, she took a rest!

Surprise
I have two surprises....so bear with me!

First, I was quite surprised this week when I finally saw my clematis sporting some flower buds.  I had watched it grow since we moved to this house in June, and figured maybe it was having an "off" year because there was no sign of a flower or a bud. I've had many clematis vines both in Canada and in my years in the USA, but I've never had one that didn't put out any flower buds until the last week of August!  I didn't expect to see any flowers this year.  There were some old flower tags in the detached garage left by the previous owner, and I sorted through those and found that my clematis is most likely "Ernest Markham," since there was a tag for that variety, and the flower colour matches the tag. Upon researching it, I found that this clematis cultivar flowers from August to October, so it's just about on time.  The first flower opened yesterday, September 1.

There are lots of blooms on the way.  I'm looking forward to more!

Second, I was surprised when Marc installed a special cover on the outdoor electrical receptacle that will power the heated water buckets this winter, as well as the electric fence.  He had already bought a cover and installed it, but he had gone to the hardware store today for other things, and found this cover which has interesting features that he thought would be even better.

The inner panel of the cover pops out to reveal a rubber flex channel that expands outward.  There is a hole in one corner for the wires to go through.

The rubber allows the plugs to fit underneath the cover because of the expansion capacity.

The benefits of this cover mean that even when the snow piles up against the house, which it invariably does in our winters, the outlet is still protected and the electrical connections won't be compromised.  A great feature for our climate!  What a clever hubby I have, and what a good surprise that was!

Birds Abound

I'm so pleased that there are so many species of birds near my new home.  They make for hours of contented bird watching, and sometimes hours of study and occasional frustration in my attempts to identify them.  Here are a few birds I've photographed recently.

I believe this is the hermit thrush, although I'm not 100% sure.  It might possibly be Swainson's thrush or the gray-cheeked thrush, or even Bicknell's thrush.  They're all fairly similar and they all live in this area.  I eliminated the gray-cheeked thrush because I think this bird is too brown for that species.  I'll gladly take pointers from bird experts on this one!

Here's a very obliging female red-winged blackbird who posed for me at the Sackville Waterfowl Park.  Quite distinctive colouring and markings on this bird - she was easier to identify.

This is, I believe, a female magnolia warbler with fall plumage, possibly a juvenile one.  Again, I'll gladly accept other opinions!  The middle picture isn't as sharp as I'd like, but it's helpful in assessing the markings on the bird.

Then there's this little chirper.  I thought it was a dark-eyed junco, but now I'm not sure.  It seems to have a little more brown than I would have thought for a junco, and it's not solid enough in the grey colour compared to the others I regularly see.  Can anyone identify this bird?  It seems to be sparrow-like in size and in the shape of the beak.

It's also a natural at posing, although it didn't like me getting too close.

Sharing with The Bird D'Pot.

Sharing with Saturday's Critters.
Sharing with Camera Critters.