They’re back, as I had hoped for!
Last October we started seeing a dozen or so of these cute, funny little birds in our back yards, the black-headed juncos. Then in April, they vanished, being migratory – except for Solo Junco, who stayed through the summer. (I mean, going to Canada for sex is great, but so is eating steady all year round, I guess?)
Looking back, it was October when they showed up last year, so I was on the lookout. Late last week I saw three of them. A couple days ago I saw nine or ten. They hop around and scatter and flit and fly all over the yard, so sometimes they’re hard to get an exact count on, and also it makes it tough to get a group photo. But thanks to the new supercomputer & high-end camera that I carry in my pocket, this afternoon I caught at least five in a single picture, out of the eight or nine that were there at the time.
Click to enlarge – can you spot the five juncos? Don’t be fooled, there are seven birds shown. Two are members of the flock of house finches that we have here year around.
The five juncos are circled in red, the two finches in green. Also not shown (off to the side) are the mourning doves, California towhees, and squirrel. Not to mention the lizards (which, to be honest, are mostly starting to hibernate for the winter.)
We Love The Stars Too Fondly 