Pine Siskin

I saw Pine Siskins at my feeder today for the first time this winter. I'd estimate there were about 15 of them, though they were count as they were constantly on the move.
I haven't had much time to watch my feeder yet this winter as it is dark when I leave for work and dark when I come home. Today was a pretty good day. Besides the Pine Siskins there were a couple of Starlings, a few Yellow-rumped Warblers, a Black-capped Chickadee, a Red-breasted Nuthatch, a Ruby-crowned Kinglet and a Goldfinch.
You can see the Goldfinch in the picture above sitting on a bush to the left of the feeder. It looks like an American here though in other pictures it looks like a Lesser. I find it hard to tell them apart in the winter.

Purple Finch? - Juvenile

On our way back home from Bandon over the 4th weekend, we stopped at Shore Acres State Park to walk through the wonderful garden they have there. Other than at my feeder, I got my first sighting of a Purple Finch. It was singing up a storm on a pine branch along the edge of the garden. It seems odd to me that while I see Purple Finches regularly at my feeder, I had not seen one in the field other up until then.
Tonight I saw a bird at my feeder that I wasn't quite sure of, so I grabbed my camera and took some pictures. It was pretty tolerant of me so I figured it was probably a juvenile and when I got a look at the pictures the gummy corners of its bill confirmed my suspicion.
So the next thing to consider was what species was it? My thought the whole time was a Purple Finch because of the frequency of adults I get (I actually get many more Purple Finches than House Finches). Though it has much less of an eyebrow than a similar looking female, I really think this is a juvenile Purple Finch. Let me know if you know otherwise, or if you know for sure!

Pine Siskin

I've only seen Pine Siskins once in the past year. That was last summer up at Timberline Lodge. My second sighting turns out to be this past Sunday in my backyard at the feeders.

Northern Flicker - Suet Guard

I saw a Northern Flicker at my suet feeder this evening when I got home from work. I grabbed my camera and started taking pictures of it when a European Starling decided to challenge the Flicker for the suet. The Flicker, however, was having none of it!

Varied Thrush

I had a Varied Thrush scrounging droppings from my feeders today.

Purple Finch

Things are starting to heat up at my feeders. On Thursday I had my first Purple Finches. Better than that, it was also the first time I've ever seen Purple Finches. There have been times that I thought I had had my first sighting, but I ultimately determined that the bird was a House Finch.
This first sighting consisted of females and possibly juvenile males (notice the spec of red above the bill on the third bird from the left). I had to ask for some help identifying them as the yellow tinge through me off. The pictures didn't turn out very well as I was shooting through a window and it was a typical gloomy Oregon winter day.
Then, yesterday, I had just gotten back from Sauvie Island having joined the OBO field trip, when I notice something at the sunflower tube. It turned out to be a male Purple Finch. I shot through the window again, but there was a little sun peeking through the clouds, so the pictures are a little better. (I have to remember to clean that window!)
The male made another appearance today.

House Finch - Mycoplasmal Conjunctivitis?

On Thursday I saw some female Purple Finches at my feeders and today I saw a male. I took some pictures, but they where taken through a window and from a distance so they didn't turn out very well. So after I saw the male Purple Finch I decided to go outside with my camera, hide behind a low fence I built around our patio and wait for it to come back.
No luck on the male Purple Finch, but this male House Finch showed up with a strange looking eye. As you can see above, its right eye is just fine, but its left eye is badly swollen and misshapen.
I did a quick search on the web and found that House Finches have contracted a disease called Mycoplasmal Conjunctivitis caused by the parasitic bacterium Mycoplasma gallisepticum. It was first discovered in the early 90's and is supposedly confined to the Eastern US. I'm not sure that the bird is suffering from this, but it seems a likely candidate.

Bushtit - At the Feeder

This past Christmas, Santa (that would be me) left me a bird feeder kit under the tree. I was pretty excited about it, imaging all the birds I would be able to watch from the comfort of my home. But once I got it out there, I realized that I'm gone from the house most of the daylight hours during that time of the year.
Also, I wasn't getting many birds at the feeders, so I moved the setup near the back fence as was suggested on one of the feeders. It reasoned that birds would feel safer if the feeders were closer to trees and bushes where they could quickly seek shelter. That did help, but now the feeders were further from view.
Today, I realized that the change to daylight savings time allowed me a little time after work to keep an eye on the feeders. Tonight I saw Bushtits at the suet feeder for the first time; as many as five at a time.