Happy New year to each and everyone of You! 

May you all soar to new heights of health and happiness in 2016 .......and should you experience any blues, may they all be Bluebirds.
Thank you for all your terrific birder emails this year. 

                  ~ Yorba Linda Backyard Birders 

What Types Of Wild Bird Seed Are There - Which Are Best?

Click here for bird seed guide and pictures of seed


Another Quick Guide to bird seed

Spice Finch or Nutmeg Mannikin

I typically do not place millet seed in the feeders. Today I thought I'd give it a try to see what type of finches would come..............
Look at our seed dish full of Spice Finch. 
smile emoticon smile emoticon smile emoticon

(Nutmeg Mannikins/Lonchura Punctualata)

Birdie Humor

Hope all of you  are having a wonderful winter birding season.

Joshua Tree National Park

Did you know that there are over 250 kinds of birds recorded in our local Joshua Tree National Park:

Scott's Oriole

 (Icterus parisorum)                           Click here for > Birds of Joshua Tree National Park

Winter food support

I've helped the Robins and Bluebirds during this cold spell with a few extra home grown meal worms. It's now time to make some bird feeding suet for the feeding baskets.  

 Would you like to hear an American Robin's sounds? Just click here!

Chickens are birds too......

Many of my Yorba Lindan friends have chickens....... So here's some  morning laughter for you.   

...."Come on Stripe, you can do it"........ Love these little girls laughter while obstacle course training their little fat hen. All animals are amazing.

Clck here>>      Little Fat Hen Obstacle Course:

Owl sound collection

Last night around midnight, we had a four-way great horned owl sound-off. It was beautiful!  We felt as if we lived far out in the country. That is the wonderful thing about Yorba Linda. It's a bird sanctuary where we are still able to experience wild bird life.

Here is the link to various owl sounds:
Owl Sound Collection 

Deadly window strikes rise when birds migrate.

I have birds flying into my windows year round, not just during migration periods.
Here is a great article, from local writer, 
Jennifer J. Meyer with some good suggestions: 

Help prevent birds from flying into windows.
Click here>>>http://www.ocregister.com/articles/window-685277-birds-tape.html 

We had a beautiful visitor today. A black headed grosbeak visited one of the backyard feeders. He stayed for quite awhile. ~ Yorba Linda, California

Hummingbird Babies

Two adorable  little hummingbird babies sitting in their nest in Yorba Linda, Ca.

Picture by Julie Astle.

Pin Tailed Whydah

It's been a busy summer and it has been awhile since I've posted. 

This little guy is so entertaining. smile emoticon While having my morning coffee, I saw the whydah bird out our front window perched at the top of the birch tree.
Then he appeared all day while I was cleaning the yard. Hope you like his pics. smile emoticon
(Pin Tailed Whydah Bird)  Click on picture once to enlarge. 

Bolsa Chica Wetlands, California.    Canadian Goose has been on the nest for the longest time and showed off the newly hatched.   Also, scroll to the Snowy Egret in flight.  :)

This is the first I've ever seen baby Canadian Geese. 

These are amazing shots, Thanks Greg Dillon.

Cooper's Hawk in Huntington Beach

Greg D. of Huntington Beach took pictures of Pretty Boy!

Some wonderful backyard pictures. Thanks Greg. 

Endangered - Light footed clapper rails

Sharing from Huntington Beach!
Endangered bird species mating in Bolsa Chica - California

Wildlife experts are excited about the idea of the light-footed clapper rail breeding in the wetlands.

Greg Dillon saw these at the bridge of Bolsa Chica.  He got some great pictures and video.  Scroll to the bottom. Please. 

(A newspaper note:A family of light-footed clapper rails and their three chicks wander around the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve. It is the first documented sighted of light-footed clapper rail chicks in Bolsa Chica in decades. (Steve Smith, HB Independent / May 12, 2014)

These are terrific!   Thanks Greg!  

Hummingbird Eggs, Nesting Mama, then two little babies... by Jodi C.

5/18/15 - La Mirada, CA.  See the growth progression of two little sweet hummingbirds.

These fabulous pictures were taken by Jodi C.  

So far, dates 5/18 to 5/21/15 are journaled below.     
Scroll downward within this post for progression. 
   

5/19/2015 - A baby hummer is born!

5/19/15 - The baby hummer turned in another direction.

5/19/15 - A hungry baby.

Awaiting baby number two to hatch....................... 

5/20/15 - Here's newborn number two!

Sweet little newborn hummers are about the size of a sunflower seed.    

5/21/15 Their feathers are starting to get fluffy.

                                              

4-26-2015

June 2, 2015

Sorry to report that on Monday, June 2, 2015, when Jodi went to take some update pictures of the little hummingbirds, they were gone. It is possible a crow may have taken them or some other predator. We don't know. The nest was left empty, intact and did not look like there was a struggle of any kind, which lead me to believe a crow or western scrub jay were the predators.   

Protect backyard birds from hawks

It is important to remember that even though it may be disheartening to see a songbird fall victim to a hawk, the hawks are only playing their role in nature’s cycle and they do not kill more birds than needed to survive.

Here are some tips for protecting backyard birds from hawks.

Bewick's Wren Babies.

This is the first experience I've had with Bewick's Wrens.

We have a 20 year old bird house yard decoration that has been concealed with vines. I've been meaning to take it down, but, glad I didn't. I heard some little chirping sounds coming from it and sure enough, a bewick's wren had built a nest inside. There were 3 babies.

 Their sound is heavenly. Click here to hear>>> Bewick's Wren Sound

Adult Bewick's Wren at worm feeder.