My foot is finally healing after my tripping accident at the end of last month. The first two weeks of the month were marked by very limited mobility, but at the end of the month I could walk with a boot. This of course limited my adventures greatly. Yet I was able to sit at my back door with my camera watching the bird and squirrel activity. It was reminiscent of Jimmy Stewart in 'Rear Window' minus the murder.

A Clay-colored Sparrow took a bath in the bubbling rock. It was a huge surprise to have a rarity briefly come visit me. A Cooper's Hawk perched on top of my arbor very briefly. It makes me wonder what else has come by in our yard and gone completely unnoticed. 

I have the usual resident birds. House Sparrows overwhelm my feeders. House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Mourning Doves, and Allen's Hummingbirds are regular visitors. And there are the retuning migrants. I have one White-crowned Sparrow who made brief appearances throughout the month. In the middle of the month a small flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers swarmed my yard. I think they have dispersed now with one sticking around to eat the grape jelly from my feeder.

Once I could hobble in the boot, I went out to my backyard a few times to look for a few insects, to fill my bird feeders (hummingbird, jelly, seed), and move my night motion cameras. I can photograph my yard critters without going outside. I have a regular skunk, opossum, and what turns out to be THREE regularly visiting cats. I have discovered that the cats run from the skunk, observe the opossum with curiosity, eat the crickets, grasshoppers, moths, and spiders, and curl up on the cushion on the bench under the arbor. Amusing!

They say change is good. But I say it can also be painful. Every year, some species are “split” into two or more, while others are “lumped” from multiple species into one. The eBird/Clements Checklist is updated annually to reflect the latest developments in avian taxonomy. Although I recognize the rationale, and the effort by so many, I hate this because I have to update my records. You will notice (or perhaps would not have) that my House Wren photo is now Northern House Wren. Cooper's Hawk has the same common name, but the genus has been changed. Several of my other birds on my website have new names too.  If you thought you had learned your birds, but now see them listed as something else, don't be disheartened. It's not you, it's THEM.

If progress goes well, I should be back to a shoe instead of a boot in a few more weeks and almost completely healed by the end of November -- fingers (and toes) crossed.
 

Happy nature watching. 
 

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