Highlights and Reflections on a Year of Birds and Us
At the beginning of each year, we invite you to tell us about your highlights of backyard birding in the previous year, and what birding close to home means to you.
Your responses are below, but first, here are some of the themes of your stories and images from 2023:
Raptors have a fierce hold on our imaginations, inspiring awe and wonder thanks to their size and exceptional hunting skills. Less numerous on the landscape than many smaller birds, they awaken an urge in us to know them as individuals and observe them over time, as you’ll see in the tales of Cooper’s Hawks and Red-tailed Hawks below. And watching a hawk with its kill is always a stunning moment.
The small songbirds that visit our yards and feeders never cease to delight. Easy to take for granted, on the days when they don’t show up we realize just how much we count on their steady presence, their personalities, and their interesting behaviors to add color to our lives. The sunny Hooded Oriole, a favorite summer bird, deserves a special mention here, for sparking so many people’s interest in our local birds. And you never know when a new and unusual bird might pop up among your regulars!
There are the brief moments with birds that stand out for their beauty and serendipity, lifting our spirits - a bird catching the sunlight at dawn, a sought-after bird discovered right around the corner, or a rainy landscape with a special bird in its midst. There are moments of pathos too, when we are confronted with injured, sick, or dying birds, and must decide if and how we can help.
Finally, for sheer joy, is there anything more wonderful than watching a young bird fly for the first time? All of these moments speak to us, touching us in some way.
Enjoy our contributors’ stories of birding near home in 2023.
Doug Beattie and Roger Flickner, neighbors in Sunnyvale, observed a Cooper’s Hawk family during the spring and summer of 2023.
Doug writes: “We first noticed a male and female Cooper's Hawk building a nest in April. They were busy morning, noon, and night carrying leaves, sticks, and twigs to a tree. Eventually, they had built a large nest and the female spent most of the day in it, while the male brought food quite a few times a day. The male would bring the food to a nearby tree or light post, where the female would come out and grab the day's catch and return to the nest.”
The adult male Cooper’s Hawk observed by Doug and Roger perches with prey on top of a light post (all photos are by Doug, except as noted).
“Mom and Dad both had preferred eating spots near the nest. The male favored a light post, while the female used a large conifer tree next to it.”
The adult female Cooper’s Hawk eats in her preferred tree.
“Dad would pick at his catch for a minute or two on the light post, then Mom would come out and grab the remainder. She would eat for a few minutes in her preferred spot, then take the rest back to the nest. They would repeat this pattern a few times a day, with all kinds of prey on the menu: small songbirds, lizards, opossums, rats/mice and occasionally larger birds.”
Three Cooper’s Hawk nestlings are visible in the nest!
“Finally in late June, we noticed some baby ‘hawklets’ peeking out of the nest for the first time! We counted three tiny white heads from two different vantage points where you could see through the trees to the nest.”
“Eventually, Mom began leaving the nest to hunt for food along with Dad. Each brought back multiple meals per day, where Mom or Dad would take their fill, then bring what remained back to the nest for the hungry babies. Mom appeared to be the only one who fed the babies, but as the hawklets grew, Dad brought food and dropped it straight off at the nest before leaving again.”
One of the young hawks flaps its wings.
“Finally, the babies began to fledge and took their first few hops and flaps out of the nest. As the young ones’ flying skills grew, Mom and Dad stopped bringing food back to the nest and dropped it off nearby for the fledglings to come grab. The fledglings were very vocal when food was brought to them, particularly at night. They had a very recognizable trill that they chirped back and forth to each other all throughout the day.”
Four juvenile hawks, photographed by Roger. After fledging, young Cooper’s Hawks typically spend time near the nest with their siblings.
“To our surprise we discovered that the nest must have contained four babies, as all of them were spotted hanging out in a tree one afternoon. Quite a sight!”
One of the young hawks with prey - a rat!
“Eventually, by late July, Mom and Dad came back to the nest area less frequently, and the fledglings were hunting on their own to fill the gap. By early August, we didn't hear their trills anymore and it appeared that all the hawks had left the nest area. However, both adult and juvenile Cooper’s Hawks have been seen hunting in the neighborhood at large.”
Three of the young Cooper’s Hawks, after fledging from the nest that Doug and Roger observed.
Doug concludes: “Mom and Dad did a great job raising their young. We hope to see them nest again in the area in 2024!”
Peg Albrets (Cupertino) says: “Last year, our daughter gave me a bird feeder with a camera and microphone for my birthday. We set it up on the back of the garage, so that I can see it from my kitchen window. It has entertained me and our two indoor cats; they spend many hours a day by the window chattering at the birds, with an occasional lunge at the window. The birds have become used to the cats and pay them no mind.”
An Oak Titmouse visits Peg’s bird feeder. The feeder has a camera and microphone.
“It’s amazing to see the camera shots from the feeder; they are triggered by a motion sensor. The artificial intelligence built in to identify the birds who visit the feeder is pretty good, and I am able to correct it if it’s wrong.”
A male Black-headed Grosbeak visits Peg’s yard, activating the camera on her feeder.
“I did see a Black-headed Grosbeak on the camera early one April morning, though I still have never seen it myself. The feeder has been a lovely addition to my birding.”
Mary Vanatta (Cupertino) writes: “My favorite neighborhood birding moment of 2023 took place in late March. I was working from home, and shortly after heading out on my usual early afternoon walk I saw about a dozen birds zooming in and out of a berry bush. I started to get excited - could these be Cedar Waxwings?”
“At the time, this was my must-see species, and despite multiple attempts (visiting spots where they'd recently been photographed) I'd never seen one before. It turned out to be my lucky day - they were Cedar Waxwings! I stood there for a few minutes, watching them strip the berries off the bush and thinking about how cool it was that my first sighting ended up being right down the street from my house.”
LC Boros (San Jose) sent us her year-in-review:
“Looking back at 2023, a few major stories pop out and are worth sharing. At the start of the year we had a lot of storm damage, plus we had to retrench the run between our well head and tank and run new conduit for the electrical bits.”
In this video, you can listen to the bird sounds that LC recorded during the Great Backyard Bird Count 2023.
“Right after we closed up the trench it was time for the Great Backyard Bird Count. I ended up crafting a little video to accompany the audio files I had captured.”
“In late winter I tired of the rains and left town for a few weeks. I got home just as the sparrows departed and the orioles arrived and the battle for garden supremacy began anew, with the California Scrub-Jays and Steller’s Jays’ daily sparring.”
“Then the SCVAS Birdathon started up. For the second year I led a team and thus seven people journeyed to the ranch for lunch and fun. We even spotted a new species that day — a White-throated Swift. Including the data dump of our video stream to BirdNet, our total documented species here at the ranch is now over one hundred.”
“Summer quickly set in and with it all the green grass dried out and the nest boxes filled up. We had our first-ever clutch of Ash-throated Flycatchers plus lots of Tree Swallows, Western Bluebirds, wrens (both Bewick’s Wrens and House Wrens!) and White-breasted Nuthatches. Even some European Starlings made use of the box offerings.”
The resident badger at LC’s ranch
“We had regular sightings of a resident badger but sadly all I managed to capture were shots of the back.”
A resident Red-tailed Hawk at LC’s ranch, photographed in the spring of 2023
“95% of my birding involves our ranch and the special thing about living on the edge of civilization is seeing the same birds every day. For the last eight years I have been posting daily images of the wildlife here at the ranch to one of my websites. Our resident Red-tailed Hawk appears on that site fairly often. These two shots (above and below) were taken six months apart.”
The same Red-tailed Hawk, photographed in the fall of 2023
“Going back through my catalog I also found two shots of the same hawk with its new mate. (I have no idea what happened to the previous mate. I do know based on past images that this is a change-up that happened in late 2022.) You can see how much more self-assured they became as a pair.”
A pair of Red-tailed Hawks at LC’s ranch, winter 2023
“The first shot (above) is from January of 2023. The bird on the right is the same one pictured above.”
The same Red-tailed Hawk pair, together for about a year, in fall 2023
“These two did eventually produce three adorable chicks that all fledged. The second photo is of them this past November and you can see they are more at ease with each other.”
“The year closed out on a sad note as one of our adult California Scrub-Jays was killed or died. I noticed it had something going on with one of his/her eyes. I tried to use my long net to reach it, but the rest of the bird’s family gave way too much warning and I just couldn’t get close enough. The next morning the poor thing was dead outside my office, and after looking at the body I suspect one of its eyes had been damaged in a scuffle. Even if I had gotten it to a rescue center, there was probably nothing that could have been done.”
Two rehabilitated Wild Turkeys released on LC’s ranch
“The two Wild Turkey foundlings raised by the Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley, and that we released here, are still lurking about, thus I get to capture silly moments like this one above. The regular wild flock has still not made an appearance.”
“Yes, that is a turkey sitting atop a dinosaur statue….”
An American Robin enjoys LC’s bird bath
LC adds: “Finally, the end of 2023 brought the rains and the robins. Not year-round residents, but still fun to have visit, the American Robins monopolize the baths and they always are so photogenic when they do so!”
An Oak Titmouse visits Carol Ann’s yard in February 2023.
Carol Ann Krug Graves (Monte Sereno) says: “Here are a few of my favorite yard bird photos of 2023. I hope to have more time to spend with our backyard birds in 2024, and also to add more wildlife-friendly plants to our yard. There are already so many branches and leaves that I rarely get a nice background for photos, but the birds like it that way.”
A jaunty White-breasted Nuthatch, photographed by Carol Ann in February 2023
A White-throated Sparrow is an unusual visitor to Carol Ann’s yard in February 2023. These sparrows are rare winter birds in Santa Clara County.
Melanie Barnett (Sunnyvale) writes: “On June 18, a juvenile Cooper's Hawk caught a dove in our yard. We were alerted to the attack by the dove's ‘screams’. At the time, we thought it looked like a Eurasian Collared-Dove, then the next day, I checked the feathers that remained behind against the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Feather Atlas to confirm that it was indeed that species.”
A young Cooper’s Hawk with its kill, a Eurasian Collared-Dove, in Melanie’s yard. Melanie photographed them through the window glass, which accounts for the softer look.
“I guess this is a great example of how backyard bird feeding has allowed Cooper's Hawks to thrive in suburban areas. Interestingly, though we've seen Cooper's in and around our yard many times, they have always been young ones. I wonder if adult Cooper's are able to avoid yards (which may present their own dangers) because they have better hunting skills than the young hawks?”
Melanie adds: “For a few days after it happened, we did not see any Eurasian Collared-Doves around our yard, then one day, there was just one, possibly the surviving mate, looking down into our yard from a utility line. So sad! It was perhaps a week or two after that that we started seeing them come to our yard in groups of two or three at a time. So, we hope the survivor has found a new mate!”
A Red-breasted Nuthatch visits Steve’s feeder.
Steve Patt (Cupertino) writes: “Our 2023 highlight has got to be this beauty who showed up in late November/early December on the suet on our balcony!” The bird is a Red-breasted Nuthatch, an uncommon yard bird in our county.
A male Hooded Oriole in Molly’s neighborhood. She observed this bird throughout the summer of 2023.
Molly Graham (Mountain View) writes: “This Hooded Oriole was the bird that inspired me to get into bird photography! He visited our tree a couple of times, but I would mostly hear him around the block.”
The male Hooded Oriole observed and photographed by Molly
“He spent a lot of time at the top of one of the ornamental palms and on a sycamore, which is where I heard him singing from on top of most frequently. I also saw him flit around bushes and shorter trees with his mate occasionally. He was super curious and shy at the same time. I saw his fledglings one time early in the morning.”
White-breasted Nuthatches have been regular visitors to Molly’s feeder and neighborhood. This bird was photographed by Molly in December 2023. He has a black “cap,” marking him as a male bird. Females have gray caps.
“White-breasted Nuthatches were the first birds that I was able to recognize as individuals at my feeder. There's a mated pair who have been visiting the longest, and I saw some of their brood visiting around the end of the summer. The male in particular has been pretty confident and assertive at the feeder. His mate had to take some more time to learn how to use it and get more confident in doing so. There's another pair I've seen more recently which are clearly smaller and less assertive, and the females have slightly different shades of gray on their caps.”
One of the Red-breasted Nuthatches that have been visiting Molly’s neighborhood frequently since the fall of 2023. This bird is a male, identifiable by his black crown stripe and bright orange breast and belly.
“I started seeing Red-breasted Nuthatches in September and they have been very frequent visitors. They're a funny pair because the female of the two has been more confident and frequent at the feeder than her mate, though recently they've both been coming as a pair and taking turns quite a bit. When they show up together, he usually goes to the feeder first.”
“Compared to other birds, even chickadees, they seem the most comfortable getting near me. Sometimes if I'm filling the feeder or cleaning the bird bath they'll sit on the fence or the closest tree and honk at me.”
A Townsend’s Warbler photographed by Molly in her neighborhood, fall 2023
Molly adds: “The Townsend's Warbler(s) I've been seeing a lot more often recently. There's one female I believe in particular who will get fairly close to me and kind of ignore that I'm there. She likes a nearby Japanese maple quite a bit but I do see her in a sweetgum tree about as frequently.”
Kristin captured this atmospheric moment in the winter of 2023.
Kristin Lynn (San Jose) says: "2023 was a fun year for me as a fairly new birder, so it would be hard to pick a favorite moment. But I'll share a highlight from a day in mid-January, when heavy rains brought both a Great Egret and a Great Blue Heron to the local park (at the same time…most rare). Here's a photo from that morning of one of my ‘regulars’ — a House Finch — with the Great Egret in the background."
Tammy Baeza (San Jose) writes: “2023 was a wonderful year filled with birds. I enjoyed the company of many delightful backyard visitors throughout the year, as I spent much time in the garden, growing crops in spring, watering in the summer, then an outdoor harvest in the fall.”
“As I reflect on that time, my perception is that the birds were watching me as much as I was them, and in a playful way.”
A Turkey Vulture catches the rising sun in Tammy’s neighborhood.
“I captured one visit with some Turkey Vultures as they soaked in the sun perched high on a fir tree in November. This one appears to pose.”
An American Robin with a toyon (California holly) berry, photographed by Tammy
“On Christmas Day, I discovered this American Robin feasting on holly berries, which somehow seemed festive.”
Tammy adds: “I’m looking forward to a new year, with new seasons to explore in the presence of birds and nature!”
Happy backyard birding in 2024, everyone!
References
All About Birds website, www.allaboutbirds.org. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA.
Birds of the World. Edited by S. M. Billerman, B. K. Keeney, P. G. Rodewald, and T. S. Schulenberg. Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/home
A Checklist of Birds of Santa Clara County. Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society, Cupertino, CA, USA. Version 3.0: October 8, 2023.
eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance [web application]. eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. http://www.ebird.org
Credits
“Backyard Birding in 2023” was compiled and edited by SCVAS Member Julie Amato.
Banner image: Cooper’s Hawk by Doug Beattie