Busy Birds, Heat, and a Band of Jays

At the same flood-control ditch downtown where the northern rough-winged swallows were, there are often other water birds.  Most often there are song sparrows flitting around through the grass and near the water.  Below is one of the song sparrows looking up at me.

Song Sparrows

There were also two female mallards looking through the shallow water for food.  Below are the two ducks.

Mallards

In my backyard, all the birds are busy.  All of the hummingbirds are competing, as usual.  Below is a female Allen's hummingbird that was taking a rest.  It was just watching the other hummingbirds race around.

Allen's Hummingbird

The mockingbirds seem to be building new nests.  The nest in the bush in middle of my yard was not successful, but it seems that the pair is trying again, because they are bringing new nesting material into the bush.  Below is one of the mockingbirds with a bit of fluff in its beak.

Northern Mockingbird

The weather has been getting warmer and the birds have been taking plenty of baths to keep cool.  The mourning doves are different.  After they take a bath, they occasionally settle down in the water and just lie there for a while.  I've only seen doves lie down in the water before.  Below is a photo of a dove in the water.

Mourning Dove

The young scrub-jay trio have been traveling around in a little band together.  Their parents are avoiding them, but the siblings still hang around together.  I never see one without seeing the other two.  They like to chase each other, eat cat food together, and explore the yard.  Below is a photo of two of them looking at each other.

Western Scrub-Jays

 

Below are three photos of the same scrub-jay experimenting with a sprinkler head.  The first is of it inspecting it.  The second is of it after it jumped back.  It had tried to pick it up and had startled itself (notice that the sprinkler has moved in the second photo).  The third is when it gave up.  In all three photos, you might notice that its left wing is kind of just hanging there.  It's not damaged.  For some reason the young scrub-jays sometimes just let one or both of their wings hang down.

Western Scrub-Jay

Western Scrub-Jay

Western Scrub-Jay