Catfood, Little Birds, and Doves

There have been a few birds eluding my camera recently.  There is a young towhee that's been traveling around the yard with a parent, but it always flies away before I can get my camera out.  There are also a couple of Nuttall's woodpeckers, but they always go behind branches so I can't see them.  Two northern rough-winged swallows fly around over my house every day, but they are far too fast for my camera.

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The catfood in my yard is attracting a lot of birds.  It is mostly hogged by the three scrub-jays, who still hang around together.  The other birds wait until the jays have gone before going to the food bowl.  Often there is a jay at each bowl and the third waiting in the tree.  Then they hang around and hop around on the grass and in the tree.  Below is one of the jays with a mouth full of catfood.

Western Scrub-Jay

House sparrows and California towhees are the other two birds that visit the bowl.  House sparrows always get the bowl last, since they are the smallest.  Towhees are still nervous of the jays, though.  Sometimes, when the jays are playing around and chasing each other, they will try to get the towhees to join in.  The towhees just hold still and wait until the jays calm down.  One towhee, the one in the photo below, hid under a bench until the jays left.

California Towhee

I think the house finches have had their second brood of eggs, because there are many more young finches around.  Below are three house finches on a telephone wire.

House Finches

The hummingbirds, as always, are constantly racing after each other.  Below is an Allen's hummingbird waiting for other hummingbirds.

Allen's Hummingbird

There have been more Eurasian collared-doves than usual.  They are loud and big and often in pairs or small groups.  Below are two of them on a telephone pole.

Eurasian Collared-Doves

The mourning doves are still here though, despite the other larger doves.  They are never near the collared-doves, though, because they get chased away.  Below are two mourning doves on a telephone wire.

Mourning Doves