Monarchs, Small Birds, and a Hawk

The monarch butterflies are flying through my area.  I saw two together on a bush, though they didn't stay long.  I see them fly past the windows occasionally.  They're very large and beautiful and let me get very close to them.  Below is one of them.

Monarch

There have been a lot of finches around.  There seem to be at least a few in every bush.  Below are four photos of house finches.  The first two are of females, and the third of a male.  The fourth is of a female, two young finches, and a California towhee.  The towhee is the one at the bottom, and the house finch chicks are the fluffy looking ones above and below the adult female.

House Finch

House Finch

House Finch

House Finches and California Towhee

Earlier this week I took a walk around my yard, and there were two female hummingbirds (an Allen's and an Anna's) that were following me.  The Allen's hummingbird would land on different branches nearby and look at me.  The Anna's hummingbird would hover around me.  At one point, I wasn't paying attention to it, and it suddenly zoomed right at my face.  Then it just hovered around again.  Whenever one of the hummingbirds got too close to the other, they'd chase each other.  Below is the Allen's hummingbird sitting in an orange tree.

Allen's Hummingbird

On the same day as the hummingbirds, there were at least three Nuttall's woodpeckers in the yard.  One of them kept flying around from tree to tree.  Then it tried landing on a telephone wire, but it kept leaning over and losing its balance.  Below is the Nuttall's woodpecker on the telephone wire.

Nuttall's Woodpecker

Also on the same day, I saw two Cooper's hawks circling around.  They were far away, but they can be easily identified by their long tails, reddish underside, and a couple quick wing beats followed by gliding.  Since sharp-shinned hawks aren't in southern California in the summer, there isn't anything to confuse them with.  Below is one of the hawks.

Cooper's Hawk