Not from here

Last week I visited family in southern Oregon. Of course I took my camera and encountered a few birds. Two species were new additions to my life list (Red-breasted Sapsucker and Varied Thrush). I captured a few “ok” pictures of the sapsucker; I’ll have to wait until next time to get the thrush. Many other birds I had seen before; it was nice to make their acquaintance again.

As we have Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers during the winter, Red-breasted Sapsuckers—their western cousins—can be found all along the west coast, all the year around.

Before I had identified it, I was pretty sure it was a sapsucker because of the rows of marks on the tree, a trademark of sapsuckers.

Here’s another western cousin of one of our birds. Eastern Towhees are quite common east of the Great Plains. In the west, you’ll find Spotted Towhees. The two species were actually considered different races of the same bird (Rufous-sided Towhee) up to a few years ago.

Wild Turkeys are found across the United States, all the year around. I’ve never encountered one in Apex, but I’ve heard them by the Jordan Lake dam. These two toms were accompanying a hen across a meadow, strutting their stuff and putting on a full display. The first picture has better detail, but I liked seeing them pose almost back-to-back.