
Sunshine is at such a premium these days, I can only remember one or two sunny mornings. One of them was this past Sunday, but I was inside, singing with the choir. It was a wonderful experience, however, made that much more special by our guest soloist, tenor Sean Harris. The energy he brought to our collective performance was palpable. The light of that occasion has kept me going through ensuing dark mornings all week.
These photos are all from the sunniest day of the month so far, January 9, in Riverside. The first bird I saw was 64H. Below his photo is the certificate I received from the USGS the same day I reported seeing him. Since he is at least 8 years old and I nearly always see him alone, I have imagined a rather sad story. I suspect it is likely he lost his mate and is waiting for someone like her to accompany him.


Some Mallards were enjoying a nap in the sunshine.
There may not have been a lot of birds, but those I could photograph were so much easier to focus on with light. What a concept.




When trying to photograph the Common Goldeneyes, sunshine was the problem.

After what seemed like several weeks, the American Robins were back.



Even this Northern Cardinal didn’t seem to mind posing for me. I guess he figured the pictures would come out pretty good with all that sunshine.




I saw 64H again later on the grass. Then a few more Canada Geese came in for a landing.
That was it for sunshine. Except for a rainy day or two, I have gone out in the mornings and have seen birds every time, in spite of the endless clouds. There’s no sunshine in the foreseeable future, but I will try to be back sooner with a more recent report.