Spring is Springing!

We’re already starting to see some of the early migrant species here on Cap Sante. Rufous hummingbirds have arrived (male 3/11, female 3/19) and five Turkey vultures cruised over the house on 3/21. Bushtits have recently paired and we are no longer seeing the large flocks visit the suet feeder. We had American goldfinches for most of the winter, which is unusual for the yard, but now their numbers have increased substantially and they are probably the most numerous birds in the yard.

We’re already seeing some of our winter visitors exit. A substantial proportion of our Dark-eyed juncos (Oregon race) have left as has apparently our single member of the Slate-colored race. These birds breed at slightly higher elevations, although we had at least one breeding pair last summer. We still have a Varied thrush or two in the yard (2 females on 3/26) although they have been less visible for the past couple of days. They’ll soon be returning to the mountains for their breeding season. And we still have as many as ten Golden-crowned sparrows in the yard, but they will all have flown north in a few more weeks.

I’m looking forward to some of our spring arrivals… warblers, grosbeaks, tanagers and hopefully a few rarities such as crossbills and waxwings, but that probably won’t begin happening until sometime in May. In this time of transition I spent a few hours in the yard on March 21, the first day of Spring. I tallied 26 species in and from the yard. Here is a list of the birds I observed:

Eagle, Bald
Quail, California (2m, 4f)
Creeper, Brown
Bushtit (m&f)
Nuthatch, Red-breasted
Chickadee, Black-capped
Chickadee, Chestnut-sided
Kinglet, Golden-crowned
Dove, Eurasian Collared
Crow, American Raven, Common
Robin, American (~4)
Thrush, Varied (m&f)
Hummingbird, Anna’s (m&f)
Hummingbird, Rufous (2m, f)
Flicker, Northern
Woodpecker, Downy
Sparrow, House (m&f)
Sparrow, Song
Sparrow, Fox
Sparrow, Golden-crowned (≥4)
Sparrow, White-crowned
Junco, Dark-eyed (all Oregon, ~10, m&f)
Towhee, Spotted (m&f)
Blackbird, Red-winged (m&f)
Goldfinch, American (~15)
Starling, Eurasian

(Note the seven species of sparrows!)

All of the following photos were taken 3/21:

House finches, including a male feeding a female which I’m assuming is not a juvenile. It seems too early to have fledged young and this female doesn’t show the characteristic ‘horns’ which I usually see on juveniles’ heads.