The spring of 2019 has been a disappointment for the number of warblers and other interesting spring migrants appearing in the yard but we’ve had more juvenile birds than I can ever remember.  We have had, of course, an oversupply of House sparrows and European starlings who nested off-premises but are bringing their young to the yard for food.  

Listing the juveniles I can remember seeing in the past month or so: 

• A juvenile Brown creeper, as evidenced by its size, entering the watercourse sans parents (on 6/9).  
• A juvenile female Downy woodpecker being fed by a male adult (6/7).  

• Two juvenile White-crowned sparrows being fed by their parents (6/7).  

• Two juvenile Spotted towhees independently frequenting the yard and watercourse since early June.  By the time I see the juveniles in the yard they are always  independent of their parents.  

• A single juvenile Red-breasted nuthatch being fed by parents. 
• Multiple chickadees being fed by parents and entering the watercourse.  (Black-capped shown first, followed by a Chestnut-backed… both juveniles.)

• Two consecutive June nestings of House wrens (not sure whether it was the same or a different pair) in different nest boxes (no juveniles seen).  

• Juvenile Pine siskins both on feeders and in the watercourse.  On 6/8 I actually grasped one and removed it from a feeder so that I could refill the feeder!  
• A pair of crows nesting high in one of the fir trees in our front yard.  As of this writing the young still haven’t fledged.  

On Friday, June 7, I spent about 4.5 hours in the yard birding.  I had seen only one interesting warbler or tanager in about the previous two weeks.  Just after noon a male Townsend’s warbler flew into the yard and eyed the watercourse but didn’t stay long, probably due to squirrels and starlings occupying both major water features.  This is a warbler that we generally see only about once a year in the yard, and that is usually during the fall migration.  

Some three hours later (~3:15pm) a Yellow warbler entered the yard and flitted around both major water features without entering either.  This was the first confined sighting of a Yellow warbler this year.  

We went out for dinner and Art Walk Friday evening and returned home about 8pm.  I looked out our kitchen window just in time to see a male Yellow-rumped (Audubon’s) warbler fly from the watercourse.  So despite the dearth of recent visitors, I had seen three different species of warblers during the day, and two of them were the first confirmed sightings of the year!  

And the good news is, we have yet to see any juvenile Brown-headed cowbirds (adult male pictured) which in past years have parasitized White-crowned sparrow, Spotted towhee and Dark-eyed junco nests.