On April 20-21, 2020, I had some of the most remarkable birding sightings over a 24-hour period I can remember in our 19 years of living in the Cap Sante neighborhood. We’ll call it Karma and I’ll mention why at the end of this post.  

April 20, 2020, was quite an uneventful day until late in the afternoon  I had spent considerable time in the yard with very little to show for it. However, as I sat pondering whether or not to call it quits for the day, I became aware of a nondescript bird hopping beside me only about seven feet away. I immediately recognized it as a thrush, and in appearing in early spring presumed it to be a Swainson’s thrush. (The Hermit thrush, which is a fall/ winter resident, is virtually identical.)  I managed multiple photos (in relatively poor light) as the bird made a 180-degree arc around me. 

April 21, 2020, began cool and overcast. Upon returning from my morning walk I began preparing breakfast, at the same time reflecting that spring migration was occurring and glancing out the window from time to time.  A male Yellow-rumped (Audubon’s) warbler suddenly appeared at the small saucer of water that the warblers seem to be preferring. This male was not as striking as the previous one(s) visiting the same location.  As I watched it bathe an Orange-crowned warbler entered a small Japanese maple about three feet above.  Two different species of warbler in the yard at the same time… the migration is truly on!  

For several days there have been at least three very active Pine siskins in the yard. I saw a bird in our stone bird bath and assumed that it was one of the siskins, but the color didn’t seem right.  I trained my lens on it and immediately identified it as a Lincoln’s sparrow, an extremely rare visitor to the yard. I managed several photos as it bathed. 

Shortly thereafter I began hearing an unfamiliar, loud persistent call coming from across the street. I guessed it was a Steller’s jay call and confirmed it with my Sibley’s app. The vocalizations continued for at least ten minutes as I continued to scan the yard for any new arrivals. 

About this point our male Rufous hummingbird entered the yard and I upped my shutter speed to 1/800th of a second in anticipation of taking photos of the hummingbird hovering over the watercourse.  I took a few photos but almost immediately a Steller’s jay entered the yard for a tour. I took a lot of photos, but unfortunately, in my excitement, I neglected to lower my shutter speed. Fortunately my Adobe Lightroom will allow me to correct the error. After the jay exited our yard I saw at least four Steller’s jays moving up a neighbor’s cypress tree across the street. 

Still later in the afternoon I got a visit from two Orange-crowned warblers and for a minute or so they were bathing side by side in the watercourse!  A while after they left I got a visit from a single Orange-crowned warbler. Its reluctance  to enter the watercourse led me to believe that it wasn’t one of the pair I had seen earlier. 

After a rather lengthy period of inactivity in the yard, we had yet another visit from an Orange-crowned warbler.  And almost immediately after it left a single Canada goose flew over!  Then yet another Orange-crowned warbler visit, this one clearly more interested in gleaning insects than in the water features. 

Suddenly there was a very large influx of small birds… at least two more Orange-crowned warblers, a Golden-crowned kinglet, a Ruby-crowned kinglet and Bushtits.  The Bushtits are regular, multi-times per day visitors, but in this case at least one, and possibly two, took bathes… a very unusual occurrence for our Bushtits.    

It was impossible for me to track all of the activity. I was trying to monitor four water features (all in use simultaneously) with all kinds of small birds flying around the yard and take photos at the same time. I wanted to get a photo of the Ruby-crowned kinglet for record purposes since they had been rather conspicuously absent this past winter.  I had a sudden idea… maybe there was a Hutton’s vireo mixed in with this group!  Within about four feet from me was a small Japanese maple and in it were several small birds.  I began to examine them more closely and discovered that one was a Hutton’s vireo!  Then began my effort to photograph the vireo as well as the Ruby-crowned kinglet that I verified was also present. 

I’ll just also mention that for the past two days I’ve heard vocalizations in the forest to the south of us.  I have difficulty telling the difference between American robin vocalizations and Black-headed grosbeak vocalizations, but since the robins seemed to have been paired and territories established, I strongly suspect I’m hearing a grosbeak. 

All in all, I had spent about four hours in the yard on April 21, 2020.  What a day!  So the tally of special birds for the 24-hours is:  

• Swainson’s thrush (spring migrant, spring & summer resident). 
• Male Yellow-rumped (Audubon’s) warbler (spring migrant) 
• Orange-crowned warblers (an estimated 10-12 visits).   
• Steller’s jays (one in yard, total of at least four in the area) 
• Lincoln’s sparrow 
• Canada goose (in flight) 
• Golden-crowned kinglet 
• Ruby-crowned kinglet 
• Hutton’s vireo 

And while I’m at it, I’ll mention a few of our regular residents: 

• American goldfinches 
• Chestnut-backed chickadees (a ‘target’ bird for non-PacNW visitors!)
• Black-capped chickadees 
• Red-breasted nuthatches 
• American robins  
• Northern flickers 
• Downy woodpeckers 
• Pine siskins 
• Bewick’s wren 
• White-crowned sparrows 
• Golden-crowned sparrows 
• Eurasian Collared doves 
• California quail 
• Red-winged blackbirds 
• House finches
• … and others!  

And the Karma?  But for COVID-19, April 20 was to have been the first day of my annual birding trip to my sister’s and her husband’s house west of Austin, Texas!