This was the sunrise that greeted us early on the morning of January 29, 2024. The view is to the southeast from the Cap Sante Neighborhood, across Fidalgo Bay, the refineries on March Point and the Cascade Range. It was taken about two blocks from our house and was a great way to begin our day!

I’ve gotten some relief from the usual visitors lately. On January 30 I had two visits from one or more Ruby-crowned kinglets. They are a rarity in the yard this fall/winter. I was quite happy with this visit because I was able to obtain some photos.

Here’s one our more common winter yard birds, a Golden-crowned sparrow…

And with the possible exception of the two combined chickadee species (Black-capped and Chestnut-sided), our most numerous yard species at this time of year, a (male) Dark-eyed (Oregon) junco…

And here for comparison is the leucistic male Dark-eyed (Oregon) junco that has now frequented the yard for two winters. Note the white ‘collar’ on the leucistic bird.

Finally, the BIG news. On this day (January 31) I had a visit from what I believe to be an unaccompanied female Purple finch. The species is supposed to be in our area but I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I’ve made a positive identification. (And oddly enough, I can remember all or most of the locations!) Part of the problem is that the birds very closely resemble their more common and numerous ‘cousins’, the House finches. It seems a bit strange to me that the females of the two species seem easier to differentiate than the males. So assuming that this is indeed a female Purple finch, this is an extremely rare species for our yard!