For the last couple of weeks in April, 2023, I had been worrying that there hadn’t been the number of warblers coming to the yard that I expected. For the last week or so in late April I had been monitoring the yard fairly closely, especially in the afternoons.  I spent some of my time developing a form I could use to document daily migrant arrivals during the month of May, our heaviest time for migrant influx. 

To recap, I observed my first seasonal arrival (s) on April 16 and 17, 2023.  Both observations were of a single Orange-crowned warbler, and of course I have no way of determining whether or not it was the same bird. On April 24 things took a dramatic turn when a Townsend’s warbler showed up, explored the yard and took a bath. I was able to obtain over 70 photos of the bird!  I was encouraged that this was the exciting beginning of our migration arrivals. But I had yet longer to wait. 

On April 25 I discovered a dead Orange-crowned warbler, apparently the result of a window kill… but still no large influx. 

Following two warm, sunny days with no sign of migrants, April 30 dawned much cooler with cloud cover and some early very minor precipitation.  My unfounded optimism at this point was that the birds had had two wonderful days for migration and that they might now be ready for rest, food… and a bath!  

I began my yard monitoring on April 30 at 1:20pm. At 1:30pm I had my first migratory visitor of the day… an Orange-crowned warbler (OCWA). These are actually year-round residents, but our number of sightings rise significantly in the spring and summer. 

I’ve set out my observations for the afternoon below. My documentation is based on VISITS since in most cases I have no way of distinguishing one bird from another… even using photographs. This is especially true with OCWAs. I did manage to determine from photos that the Audubon’s warblers (AUWAs) were different birds. 

To speed my documentation I’ve been trying to learn and use established abbreviations for species. Here are the abbreviations for the species listed below: OCWA – Orange-crowned warbler;  WIWA – Wilson’s warbler; AUWA – Audubon”s warbler.

1:30 – OCWA 

1:40pm – OCWA 

1:55pm – OCWA (2) 

2:05pm: AUWA (m), OCWA (2) 

2:20pm – WIWA (m) 

2:40pm – OCWA 

2:50pm- OCWA 

3:00pm – AUWA (m) 

3:10pm – OCWA, WIWA (m) 

3:15pm – OCWA, WIWA (m) 

3:25pm – OCWA 

I left the yard at 4:20pm, after three hours of observation. But wait… there’s more!  (Where have we heard that before?). My new office remodel gives me a good view of a couple of our water features, including our watercourse. While processing the afternoons photos in my office I had the following observations: 

4:55pm – OCWA 

5:50pm – OCWA 

6:05pm – OCWA 

Tallying the day’s observations, I had two male AUWA visits, three male WIWA visits, and at least 12 OCWA visits. I didn’t keep tabs on how many photographs I took, but I obtained good photos of all three species of warblers that visited. Some of those photos appear below… 

For at least the last week I’ve been anticipating early spring migrants arriving in the yard and have therefore spent significant time in our yard most afternoons with little to show for my efforts. My photos have mostly been of the Golden-crowned sparrows (which will soon be migrating themselves), our White-crowned sparrow(s) (which will also probably soon be on its way) and my faithful companion, the Townsend’s chipmunk which between eating sunflower seeds, seems to be building a nest. (I have yet to locate it but I’ve narrowed the probable location.)  

During the day my sister in Austin was texting her observations of many species often and and then then we pmigrating birds she was seeing at the same time I was photographing our leftover winter visitors.  

I returned to the yard about 4pm and before I even got seated I became aware there was a Townsend’s warbler exploring our water features! It ultimately decided on two baths in our watercourse… 70+ photos later I was welcoming the migration!  This is a beautiful (handsome?) male, a rarity here in the yard and a species we usually only see once or twice a year. 

So without further rambling, here are some selected photos of our Townsend’s warbler…

On April 17, 2023, the day after my last post, I spent a cold 2-3 hours in the yard waiting for another warbler sighting. It was not only cool but there was also a wind blowing, so it was somewhat of an ordeal. The birds weren’t cooperating and unlike the previous day Ii only had about one good influx of the usual visitors.

Towards the end of my ordeal I saw another Orange-crowned warbler, and this one hung around enough for me to obtain some good photos. I have no idea if this was the one I saw the previous day or a new visitor.

Immediately after the warbler left the yard this White-crowned sparrow posed for a nice photo…

After a day’s absence our White-throated sparrow showed up for a brief visit. It appeared to be going through the molt as have many of our Golden-crowned sparrows in the last couple of weeks.

I mentioned in my last post that we have a pair pf crows building a nest nearby. Here is one of the pair with a beakful of nesting material!

When the birding slows I have a Townsend’s chipmunk that keeps me company. It’s a big fan of peanuts! It consumed this peanut like we might eat a banana!

We finally logged our first warbler of the year in the yard on April 16, 2023.  I had driven around the neighborhood photographing birds but returned home mid afternoon.  About 3:20pm I noticed a bird in the upper portion of our Golden Chain tree but it was backlit and I didn’t have a good view of it.  Its activity was ‘warbler-like” and as it moved into better view I saw its yellow/green color and was able to quickly identify it as an Orange-crowned warbler!  This was our first highly anticipated warbler visitor of the year!  I was able to quickly obtain a few mediocre photos.  The bird was interested in water features and flew down to our new bird bath.  Unfortunately there were many Golden-crowned sparrows in that immediate area and through their activity discouraged the warbler from loitering where I could get better photos.  

We have a pair of crows that are building a nest within sight of my photography perch in the yard.  I watch them harvesting sticks from surrounding trees and flying to a fir limb with particularly dense foliage.  The crows built a partial nest in the same place last year but unfortunately it fell to the side of the road before it was completed.  

I counted eight Golden-crowned sparrows in the yard today, but there were others in the surrounding bushes.  This is probably our most prolific year for that species.   These photos are of Golden-crowned sparrows among the Oregon grape bushes at the Cap Sante Overlook.  

In this next photo the sparrow is actually eating one of the blossoms of the Oregon grape!

As of yesterday we still had at least one White-throated sparrow visiting the yard.  

The following photos were all taken on April 10, 2023.

The first photos here are of the White-throated sparrow that’s been an intermittent visitor to our yard over the past couple of months. Although widely distributed across the US, in the past it’s been a very rare visitor to our yard. Its rarity is enhanced by its feeding habits… when it’s in the yard it’s very active and quickly moves between open areas and bushes, making it difficult to photograph. Yesterday was a bonus day…. I’m not sure how many photos I got of the bird but I retained 23!

This next photo is of the sparrow waiting for “manna from heaven”. We have an inverted suet feeder in the yard that is accessed by many species of birds. Northern flickers are fairly frequent visitors and they are somewhat messy eaters, stabbing at the suet which results in small pieces falling to the ground under the feeder. Many of our birds have learned to exploit the flickers’ messy feeding habit and hang out under the feeder for bits of suet that fall. In this photo the White-crowned sparrow is watching the flicker feed in the hopes of garnering some suet!

Several weeks ago we purchased another bird bath (as if we need another one!) which I plan to use as something of a migrant trap. I’ve located the water feature where many of the migrants seem to enter the yard and where I should be able to obtain excellent photos. Now I just need some migrants! The current locals have just begun to visit the water feature, but we have yet to observe a single warbler in the yard this year.

The following photos were all taken at the new water feature…

A White-crowned sparrow…

You might guess from the following photographs that we have an abundance of Golden-crowned sparrows this year and you would be right! In past years we have only had about 6-8 in the yard at one time, but this year it’s been easy for me to lose track of my count at more then 15.

This male California quail was peeking out over the new water feature…

Getting away from the new water feature, this California quail was crossing the yard. We’re down to about five quail from a winter high of about 18 (in one large covey). Hopefully the rest have paired up and are busy trying to bring new ones into the world.

I photographed this male Anna’s hummingbird while on the phone with our tax preparer finalizing our taxes! Multitasking at its finest! We’ve had a few Rufous hummingbird visitors but none have remained in the yard or tried to commandeer a feeder.

And finally, when the birding gets slow we usually have this visitor to fill in my photographic efforts… a Townsend’s chipmunk.