Warm Weather!

 The rain has stopped! At least for now. Today was warm and sunny. The last several days have been dry, if not warm. But there is still plenty of snow we can see on the hills south of us. I even mowed the lawn... it was very high. The tulips are finally unfurling but I have yet to take flower photos. Instead I've been taking bird photos, now that I've regained some of the energy that disappeared while I was sick.

Every morning while milking and feeding goats, I watch and listen for birds outside the barn... well, sometimes inside now that the Barn Swallows are back. I keep lists in my little Rite in the Rain notebook, then transfer that data to e-bird under their "incidental" category... meaning I'm not just watching birds. I'm doing something else (milking goats) and just note whatever birds I happen to see/hear.

For the last two days, e-bird (a Cornell Ornithology site that birders across the nation use) has been insisting that the Fox Sparrow I list cannot be because it would be rare here at this time of year. In a normal year, the Fox Sparrows (we had three of them here all winter) would have left by now for their northern breeding territories. Two of them have. But one is still hanging out, eating the seed I throw in front of the barn every morning.

So yesterday afternoon, I went back out with my camera and took photos of the "rare" Fox Sparrow. And, while I was at it, any other bird that would hold still. We have 4 swallow species working on nests here. 

Our daily "Rare" Fox Sparrow:

 "Our" swallows:

 

Cliff Swallows working on mud nest

 

Barn Swallow

 

Tree Swallow

 

Violet-green Swallow

 And just in case e-bird decides all these Golden-crowned Sparrows we have should have moved north to nest by now, I took a photo of one of them... This one may have some White-crowned Sparrow in its genes since the back half of it's head stripe is white instead of gold.

 

 Here is a bonafide White-crowned Sparrow

 

 It was 80 here today, but I was at the cool beach doing my Beached Bird Survey for April. This Killdeer was perfectly happy to pose for as many photos as I wanted to take. I don't think I've ever seen a Killdeer on the beach before.

 

 Life is good again. Flowers are blooming, birds are singing. Happy Spring at last!