House Sparrows in the bird house!

 On this cold morning in early April, I noticed this male House Sparrow really checking out this bird house that's been hanging in my yard for several years. It has never been used. Birds check it out every now and again but always decline it in the end. 

 End of April and things are getting serious. Male comes around some more and seems like he really likes the place.

Then he decides it's time to show the Mrs. and see what she thinks.

 She likes it and wastes no time getting it cleaned out. Things are looking very hopeful that they are going to raise a family here and I'm excited to witness it. Was hoping for Chickadees bit this will do.

Then I have a slight panic attack! I realized the bird house has been hanging by plastic wire-ties for a couple of years and I had visions of it failing from brittleness with the weight of those little baby birds inside. I must intervene and I could do it when Mr and Mrs aren't looking. I climb the tree and realize my theory was correct, the plastic ties snapped apart with little to no effort. I notice they had imbedded themselves into the branch of the tree from being there so long. This was keeping the house from swinging too much. I had to remedy that since it is no good for the tree branch to be strangled so I placed the new ties much looser. The house swings a bit more but surely Mr and Mrs won't notice or mind. I watch and wait....Mr and Mrs come back a few more times and I think they notice something is not the same and they don't like it. And they never came back again..... :( 

American Goldfinch!

I don't get these beauties in my yard very often but when I do, it's always a pleasure! I'll have to look back in my archives but I feel like this is the yellow-est one I've seen! They are like a little piece of sunshine on a cloudy day! I hope I see more of him this spring!

Eurasian Collared Dove!

At first glance I thought these were the Mourning Doves that visit my yard from time to time, but then I noticed the collar! First time I've had a pair of these visit my yard. They just stayed for a little while and enjoyed some seed under the feeder :)

Mountain Bluebirds!

What an exciting "first time" sighting for me! A lucky catch, too! A spring snowstorm moved through and with it usually comes lots of activity at the feeder. Now the feeder is in my backyard so that's where I see 99% of the birds I photograph. However, I just happened to glance out my front window and I noticed a whole bunch of Robins in the street and in my neighbor's driveway. I didn't look too hard as I was heading upstairs but I just happened to mention to my husband to look out the window at all the Robins...we both looked and I shouted "Is that a blue bird with them?!" Then we both noticed there was more than one. As quickly as I could, I ran downstairs, grabbed my camera and was able to get a few shots before a trash truck came barreling around the corner and away they all flew. I watched all day and they never came back :(  I would guess there was probably 10 or so Robins and 8 Mountain Bluebirds (4 males, 4 females).

A Nice Variety Of Springtime Visitors!

Common Grackle

European Starling!

Mourning Doves on my Fence!

American Robin at the bird bath!

I just love when Spring arrives and brings with it all sorts of lively bird activity! I notice the birds starting to pair up and investigate potential nesting sites, migrant birds stop in briefly for a snack and a drink of water as the pass through town, and all kinds of singing and chattering goes on almost non-stop! Love it!

American Tree Sparrow!

American Tree Sparrow

   After a long slow winter for birds in my backyard, I had two brand new sightings for me this spring. The first one was a brief visit by a Townsend's Solitare that I unfortunately didn't get a photo of. The next first sighting was this American Tree Sparrow! He stayed around for 2 days and loved the Nyjer feeder. I suspect he was just passing through on his way up to his summer breeding grounds in the Tundra!