Golden-crowned Sparrow

Golden-crowned sparrows are still part of the landscape. They will soon depart giving way to their white-crowned sparrow cousins.

Spring is the hopeful season, the season of renewal. Garden buds are emerging, and lawns are greening, but best of all our first bird songs are beginning to permeate the air with joy.

Tree Swallow

Tree swallows were inspecting the nest boxes, as were the violet-green swallows.

Yesterday, my first Swainson’s thrush of the year appeared at the bird bath to sip the crisp, clear, cold water and to bathe. Eighteen elk came by for breakfast to feast on the flora that has sprung up making the wetland bright green and looking very tasty. The elk came by again this morning. Tree swallows and violet-green swallows finally made it to the yard this morning too. They are inspecting the sparkling clean bird boxes as potential nesting sites. A pair of spotted towhees are making their presence known this morning too. Spring is the season I most eagerly await, and it is the return of the birds to make their nests and raise families here. This is what makes spring so amazing and enjoyable.

Purple Finch Male

Purple Finch are currently hogging the feeders. Two pair are vying for territory in the yard.

Townsend's Warbler

Townsend’s warblers were singing their hearts out in the backyard today.

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The Hosta Hotel, April 17, 2022.

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Hosta Hotel as it was on April 17, 2023. Renovations are still underway! Cold weather delayed progress on the renovations this year.

“Common Birds of the Long Beach Peninsula,” by Kalbach and Stauffer, is available from Bay Avenue Gallery in Ocean Park and Time Enough Books in Ilwaco.

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