Friday was such a nice day! I spent about an hour  in the morning out on my deck drinking coffee, soaking up some sunshine, and enjoying the view and wildlife.

I noticed a couple of new bird species that confirms spring is close: my first Violet-green Swallow circling over my house; and a Rufous Hummingbird visiting my feeders amid the numerous Anna's.  This is remarkable since my feeder seems to be perpetually frozen until today!

In the evening, Christine and I made a quick tour of the BVS Lakes and discovered a huge flock of Violet-green Swallows swooping over the north-west corner of 4-Island Lake. There must have been 100 of them!

And today I woke up to snow again, which seems par for the course in spring around here - the weather is schizophrenic!

So keep your eyes open for first of spring sightings! The fun's about to begin.

Richard

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I had several first of the season sightings for me this past week. I got to see a nice interaction between an adult bald eagle and a few pestering ravens. It was Feb. 12th, Mark and I were on our way to Whiskey Flat days in Kernville. Heading down the 58 is when we spotted them. Beautiful soaring eagle enjoying the updrafts of the foothills. Pesky ravens pushing him out of their area.
Then the other day, I had a black throated sparrow come into the yard. I noticed him because he was checking out one of my bluebird houses. Oh ya, have a couple of bluebirds fighting over some houses already.
Had a brown creeper stop by on Wed. then thursday's highlight, my first adult rufous hummingbird came by for a drink. I happened to be sitting outside, about a foot under his feeder at the time. If you've ever heard an adult rufous you'll understand when I say, I heard him before I saw him. Buzzzzzzzzz!
Ah Spring was in the air last week.

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When I arrived home last night around 6:30, I was greeted by the wonderful sound of 2 Great Horned owls "talking amongst themselves."  They were perched on my  husband's ham radio tower and hung around for about an hour.  It was a great treat for us desert folks.

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I found several Golden-crowned Kinglets yesterday on Bear Mountain in the morning, and more at Mountain Park in the late afternoon. Both times they were in a large "pocket" of other birds - Mountain Chickadees, White-breasted Nuthatches, Pygmy Nuthatches, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Brown Creepers, Steller's Jays, Dark-eyed Juncos, and White-crowned Sparrows.

I also spotted a large group of Mountain Quail and a female White-headed Woodpecker at Mountain Park. There hasn't been a reported White-headed Woodpecker sighting for many, many months.

Richard

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September 28 I spotted a Ruby-crowned Kinglet for the first time this fall. It was on Bear Mountain in Bear Valley Springs.

Then, on October 1 I found a Golden-crowned Sparrow with the many White-crowns that are now in my yard. White-crowned Sparrows in my yard are now numbered in the dozens!

Keep 'em comin'!

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