For the past several weeks my watercourse has been dry, with only a small pool at the base. My old pump quit and I installed a backup that was slightly more powerful. It apparently pushed water over the side at some point and I was losing significant water in a short period of time. I attempted some half-hearted investigation of where the problem was occurring but cold, wet weather discouraged my desultory efforts.

Knowing that the spring migrant season was approaching, I reluctantly tackled the problem last week. I never discovered where the problem(s) were occurring, but my efforts fixed the problem and the watercourse has been up and running for about a week. My first customer, fittingly enough, was a male Rufous hummingbird. The birds are showing little interest in the watercourse, which somewhat surprises me. It’s not the cold… cold water/weather has never dissuaded birds from bathing.

I’m still waiting for more spring migrants… American goldfinches, Black-headed grosbeaks, Brown-headed cowbirds and of course, WARBLERS!

For the past two days I’ve been involved in a project to photograph a rare bird to which I was alerted by a birding friend. I’ve obtained a couple of photos but nothing I care to post. In the mean time, I’ve been on a few excursions which netted me the following photos.