April 7, 2020 was a significant day, both in the yard and away. Our first female American goldfinch appeared, exactly a week after the first male appearance. Here’s a photo of her approaching the watercourse for a drink.

Today, one day later, we have two male and two female American goldfinches! They will continue arriving until they become our most numerous spring/summer species, numbering between ten and fifteen birds. They probably already outnumber our most numerous winter species, the Dark-eyed juncos (Oregon race), which have mostly departed for higher elevations where they will breed. In the past couple of years we have had a pair remain around the yard for the summer, but they have been parasitized by Brown-headed cowbirds.

Another significant event occurred when I followed a friend’s tip about the location of Virginia rails. Under adverse conditions (heavy brush, backlighting and the rail’s furtive movements) I was able to observe and photograph a rail. Considering the conditions I was quite happy with the photos.

I have to confess that I never thought about these birds as swimmers… the very few I have observed have always been in shallow water among the shore or reeds. I certainly didn’t think they would drown, considering their habitat next to water, but I never thought about them being the very capable swimmers that this bird demonstrated!

I had another day (4/5/2020) in the yard with my time divided between improving my photography habitat and actually doing some birding photography. I repositioned a large staging rock and repositioned several of my staging sticks along the watercourse. If I don’t change the staging objects then after a while all of my photos begin to look like they were taken at the same location, so the key is to keep things moving!

We have a pair of Bushtits that regularly visit the suet feeder. I noticed when processing the photos today that the female appears to have only one leg.

Another unfortunate discovery in processing photos was that one of a pair of Song sparrows in the yard has a broken tip on its lower bill.

One of the differences I find between field observation and photography of birds is that I can observe the birds for a much longer time and in substantially more detail. And sadly, we had many birds with problems in the yard,,, more than I can ever remember. We had birds with only one leg, a bird with a deformed leg and a woodpecker with only one eye. Some of these birds seem to make the most of their disability, able to cling to feeders and access water. I even considered posting a blog with photos of the birds, but after thinking about it for awhile I decided it would be too much of a downer.

On a brighter note, we have a handful of Pine siskins that have recently arrived after a several month absence. I observed one carrying a long twig towards the crown of fir trees, Some time later I saw a siskin carrying a similar twig, but in this case it dropped it as it flew over the yard. I presume that nesting is in progress for the species.

What made my photography afternoon was a male Rufous hummingbird that twice visited the watercourse. These photos are all from its second visit.

Not a great photo, but what a view! Unfortunately this male Rufous hummingbird didn’t stick around long enough for me to get better photos.

We have a pair of Song sparrows in the yard this spring. Hopefully it’s a mating pair and they will nest somewhere in the area. (These photos are probably all of the same bird. The other is somewhat lighter.)

We also have a pair of Spotted towhees in the yard.

We also have a pair of Northern flickers that visit the yard, but we see the male (pictured here) much more often. Note those stiff tail feathers that the bird uses to brace itself against trees.

And finally, not a bird but a visitor who twice visited the yard today.

We logged another new spring migrant in the yard today (4/1/2020)… a (male) American goldfinch! I had been anticipating this species’ arrival for at least a couple of weeks and it finally arrived early in the afternoon on this bright, sunny afternoon.

In some past years we have had goldfinches in the yard off and on all winter, but this winter they have been absent. I’ve found that in some winters they can reliably be found at Skagit Wild Bird Supply on Memorial Highway, and I have even seen them occasionally when birding in the field, so we do have some (small) portion of the population that overwinters in the area. I keep records on the arrival of some migrants but since there are often some goldfinches coming and going during winter months I can’t record a definite migration arrival date for the species every year. But we haven’t had goldfinches for several months so 2020 gets an arrival date.

It was evident that this bird had seen a feeder before. It made a couple of passes at the feeder before discovering that it had to be accessed by clinging underneath. Once it discovered that trick it set up around the feeder and accessed it repeatedly, although it didn’t appear to be in the yard continuously during the afternoon.

BONUS PHOTO! While out in the yard monitoring the goldfinch I photographed this male Downy woodpecker that is a regular visitor to one of our suet feeders. Unfortunately we have not had a female in the yard. We’re hoping this male finds a mate for the breeding season!