April 27, 2025, began as an overcast day and I was hopeful that I might have a good afternoon of birding photography.  Shortly after midday, the sun broke through and we ended up having a cloudless sky for the afternoon. I began sitting in the yard about 4pm and by 5pm there had been very few birds enter the yard.

On a couple of occasions, I observed a small sparrow-like bird hopping around the yard and it piqued my curiosity for two reasons; 

• It was almost certainly a sparrow (feeding on the ground) yet I couldn’t readily identify it; 
• It was always alone in the yard with no other birds around. 

Finally, a little after 5pm the bird emerged into the open at my nearest water feature where I was able to observe and photograph it at length (105 photos, 32 of which I retained!). I was ecstatic!  The bird appeared to be a Lincoln’s sparrow, but I was somewhat uncertain since I hadn’t seen one in several years and I could never remember having seen one in the yard.

At 6pm I retired from the yard and immediately began processing my photos, discovering that it was indeed a Lincoln‘s sparrow!  I’ve lived at this address for 17 years and I’m virtually certain that I’ve never seen a Lincoln’s sparrow in the yard! 

Easter Sunday was a great day for birding photography with slightly overcast skies, and on this day the birds cooperated. I had my third warbler of the season arrive in the yard and I quickly lost my seasonal count of the numbers of individual warblers that subsequently arrived.

I posted myself in the yard about noon and the first warbler of the day, an Orange-crowned warbler, arrived shortly thereafter, It came to the watercourse for a bath so I obtained good photos, with most showing the bird’s orange crown.

About an hour later I had a second sighting of an Orange-crowned warbler and I’m fairly certain it was a different bird than the first. Since I obtained photos of both I could compare the images and see that the two sightings were apparently of different birds.

I had a brief influx of at least a couple of juvenile Pine siskins, the first I have ever felt comfortable identifying as juveniles. These birds were absolutely adorable!

Here is an adult Pine Siskin for comparison…

About 1:30pm I went inside to perform some food preparation but in looking out my kitchen window I saw a male Yellow-rumped warbler bathing in the watercourse. I raced for my camera and tried to sneak outside for photos, but such efforts have a relatively low success rate and this time was no different. The bird flew without me being able to obtain any photos, a big disappointment! While I was still outside, a short time later a female Yellow-rumped warbler entered the yard via a usual warbler route. I saw her approaching through bushes but she spooked upon reaching the water feature and I again had no opportunity for photos.

I returned to cooking chores but was outside when two Red-breasted nuthatches accessed one of the water features. I mention this because it’s relatively rare for me to have two nuthatches in the yard at the same time. This appeared to be a pair so I’m hopeful I may see some young at some point.

Next up, at 3:40pm, were a pair of Yellow-rumped warblers that both entered the watercourse at the same time and bathed. I have no way of knowing if either of these birds were the same as those I saw earlier but was unable to photograph, but I did obtain photos of this pair.

I obtained several nice photos of one of two White-crowned sparrows I have in the yard. It seems like I get a mating pair every year but they are often parasitized by Brown-headed cowbirds.

So on this day I saw two different species of warblers and at least four different warblers. I’m looking forward to more arrivals over the next weeks!

If you haven’t read my prior post, April 11, 2025: My First Spring Warbler, you might want to read it before this post!  

After having seen the Orange-crowned warbler on the previous day, I was primed for an influx of warblers!  I spent time in the yard in early afternoon, was joined by a friend in mid-afternoon and after going to dinner with the friend in late afternoon we again birded in the yard until we lost good light and he had to return to Seattle. 

It was for the most part another rather uninteresting day dominated by Golden-crowned sparrows and Pine siskins. However we did have one rather interesting Pine Siskin sporting as much color as any one I’ve ever seen. 

Another interesting observation/set of photos was a male Golden-crowned sparrow eating madrone blossoms. 

During my middle birding session in the yard my friend suddenly spotted a male Yellow-rumped warbler in the Madrone tree directly in front of us. I hadn’t seen it enter the yard which was somewhat unusual… it just appeared right in front of us. It descended towards the watercourse, at one point pausing to sing, giving me ample opportunities for photos. 

This was the second warbler I had seen this season and fulfilled my anticipation that, like the previous spring, male Yellow-rumped warblers would be among the early migrant arrivals. 

I’ve now seen two different warblers in as many days, so I’m hopeful for more in the coming days!  

By early April I was anxiously anticipating the arrival of a first spring warbler. In 2024, as I recall, I didn’t start to see warblers until the very end of April, and it seemed the early warblers were predominantly Yellow-rumpled warblers. But when it comes to bird sightings/visits, hope springs eternal!  I had been trying to spend time in the yard every day looking for spring arrivals. 

On the afternoon of April 11, 2925, I was sitting in the yard watching much the same “winter crowd” species I had been watching for the past several months. New arrivals in the past several weeks consisted of Rufous hummingbirds, now quite scarce, Turkey vultures and, as of late, a few American goldfinches. (The goldfinches are in the greater area year-round but the seldom visit the yard in winter. On this day I got a fleeting glimpse of my first female goldfinch.) 

Most of the Dark-eyed (Oregon) juncos seem to have already left for breeding grounds at higher elevations, leaving me with Pine siskins and Golden-crowned sparrows as the main subjects for my birding photography. 

On this afternoon I was sitting in the yard, listening to the vocalizations of the Pacific Tree frogs when a backlit bird in a Madrona tree caught my attention. As I watched it move through the tree I realized it was an Orange-crowned warbler, which I’m personally declaring as my first spring migrant visitor. I was initially somewhat conflicted with this declaration, but here is my reasoning behind it. 

The Orange-crowned warbler is probably my most common year-round warbler visitor, and for at least a couple of months I had one which was an almost daily visitor and who was visiting three different feeders: suet, sunflower and peanut!  But that bird took a leave of absence two or three weeks ago. 

This warbler took a different route through the yard, totally ignored the feeders, briefly visited the watercourse and left the yard after only a very brief visit, behavior totally different from my winter daily visitor. And that is why I feel strongly that this warbler was a different bird and new arrival. 

These photos aren’t up to my usual standards but I feel this visitor needs some recognition, so here is the bird I’m declaring as my first seasonal warbler visitor. 

As a special bonus, in the first photo you can actually see the bird’s orange crown, the trait for which the bird is named. I usually only get to see the orange crown when the bird is bathing and its head gets wet.

Mid-March has arrived and spring is just around the corner! To recap, l had my first Rufous hummingbird (a male) on March 2. He was a “one and done”… I haven’t seen one since. The first female Rufous hummingbird arrived March 10, just over a week later. I now have at least two in the yard doing what else… fighting over a feeder! And yesterday I saw two Turkey vultures (no photos) heading for the top of Cap Sante… our first arrivals of the season. Other than the Rufous hummingbirds, there’s nothing new in the yard.

I spent a couple of hours in the yard yesterday (March 14) and took 201 photos, retaining 80. For the past several months I seem to have had only a single Red-breasted nuthatch in the yard, but as of late there are now at least two. This one eschewed its favorite water feature in the yard and visited the watercourse, giving me better opportunities for photographs.

Here are a couple of photos of a female Anna’s hummingbird and a female Rufous hummingbird in natural environments.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have two White-crowned sparrows that periodically visit the yard. This one is apparently a first-year bird that lacks the black and white crown of an adult.

This Bewick’s wren usually makes at least one trip through the yard each afternoon but is difficult to photograph due to its level of activity and the distance from me of its usual route. On this day I managed one decent photo.

And finally, this Crossbill towhee, a new species that has been with me for over a year! I was initially concerned about this bird’s survival, but it seems to be doing well with what must be a very serious handicap! It has no trouble dealing with shelled peanuts!

And sadly, my observations and photography allow me to detect certain handicaps that might not be observed through normal birding activities. I have a female Spotted towhee with a curled foot and what appears to be a one-legged male Dark-eyed (Oregon) junco.

On a more positive and final note, the leucistic Song sparrow in Washington Park has made it through at least its third winter!