Signs of spring

Well the weather hasn’t looked very spring like today, ‘nor had it felt it with a high of only 3 degrees….but never the less there were certainly signs that spring is on it’s way…

To start with, I’ve had this ‘leucistic’ Dark-eyed Junco hanging around my yard today.  Every spring when Dark eyed Junco are starting to migrate through, we see some of these, what I like to call ‘piebald’ Junco’s, but the proper name for bird plumage that has white where it should be coloured is ‘leucistic’.

I always find these birds fascinating….this one certainly has much more ‘spotting’ on it than any I’ve seen for a while!  So that was the first sign of spring….the Juncos starting to migrate…

hadn’t reached the estuary yet when I heard this Hairy Woodpecker in the bushes…I later heard a Downy that I couldn’t spot and earlier in the day I think I heard a Pileated up on the hillside….

reached the estuary and there were a pair of Canada Geese by the water, also a few Mallard (one on left) and a Bufflehead duck.  I could also hear shorebirds, I suspect Killdeer but couldn’t spot them …

there was a Great Blue Heron tucked in the first bay….

there was bird activity from one end of the path to the other.  Mainly Golden Crowned Kinglets, but also Dark eyed Junco like the guy above, Towhee and Varied Thrush

decided on a slightly different view at the log bay today where the bird activity continued….

another pair of Canada Geese tucked in over there – there were in fact 3 different pairs scattered along the foreshore today, a sure sign that they are out searching for suitable nesting sites. 

lots of Black-capped Chickadee. House Finch and Song Sparrows were singing like crazy and believe it or not I think I heard a hummingbird!  I was just standing there when I suddenly heard this ‘zing’ go past me.  It is early, but Rufous Hummingbirds have been seen here this early in the past – I’ve checked though and none have been reported so far, so I might have been hearing things….

there were Fox Sparrow around as well….

along with Red-wing Blackbirds – scattered from one end of the park to the other!