Each spring we are so lucky to enjoy some special visitors. The spring bird migration brings us all sorts of new birds as they migrate north.
We had Pine Siskins which are 100% new for us this year. They are fairly rare for us and they often visit in the winter but for whatever reason they arrived this spring and enjoyed the thistle feeder.
The bright orange Oriels are back for their second year here which is such a pleasure. These bright beauties enjoy oranges and grape jelly. We don't like to put grape jelly out only because the ants get into the jelly and it's pretty gross. But it's no trouble to slice an orange and put it out each day.
The Oriels visit daily for short periods and it's nice to see their bright orange plumage flitting through the cottonwoods as we're working in the garden.
We couldn't get a great picture of the White Crowned Sparrows but they are a short term visitor to our yard each spring and we love their striking plumage. We've seen our Ruby Throated Hummingbird around the oranges, heard the Grey Catbird in the thickets near the back or the yard and saw a couple of Chipping Sparrows flitting about under the thistle feeder.
Spring is an exciting time to be a birder. We don't consider ourselves birders exactly, but we very much enjoy seeing the spring migratory birds mixed in with our regular yearly residents.