The Swainson’s Thrush has arrived
I went outside to put then trash in the bin, and while out there I realized I was hearing a very distinctive “quip” call that I’ve been waiting for. The Swainson’s Thrush is here. This is notable because it’s the last of the expected summer birds to make an appearance.
So far this year we’ve seen or heard 45 species here at the house, a rather nice number. All of the expected summer species are here, and I think I’ve seen the first Dark-Eyed Junco chick (but there will be many more). The birds we’ve had visit so far this year are (bold birds are regular visitors to the feeders or easily seen/heard. Birds in bold font are regular visitors here and seen regularly, almost all of them daily. Birds with an asterisk are ones we’ve confirmed as breeding here this year or in previous years, so we expect they’ll be breeding here again. On a typical day, we have 15 species easily seen, and we have twelve spevies we’ve confirmed breeding here since we moved in, and I believe at least half a dozen more that I haven’t seen young or found a nest for yet. I do believe we have both tree and violet-green swallows nesting here, but haven’t confirmed yet.
The new regular species this spring: Pine Siskins have moved in. they tend to be bullies at the feeder and throw a lot of seed to the ground, not that the juncos and towhees mind that. they can also be the first species to show signs of illness, so we’re keeping an eye out for sick birds, and if we see them, we’ll have to pull the feeders for a while to convince them to move on…
American Crow
American Goldfinch *
American Robin *
Anna's Hummingbird *
Band-tailed Pigeon
Bewick's Wren
Black-capped Chickadee *
Black-headed Grosbeak *
Brown Creeper
Brown-headed Cowbird
Bushtit
Canada Goose
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Common Raven *
Cooper's Hawk
Dark-eyed Junco
Downy Woodpecker
Fox Sparrow
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Hairy Woodpecker *
Hermit Thrush
House Finch
House Sparrow
Hutton's Vireo
Mourning Dove *
Northern Flicker
Orange-crowned Warbler
Pacific Wren
Pileated Woodpecker *
Pine Siskin
Purple Finch *
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Rufous Hummingbird
Song Sparrow *
Spotted Towhee
Steller's Jay
Swainson's Thrush
Tree Swallow
Varied Thrush
Violet-green Swallow
Western Flycatcher
Western Tanager *
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Yellow-rumped Warbler
During warbler migration Merlin picked up calls of at least three species passing through, but since I never heard or saw them myself, I haven’t counted them. That’s how it works some years. One species we sometimes see as it moves through is Evening Grosbeak, but not this year (yet). That and Barred Owl are the biggest misses in our list this year from previous years..
We are also seeing raccoons daily, as they come in to scavenge the dropped seeds. We don’t encourage that but we don’t fight it too hard. We’ve seen deer twice in the last week, and we’re getting coyote rolling through a couple of times a month. The bears are awake, but so far, we’ve only seen one come through one time. That was, of course, the night I decided to leave a feeder out overnight. It got emptied, but not damaged. Silly me.
