Inca Dove | White-winged Dove | American Golden-Plover | Pacific Golden-Plover | Vega Gull | Lesser Black-backed Gull | Tricolored Heron | Western Cattle Egret | Dusky-capped Flycatcher | Tropical Kingbird | THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD | Eastern Phoebe | Grasshopper Sparrow | Clay-colored Sparrow | Dark-eyed “Pink-sided” Junco | White-throated Sparrow | Sagebrush Sparrow | Swamp Sparrow | Green-tailed Towhee | Sagebrush Sparrow | Black-and-white Warbler | Tennessee Warbler | Palm Warbler | Painted Redstart | Summer Tanager | Blue Grosbeak | Indigo Bunting
Inca Dove | White-winged Dove | American Golden-Plover | Pacific Golden-Plover | Lesser Black-backed Gull | Pacific Loon | Zone-tailed Hawk | Tropical Kingbird | THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD | Eastern Phoebe | Grasshopper Sparrow | Dark-eyed “Pink-sided” Junco | White-throated Sparrow | Green-tailed Towhee | Black-and-white Warbler | Bay-breasted Warbler | Painted Redstart | Summer Tanager
Tundra Swan | Mountain Plover | American Golden-Plover | Pacific Golden-Plover | Sandhill Crane | Lesser Black-backed Gull | Yellow-bellied Sapsucker | “Prairie” Merlin | Dusky-capped Flycatcher | Tropical Kingbird | THICK-BILLED KINGBIRD | Eastern Phoebe | Gray Catbird | Dark-eyed “Pink-sided” Junco | Green-tailed Towhee | Bobolink | Black-and-white Warbler | Tennessee Warbler | Lucy’s Warbler | Palm Warbler | Painted Redstart | Summer Tanager | Blue Grosbeak | Lazuli Bunting
Common Ground Dove | Lesser Nighthawk | Pacific Golden-Plover | Lesser Black-backed Gull | WEDGE-TAILED SHEARWATER | Zone-tailed Hawk | Yellow-bellied Sapsucker | “Black” Merlin | Tropical Kingbird | Eastern Phoebe | Clay-colored Sparrow | Dark-eyed “Pink-sided” Junco | White-throated Sparrow | Green-tailed Towhee | Black-and-white Warbler | Lucy’s Warbler | Bay-breasted Warbler | Cape May Warbler | Painted Redstart | Summer Tanager | Scarlet Tanager
Common Ground Dove | White-winged Dove | Mountain Plover | Pacific Golden-Plover | Red Phalarope | Lesser Black-backed Gull | American Bittern | Little Blue Heron | Broad-winged Hawk | Zone-tailed Hawk | Tropical Kingbird | Pacific Wren | Red-throated Pipit | Lapland Longspur | Chestnut-collared Longspur | Grasshopper Sparrow | Clay-colored Sparrow | Dark-eyed “Pink-sided” Junco | White-throated Sparrow | Green-tailed Towhee | Black-and-white Warbler | Tennessee Warbler | Lucy’s Warbler | Cape May Warbler | Blackburnian Warbler | Magnolia Warbler | Palm Warbler | Summer Tanager | Painted Bunting
Being visited by wild birds while working in my outdoor office is an invigorating momentary distraction from my labors. Every morning before I plug in on the patio table, I open my rodent-proof bird food container and scoop out seeds. nyjer for the goldfinches, corn for the sparrows, black sunflower seeds for the mockingbirds, suet for whatever bird comes to call, plus sugar-water for the hummingbirds.
Not exotica that you would grab your bins, rev-up your SUV and drive across three states to observe, beaming with pride as you record its sighting and count on eBird. Rather the robin is a friendly bird, more like a next-door neighbor.
You won’t have to trek to the Amazon or Patagonia to see a robin, though once-in-a-lifetime trips like those are inked on many a bucket list. No. You will spy the robin in Ponderosa pine forests, urban landscapes and grassy lawns pecking the ground for earthworms. Her nest is made of mud, her eggs an eponymous and beautiful blue that you just might decide is the perfect color for your kitchen.
One evening in mid-May, two friends and I were sitting on our front porch (with masks and social distancing) after an evening hike. Their musicians’ ears heard owls! The next day I started looking for them at dawn and dusk. Then, in the middle of the following day I saw a head sticking out of the old nesting box I had built for an acorn woodpecker which my husband, Marc, and I rescued from a downed tree six years ago.
The grayish brownish thing I discovered underneath the salvia in the backyard garden made me hold my breath for weeks.
I discovered this hidden thing about four years ago around the end of April. A jerky movement at the top terrace caught my eye. Squatting down sumo-style, I gingerly lifted the leaves. All right, what are you? I was face-to-beak with a baby bird. The bird froze and I immediately let go of the leaves.
Oh great. Just great.
By any standard, this spring has been an unexpected and unprecedented one. It would seem impossible to write this column without mention of the coronavirus pandemic. While birders have been fortunate to be able to continue their pursuits less affected than many others, this birding season has been overshadowed by world events.
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