Amazing Every Day

My list of bird sightings continues to grow daily with observations of familiar returnees and exciting new sightings.

I left my window open last night because it was actually warm enough to do that. Little did I know the robins would start singing outside my window at 3:48 AM.

I spent the last two days at Painted Canyon, where the day is long but something interesting usually happens. I have been distracted by the pair of lark sparrows there, which have an interesting song and beautiful streaks of color on their heads. I have never seen that bird before. Today I got a couple pictures of the lark sparrows for the park.

Today was even better where, between the bison bulls in the parking lot and the prairie falcon buzzing by the ridgeline, I saw some interesting things. I saw the first brown thrasher I've ever seen. Maybe I just haven't been looking for them. I was interested how much it just looks like an oversize thrush.

I also spotted a male and female orange-crowned warbler in the bushes.

Later in the day, I got a great look at a male yellow-rumped warbler, a bird that must be in the top 5 most beautiful in my book. I've known that bird very well since watching one hop along the trail in front of me in Yellowstone in the geyser basin, but rarely see them.

What will I see tomorrow?

One last note: the house finches decided to start building a nest in my window-mounted feeder. I can see how it's an appealing little cavity, but why would they put a nest there if they get scared every time I walk by? Foreseeing that there would not be enough time for them to hatch and fledge their young before I have to remove the feeder and go on down the road to Montana, I pre-emptively removed the feeder, spreading the remaining seed on the ground for my migrating white-crowned and white-throated sparrows.