this spring migration

Just when things felt so stagnant, even the upcoming spring migration, it has managed to surprise me. Every migration is so different.

Out of five Western Bluebird eggs, four hatched and fledged last week. And as I wondered if I should clean out the nesting box, I noticed mom and dad flying over there again so I checked. They are going for round two. It made me infinitely happy to have helped bring four bluebirds into this world. And maybe there will be more now.

Black headed Grosbeaks took over my backyard so much so that I ended up taking the feeders down, there was too much going on. I never thought birdsong would come to give me anxiety, but it did. After taking down the feeders, the grosbeaks moved on in their journey towards their breeding grounds in Alaska. I had never had black headed grosbeaks. I also have a group of brown headed cowbirds in the backyard, and they kind of unnerve me with their call, which to me sounds so electronic. Like there are robots calibrating their software loudly in my backyard. And I’m also worried they are going to take over the nest of the bluebirds and force them to raise their eggs. I wish they, too, would move on. But where do Cowbirds go? I actually don’t know.

Another unprecedent flock which I now have is Cedar Waxwings. I have dozens of them eating my mulberries. They are so illusive, I’ve never quite gotten a good look at one in the wild. So I stalked them and held my breath beneath the mulberries to catch a glimpse of them, and I got a picture I was very happy with.

The hummingbird I dubbed Fearless never returned and Xeronimo is the new bully. But he’s not as territorial as Fearless was, in fact, I had one week where I couldn’t make nectar fast enough for all the hummingbirds passing through. A few Allan’s in there, too and though they are the most aggressive of the hummingbirds, they behaved.

I spend my weekends with my camera and my binoculars, and who would have ever thought that would be enough for me, to live alone amongst the animals in silence.