HAPPY SPRING 2007!

21 March 2007. Today is the first day of Spring 2007, according to the calendar. But weather-wise, it has been Spring here since before the Groundhog said it would be early this year. And, to that point, here is the big news.

The Hummingbirds are here!

Yes, they have been spotted here in town (Albuquerque) over the past week or so. In fact, I was out working in the yard last week and swore that I heard a Broadtail hum overhead. I called the local Wild Birds Unltd. store to confirm this and she said yes, it is so. This is probably the earliest they have ever arrived here! (They are about one month early.)

My husband and I have been dreaming about them for the past few weeks. We just knew they would be coming early this year. In fact, he put out two feeders on Monday, just in case. We haven't had any come to the feeders yet, but we are watching them intently.

JUST A NOTE ABOUT THIS BLOG: I rather abruptly stopped blogging last summer. There were some problems with my computer connection and then other problems came up and I just didn't have time to continue the blog. I hope this was not any inconvenience for my regular, or not, reader(s). Anyway, I am back at it for this year. Happy Bird Watching!

Things are really buzzing!

I often get requests for photos and so here is one I took a few days ago of a male Black-chinned hummer at a window feeder. We have iron security bars on the windows and there are only a few feeders that will fit on them. We put up little wire perches under the tubes so that the birds can sit and rest while fueling up their tank.

New sightings. We spotted some White-crowned Sparrows in the patio last Saturday. At first, there were just a bunch of birds scratching in the ground, then we noticed their distinctive "hop and scratch" action and their striped heads. We have had both Lesser and American Goldfinches visiting the thistle feeder. There is one American male who is in mid-molt and he looks so pitiful, but he is eating lots of seed to help his new feathers come in quicker. We noticed that more hummers have arrived now. I had to put out a couple more feeders to accommodate them. Today, I thought I saw a male Broadtail hummer at one of the window feeders but he zipped off when he saw me. I didn't see him again to verify. I have been hearing a different wing-sound buzzing around in the trees that would seem to indicate the Broadtail.

Stay tuned...

It's Hummer Time!

We have been on Hummer watch since April 1st when we put out the first feeders. Well, it took until Saturday, April 15th for them to arrive! Just after breakfast I was at my sink and looked out at the window to see a Black-chinned Hummingbird male at the feeder. We were so excited. Then later in the afternoon my husband and I were outside working near the patio (where the second feeder is located) and we saw and heard the second male, as the two of them fought over that feeder. This is unusual for us because generally one male comes first and the next doesn't show up for a few days, so each has time to stake out their territory. But now the two of them are fighting for territory. It is very exciting.

This past week we also had the arrival of the Red-winged Blackbird and his mate. I first saw him on Thursday when he was at the seed feeder for almost ten minutes! I figured he must have just arrived and was really hungry. A little while later the female was at the feeder but she didn't stay as long. We woke up to his call this morning. It is so nice to hear. They didn't come here last year for some reason so we are very happy to have them again.

Stay tuned for more. . . .