Yesterday was a good day for casual bird sightings. As I mentioned in a previous post, I saw a White-crowned Sparrow (WCSP) just outside the shop's door. When I got home last night I walked to the sliding doors and looked out over the backyard like I often do. I noticed a bird on a large planter that I didn't recognize as one of our backyard's "usual suspects". I quickly grabbed the binos and saw that it was a Golden-crowned Sparrow (GCSP). I went upstairs to tell Nancy and she pointed out that a second GCSP was in a nearby bird bath. She also told me that she had surprised a Mourning Dove (MODO) earlier in the day. We have never had doves or pigeons in the yard before so this was good news. A short time later I went out to clean the bird baths and reload the suet feeder when I also scared up two MODO. All in all it was an exciting day. None of these were new birds for us but they were new to the locations.
Just a few moments ago I was sitting in the shop and writing this post. I heard a big crash outside and went to see what it was. A large three hook crane that I use to display feeders had blown over in the wind. I thought I had it fairly well secured to a post but I guess I was wrong. I went out to pick everything up and get it re-set in a more secure manner. Just as I was finishing I realized I was hearing pink---pink---pink again. I stepped inside the door and watched for a few minutes. Sure enough, the White-crowned Sparrow stepped out from under a bush. I cracked the door to toss out some sunflower chips but only managed to scare him away again. He retreated back under the bush and then I think I saw him fly across the street and into some landscaping over at the bank.
