Date: 3/21/26 12:10 pm From: Chuq Von Rospach via Tweeters <tweeters...> Subject: Re: [Tweeters] The arrival of spring
On Mar 21, 2026 at 11:17:22, Louise via Tweeters <tweeters...>
wrote:
> First day of spring, first rufous hummingbird at my feeder, a female.
> Better times are coming!
>
Our Rufous showed 3 days ago and we’ve seen one (probably the same) daily
since. The Anna’s are not amused. We had mourning doves arrive about a week
ago (they went downhill for winter), and earlier this week I went out and
heard a Pacific Wren bellowing quite enthusiastically, and a couple of
Robins sharing the front lawn while hunting — and Robins out in the wood
singing. Also, the peeper frogs woke up and started peeping all around us.
The Towhees and Juncos are all brightening up and putting on their Sunday
finest, and I’m starting to see the Nuthatches visiting the feeders in
pairs again. And it’s clear the Fox Sparrows are long gone until next fall.
I saw Varied Thrushes a couple of days ago so they haven’t left for upslope
yet, but any time now.
The Stellar’s Jays are, well, about as usual. Loud and fun.
Still too early for any of the summer birds to arrive — we normally get
Western Tanager, B-H Grosbeaks, Western Flycatcher and Swainson’s Thrush on
the property (and we’ve confirmed two of those breeding, assume the others
are), but the transition is definitely happening.
I think (but it’s hard to tell) that our winter Juncos have left and we’re
seeing the summer Juncos arriving; there’s a week or so where feeder
activity drops as one group heads out and then the other group arrives, and
seed usage is back to normal again… When I checked about ten days ago there
wasn’t much action at the Seabeck eagle hangout, but we have good tides
this week and I’ll check again to see if the party is going to start up.
As I’ve been out and about I haven’t seen big changes in the winter
populations, but I think some of the ducks are moving out. The Port Gamble
Harris’ Sparrow is still being seen, and I’m curious if it’s going to stick
around or not. And from recent reports, it seems the Western Meadowlark
there has a friend so they may stay and nest there this year (and I’ll keep
trying until they actually stop hiding from me).
With El Niño forming to shape the summer, I’m going to be fascinated to
watch how things change around here from last summer.
Chuq
(500’ elevation a bit above Silverdale)
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Chuq Von Rospach (http://www.chuq.me)
Silverdale, Washington
Birder, Nature and Wildlife Photographer
