A month ago, I wrote that all of the usual suspects had made appearances in my 2010-2011 Project FeederWatch counts except the northern cardinal. Within days of that post, the cardinals seem to have remembered the fine seed in my yard and started coming back, thus all of the usual winter visitors have now made at least one appearance in my yard this season.
About two weeks ago, I started catching glimpses of something that wasn’t one of the regulars. I would see out-of-focus of underwing stripes on a bird among the chipping sparrows or a quick flash of yellow (and not enough for a lesser goldfinch) in a tree. I couldn’t make a positive ID, but I saw enough for me to think yellow-rumped warbler. I kept looking and getting short flashes that reinforced my hunch. Then one day, I guess he just decided not to hide and for the past two weeks this warbler has joined the backyard crew.
It’s not really surprising that there should be a yellow-rumped warbler visiting the yard. They’re quite common around the pond down the street this time of year, but I’ve never seen one in my yard until two weeks ago. Now, I get to watch him more closely and regularly than I do when they’re high in the trees around the pond. It’ll be interesting to see, too, when he leaves. One of the things I love about doing Project FeederWatch is the way it tunes me into migration by making it quite clear when different species come and go. For instance, according to my records, I’m unlikely to see much of the ruby-crowned kinglet after this week, and I’m very curious to see if he follows the same schedule he has the past few years.
Here’s what I’ve recorded so far this season. The numbers in parentheses are the highest numbers of the species seen at one time:
- White-winged dove (24)
- Mourning dove (1)
- Blue jay (3)
- Carolina chickadee (2)
- Black-crested titmouse (3)
- Carolina wren (2)
- Bewick’s wren (1)
- Ruby-crowned kinglet (2)
- Northern mockingbird (1)
- Orange-crowned warbler (1)
- Yellow-rumped warbler (1)
- Chipping sparrow (23)
- Northern cardinal (3)
- House finch (2)
- Lesser goldfinch (3)
- American goldfinch (2)
- House sparrow (12)
James Brush is a teacher and writer who lives in Austin, TX. He tries to get outside as much as possible.
Ah! Such a winsome bird, the wee beak, the tight fluff of a body. How wonderful you got/get to study him/her so. Nice!!
Thanks, Deb. It’s always a treat to see these winter birds that are here for such a short time.
what a lovely bird, but it intrigues me how your warblers often seem to look more like sparrows than like our warblers…
it is nice to get attuned to seasonal changes.
I’ll have to look up some pictures of your sparrows and warblers. The warblers here have narrower bills than the sparrows, and most of the warblers are more colorful too.