Middle of May & Spring is here at last.

Photo by Leslie Holzmann

Oh my, how I do love this time of year...no telling what I'll find in my yard! This morning, I walked out to fill feeders and came under a thistle feeder at the corner of my house. Yes, the same feeder I discovered 'pink-butts' that winter, several years ago. Rosy-Finches have been coming every year since, but always when it snows. Imagine my surprise when I looked up at Pink-Butts on the feeder in the middle of May! While we did get some rain and a tiny bit of snow the other day, spring has definitely sprung; my grass is high and the fruit trees are in blossom. Who would expect Brown-capped Rosy-Finches this time of year...and yet they were here; two or three, just as you please. What a treat!

Photo by Jeannie Mitchell

A couple weeks ago, I got my first Spotted Towhee

Photo from Wikipedia

And, the other day, while walking my new puppies around the yard, I scared up a Great Blue Heron from a tall tree with a view of my small pond. I'll take that as a new Yard-Bird, any day!

[Addendum] May Yard-Birds included:

Yellow-headed Blackbird, Indigo Bunting, Brown-capped Rosy-Finch, Lazuli Bunting, Great Blue Heron, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Mourning Dove, Western Tanager, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Bullock's Oriole, Belted Kingfisher, Black-headed Grosbeak, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Black-chinned Hummer, Lesser Goldfinch, Brown-headed Cowbird, Turkey Vulture, Spotted Towhee, American Robin, Common Grackle, Song Sparrow, Hairy Woodpecker, White-crowned Sparrow, Cassin's Finch, White-breasted Nuthatch, European Starling, American Crow, Downy Woodpecker, Red-winged Blackbird, American Goldfinch, Blue Jay, Mountain Chickadee, Evening Grosbeak, Pine Siskin, Black-capped Chickadee, Northern Flicker: Red-shafted, Black-billed Magpie, House Finch, House Sparrow, Eurasian Collared-Dove