After all of the warm weather lately, I have been noticing signs of
spring. The Dark-eyed Juncos began singing this week, joining the chorus of
American Robins and House Finches that started several weeks ago. The male
House Finches are starting to chase each other away from females. Male
American Goldfinches are brighter than they were about a week ago and at
least three of them are starting to grow black feathers on the tops of their
heads. The reappearance of male Red-winged Blackbirds at my feeder. (The
feeders are located in Albion, no Pullman, so I get a lot of birds).
However, Wednesday and Thursday provided proof that winter is still
here. One sign was the flock of about thirty Bohemian Waxwings that
descended on my mountain ash tree and stripped it clean of berries
(finally). The Bo'waxes are so beautiful; they really brightened up my day!
The second sign was the large flocks of finches at my feeders, draining all
three of them in one day (the first time they have done this all winter.)
The final sign was the snow that fell most of Wednesday afternoon and a bit
on Thursday and the icy roads on Friday morning.
I hope the warm weather returns soon!

Cheers
Deb Beutler


Deb Beutler
Department of Zoology
P.O. Box 644236
Washington State Univerisity
Pullman, Whitman Co., WA
dbeutler at wsunix.wsu.edu