Hi, all:

I usually get an influx of VG swallows in early spring then they disburse
to nest and I don't see them again for a month or so, then the tree
swallows show up and grab the nesting boxes along the creek. Sunday I was
watching the 4 tree swallow fledglings come out of the box just in front
of my house. By this time of year I only have about 6-10 tree swallows
using the phone wire that hangs over the creek in front of my house
because they've spread all up and down the creek to nest in the nest
boxes, so there hasn't been much swallow activity right in front of my
house for the last 2 weeks. There are lots of insects near the water and
in the growth alongside the creek (reed canary grass...yuck!!) and two
wires hanging over the creek for perching so I usually get a lot of
sparrows before nesting and after fledging. Yesterday I went outside to
fill the feeders, about 5:45 in the morning and heard this really LOUD
twittering. I looked up and there were over 100 rough-winged swallows
perched along the phone wire - there were so many it made the cable look
furry! They kept lifting off in these massive waves, swooping and diving;
it was really neat! I don't remember them coming en masse like this in
previous years. I've lived here for 7 years and, while some show up every
year, it's never been in a group this large.

Also, I've had 3 juvenile towhees show up. Since there are brown-headed
cowbirds here I was really glad to see some of the towhees had
successfully reared young. There were also a couple of song sparrows with
2 chicks each although, alas, another one feeding a cowbird chick. Two
years ago was the first time I had seen a black-headed grosbeak here,
they successfully raised a couple of young and then returned last year
and did the same. This year I had 3 pairs show up and now I have about 10
- this is really exciting. I saw my first BHGR only 4 or 5 years ago and
now they are almost "common" here. Another successful breeding was the
Bullock's Oriole. The female showed up with 2 young - she was introducing
them to the suet block. A few days like these last can really lift a
person's spirits. The loss of two bluebird nests was really a downer, but
one nest fledged 5 young. But with all the young birds showing up for the
past week it gives one hope that the raccoons, cowbirds, starlings,
snakes and other predators are not totally winning the game.

Regards, Joanne
Reardan (Spokane) WA
mailto: jopowell2 at juno.com