I've ben watching and waiting for signs of spring and enjoyed Jeff's and other postings. We've had blossoms on the Indian plum for a week or so, and yesterday I heard my first Hutton's vireo song as well as the first fully extended version of the Pacific wren.
I follow the notes about comings and goings of various birds and have been surprised by my counter-intuitive sightings, knowing how off and on the presence of Pine siskens and other finches is likely to be I went back over my weekly records for my neighborhood observations. I had already has a sense of unusually consistent presence of Red crossbills,? but in reviewing my records, I found I had observed them in my immediate neighborhood for 44 weeks of the year in 2012, 46 in 2013 and all 52 weeks of 2014. I'd always expected them to be an off-and-on visitor depending on food, but evidently we have more around than I thought. Numbers vary from 2 to 30+, so I guess most of them move around, but there seems to be a contingent that just likes it here. Hope my sharing this doesn't jinx my record!