Subject: [Tweeters] White, gold, and orange crowns
Date: Sat Apr 20 23:00:55 PDT 2019
From: Dee Dee - deedeeknit at yahoo.com

Bird-wise, it's been an interesting week or two in our yard and neighborhood as the season progresses, so just wanted to share.

On April 5th we had a handsome male California Quail stop by on the lawn. Have only seen one in the yard once before, some years ago so it was a treat. I had heard one calling in the neighborhood just the day before.
Early last week I had a quick glimpse out the window of 3 swans flying south, relatively low but silhouetted.

Over the past 10 years, we have always had one or two families of White-crowned Sparrows in our yard year-round, but only occasionally noticed a Golden-crowned Sparrow. Putting feeders out over the winter brought a couple of Golden-crowns to the yard on a more regular basis, and this past week or two there have been up to three simultaneously spending time on a daily basis.
Yesterday around 5pm I spotted a male Orange-crowned Warbler in our apple tree. I took some pictures and although the light was not ideal, it sufficed for a hint of orange to be visible in the pictures where it had obligingly tipped its head to show the crown for a moment. Not a first for our yard, but sightings have been few and far in between and never before did I have a decent camera!

Other infrequently seen visitors showing up this week were several Brown-headed Cowbirds (2 males and a female), a pair of amorous Rock Pigeons, and a European Collared Dove. The latter sighting was unusual only in that the dove spent considerable time down on the lawn seeking feeder fallout (sunflower chips) to the visible annoyance of our resident daily crow couple, who had just finished shooing off the pair of pigeons (thank you, crows!). I normally only see doves (both Mourning and the Collared) on the utility wires.

The 8-10 Goldfinches that have been coming daily since last Fall are still with us, and it's been a treat to watch the males brighten day by day. I am missing the Flickers, however.

And although others may have already had their first-of-the-year swallow sighting, mine was a brief glimpse (therefore not hazarding an ID guess) through a window of one flying high over 5th Ave S in downtown Edmonds. A welcome sight.

Dee Warnock
Edmonds