80AcresOnline

Spring is one of our busiest bird seasons, with winter residents often still around, spring migrants moving through, year-rounders breeding, and the first of the summer residents showing up.

This northern-bound American Goldfinch male is changing from winter drab to full breeding plumage and will be brilliant by the time he’s on his home territory.

Meanwhile, a pair of year-round residents, Inca doves, are dealing with the warmer weather and longer daylenghths by engaging in courtship behaviors.

The male is doing his best to spread his tail and show off for the female, who goes on eating seeds or grain from the ground.  He scuttles up to her (they have very short legs–it’s comical) and she moves away, still pcking at the grain.   Or she faces away and watched the photographer:

Since we have both winter-resident northern sparrows, and others of the same species that migrate through from winter homes south of us, it’s impossible to tell whether these individuals spent the winter with us, but they were certainly with us on March 9:

Another year-rounder is the White-winged Dove.  This species has increased its range northward and its numbers as well.   They are voracious feeders at any bird feeder, and they’re aggressive towards smaller birds.   They also have amazing coloration, though they appear monotone “dove colored” from a distance except for the white wing patch.  Since birds can see colors humans can’t, I suspect the faint hints of color are vivid to other mourning doves and have meaning.  In late winter/early spring, when the angle of sun is right, they show iridescent yellow that shifts to green/turquoise as they move in an area just behind the black stripe on the cheek.

Notice the faint purplish “bloom” on the top of the head and down the back of the neck, as well as the golden iridescence.   I’ve been trying to photograph this for a couple of years, and finally this year managed it–but not the green/blue flash this gold can shift to.   This bird was perched up in a tree in full sun–but low afternoon sun–and I had the big lens on the camera.  They’re quite shy around here and I had to sit very quietly for almost an hour before the white-wings returned to the tree.

Out on the land, the Great Blue Heron takes off before I see it, and I’m lucky if I get a shot before it’s just a distant silhouette: