As the sun was coming up into the hills I walked back down to the bike path for another glimpse at the birds. As suspected they were quite a bit more active at 6am than at 10am.
Heading toward the bike path, nearly there I heard redbreasted sapsuckers in the trees nearby. Not totally surprising, I could not see them, but i know their call pretty well (80%-90% certainty) and I know they hang out there because i've seen many teeny holes in the cedars. A little further on I hear some not totally familiar singing. I looked up and there was a shilouette of a bird. At first I thought maybe it would be a robin, we have them, they're common and so I walked around to get a look. I looked for a long time not sure what I was seeing, but I think it might have been a female western bluebird.
Further on I figured out finally who makes the funny sounds I'd been wondering about all day yesterday. It's a spotted towhee. Ah yes. They used to come to the feeders but I haven't seen them in a long time. Today was towhee day. Once I saw the first one I kept seeing them all over. I'm sure I'll be better about remembering their sound and spotting them now.
A bunch of bushtits started to bubble up out of the shrubs and move in waves from bush to bush down the way. The next spotting was of a bunny. So cute. He was hopping along at the edge of the bike path.
In the open teasel filled area to the northeast a bunch of tree swallows were doing their thing. Off to the southwest in a snag were two largish birds. I looked up confused by their smokey grey color and shillouette shape. From a distance with the lighting as it was they resembled doves, but as I got closer that illusion faded. With the binoculars I was able to see that they were actually two extremely fluffy baby scrub-jays. I watched them for a few minutes and was actually surprised by how well one of them flew when he finally did move away. I've never seen them so fluffy.
At the island of butterflybush and willow to the east I saw the common yellowthroat boy again. That must his zone. I keep my eyes open for the female, but I only see him there. He was shy at first and kept moving deeper into the bush, but after a while he scooted back to the edge and sang a little.
I also saw two cedar waxwings in what looked like a black hawthorne tree. The tree was a ways off thus hard to be sure about, but the waxwings were plenty clear. I looked around thinking there might be more because i usually see them in big groups, but then again i usually see them in early spring, so... maybe this isn't the right time for big groups.
Of course there were tons of other birds. Chickadees, nuthatches which I could hear all around me, and several sparrows that I saw but couldn't ID (not so good with them). Then hundreds of other little voices in the foliage. Invisible and unidentifiable to me, but there.
There were heavy clouds in the dips of the mountains and sunshine all around. Beautiful morning.
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