They're Back!

Today I spotted the evening grosbeaks for the first time this spring. They are back!

During this past week, we have seen the return of all of our spring birds: evening grosbeaks, goldfinches, pine siskins, house finches, and swallows. All of these are in addition to our regular chickadees, woodpeckers, nuthatches, juncos, stellar jays, and everything else that frequent our feeders.

At this time of year I’m visiting the feed store almost every week to purchase a fifty pound bag of sunflower seed. No kidding. And this is only the beginning – for a few months anyway.

One year I counted 24 evening grosbeaks sitting atop of our deck railing, taking turns at the feeder. Many times we have spread a line of seed along the railing top in addition to filling the feeders – just because there are so many birds.

This year will be no exception.

It’s all worth it though. One step outside and we hear the melodic cheeps throughout each spring day.  Plus, as you can see here, the evening grosbeaks are beautiful birds.