Backyard 5/3--Ovenbird, Pine Siskins

Pine Siskins

I was almost happy to awake to rain this morning because the last 4 days of birding left me pretty tired. Back to bed I went. Maybe the weather will clear up this afternoon.

Looking out the back window has been entertaining. We still have Pine Siskins coming to our thistle feeder. Now officially a "rare" bird in these parts, I counted 6 this morning. Last year, according to my records, we had them as late at May 5, so we might have a couple of more days before they finally move north.

Just after refilling the feeders, I looked on the ground beneath the suet cage and saw a bird feeding. Probably a Chipping Sparrow, I thought, but once it was in the binoculars I saw (after initially thinking Wood Thrush) that I finally had my first sighting this year of an Ovenbird.

I've been hearing one, off and one, for the last few days, but assumed that, like all the others I've heard this year, I was never going to actually see one. Great backyard bird; we haven't had one here since 2013.

Ovenbird