First Of Spring

Yesterday as I was leaving the house I heard a Northern Parula's buzzy song for the first time this spring. This morning I again heard a Northern Parula singing, and then in the afternoon Michelle and I saw one perched high in the leafless pecan tree in our backyard. There were also numerous Yellow-rumped Warblers flitting through the trees, some molting into summer atire, others not so much.

A Selasphorus hummingbird (probably the same individual that has been present all winter) continues to guard the feeder by our kitchen window. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds have returned, so now it has some real competition. Other birds seen today included a singing Brown Thrasher, a pair of Eastern Bluebirds (checking out a nest box in our backyard), and a pair of House Finches (at a neighbor's feeder).