This morning we awoke to quiet chit-chat in the backyard, as a lot of pine siskins and white-crowned sparrows, mostly immatures, were visiting our birdbath and sitting on the feeders. I saw a half dozen siskins, two robins, one adult and one immature, and three white-crowned sparrows when I looked out. Early morning and late afternoon are busy times. Regular visitors include Steller's Jays, and in the last several days we have seen seven at one time in our yard. It looked like two nesting pairs and immatures. The late afternoon rush of customers yesterday, as the sun finally seemed to come out for a brief visit, brought in another visitor, a northern harrier, who circled the tops of the trees and swooped through, clearing the area.
Our yard is on the Kenai Peninsula, we are surrounded by spruce trees with an occasional birch or aspen tree. The perimeter of our yard is an area we keep open, a former runway when, years ago, this was a homestead. The meadow area is home to sparrows and juncos. The sparrows we regularly see in the summer are white-crowned sparrows and Fox sparrows. We have an occasional visit from Savannah sparrows. Very early in the summer we usually see a Golden-crowned sparrow for a day or two before they take up their nesting, which tends to be nearer the beach.
The last week provided us with a sighting of Golden-crowned kinglets, always a special treat. The birdbath brings in Ruby-crowned kinglets and three kinds of warblers, an obvious benefit of having water for the birds. The warblers are Myrtle's, yellow warbler, and Wilson's, with the Myrtle's being the most frequent visitor. We must have at least one pair nesting in our yard.
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