Birding Festival

Homer's Bird Festival was two weeks ago and ours in Kenai is this weekend. I hope we can attend part of it. We've been down to the K River Flats almost every day to see what is new and also to enjoy the birds who are hanging out for more than 2-3 days. The late afternoon-evening is a great time to go, as many of the birds on the flats are on the east side of the highway, and the setting sun lights them up so perfectly. Since it's been cloudy the last few days, who knows how the light will be? So almost any time is ok. Our backyard seems a bit too quiet for my taste. I have heard robins, kinglets, white-crowned sparrows, juncos, and other calls, but not to the degree and intensity that I recall from other years. My heart soars when we have a backyard full of birdsong. We have been hearing and seeing a couple of robins regularly, so that is encouraging. Our spruce grouse keeps coming back, we see her on the feeder, the ground below the feeder, and just around. We are hoping she has a nest and baby grouses nearby. I don't know what they're called, but I do know they are precocial, so they may show up themselves with her one day. Yesterday I thought I saw a golden-crowned kinglet in the spruce near our bird watering station. And we continue to see the Myrtle Warbler too. All good. Just keep 'em coming.