Warm and windy weather has set spring migration in motion. I was delighted to see two flocks of Sandhill Cranes totalling about 30 birds flying over the S Milledge fields last Thursday. The next day brought a smart drake American Wigeon to the Oxbow Lake.

At Lake Chapman, the Purple Martins are back at their nesting gourds. According to park staff they arrived on 19th, smashing the county early date by almost 2 weeks.

Yesterday we encountered this pair at the Oxbow. The female looks like a pure American Black Duck, but the chestnut-toned breast and paler body colour of the male suggest some Mallard genes in its ancestry.

We were amazed to see 11 Tree and 1 Northern Rough-winged Swallow at Lake Chapman. These are extremely early dates for the state, as well as new record early dates for the county.

More evidence of waterfowl migration being underway was provided by a lone female Bufflehead on the small pond at Bostwick Sod Farm, and two Hooded Mergansers at the Apalachee Road farm pond (this latter site again hosted 3 Brewer’s Blackbirds). Today the first of season Double-crested Cormorant was at Lake Chapman. What will next week bring?

Last Monday I travelled down to Macon to give a talk about birding in England and France to the local Audubon chapter. It was well-timed, as a Black-headed Gull showed up in Savannah soon after! After enjoying the hospitality of Jim and Sandy Gilreath, I spent Valentine’s Day morning in the Piedmont NWR. While Bachman’s Sparrow was tricky (only one brief view the whole morning), I heard Red-cockaded Woodpeckers at almost every stop.

This weekend is the Great Backyard Bird Count, so I did the rounds in Clarke County. Highlights included an out-in-the-open Wilson’s Snipe and American Pipits at Charlie Bolton Road, 11 Rusty Blackbirds at Sandy Creek Park, and the continuing ‘mega-flock’ of Gadwalls at the Oxbow Lake.

The highlight of my backyard count was the continuing Pine Siskin.

Some other photographic highlights.

Signs of spring included my first singing Song Sparrow and Brown-headed Cowbird. This Red-shouldered Hawk was displaying with its mate, and I suspect it will nest close by.

At the South Milledge fields, this Killdeer was already on a nest.

Since getting back to Athens last week, the weather has been incredibly variable. Last weekend temperatures soared into the 70s, prompting the emergence of several butterfly species, a mass northbound movement of Sandhill Cranes over Atlanta, and causing a red buckeye in my backyard to begin leafing out. Today an icy wind has already frozen over my birdbaths, and temperatures are set to plummet into the teens!

The most notable change in yard bird activity since my departure in mid-January is the mass arrival of American Goldfinches. It’s hard to estimate how many birds are involved, but my early morning counts number up to 40 birds at any one time.

Among them is a single Pine Siskin, a species that has been very difficult to come by in the state this year.

I was lucky to catch this one-time visit by a female Purple Finch. Although photographically uncooperative, I did learn that even on this view they can be distinguished from female House Finches by a lack of streaking on the undertail coverts.

Red-bellied Woodpecker is a daily visitor…

… and White-breasted Nuthatch, once a rare visitor to my feeders, seems to be coming more frequently.

I have seen no sign of the large Rusty Blackbird flock present late last year, but instead, a dozen Red-winged Blackbirds can often be heard singing in the neighourhood.

Other irregular species recorded in the yard this week include Pileated Woodpecker, Brown-headed Nuthatch, and a singing male Pine Warbler. Of course, the elevated bird activity in the yard hasn’t escaped the attention of our neighbourhood Cooper’s Hawk.