Today I led my second "bird walk" of the season with an amazing 17 participants. We ended up with 16 species on the day, 1 less than last week but still better numbers than my early walks last year. Probably has something to do with the fact I know a little more about where to look. Species highlights were a very cooperative Green-tailed Towhee who gave us some great looks, and a first of the season sighting of a Williamson's Sapsucker (a female). The real fun was watching male Western Tanagers chasing each other around in apparent territorial squabbles - 3 different times! While I cannot say for sure, I think it may have been different birds involved because they were in separate locations some distance apart. In between the 2nd and 3rd tanager battles we got to watch a pair of Chipping Sparrows in a knock-down, drag-out wrestling match on the ground just a few feet away from the group. To top it all off, this evening after work I had the opportunity to watch a pair of male Yellow-rumped Warblers chase each other around just outside my trailer.

Things are definitely heating up for "breeding rights", it seems.