Still waiting for spring --

In spite of reports that this state, along with the rest of the west, is warming faster than the rest of the country, we have snow today. Even near the water it's coming down in flakes instead of drops, and I wonder what the tourists on the sightseeing boat out in the lake will have to say once they are back on land!

On better days, the lake looks like this. (That's the police fireboat, checking nozzles.)



I know spring is coming, because I have now seen at least two crows carrying nesting material. Yesterday the bird had so long a stick in its beak that it had trouble finding a place to land.


Best bird sighting yesterday was the Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) that flew out of a flowering quince just ahead of me. It landed in a bare tree nearby, long enough for a good look. However they manage it, two species of hummingbirds - Rufous and Anna's - winter over in the Pacific NW. (Thanks to a hummingbird fanciers' site on the web for this picture.)

Chickadees have checked out the nesting box once or twice, but show no interest in starting a nest. Perhaps if I added a heat lamp...