Early April bird notes ♩ ♬ ♪

After an early thaw we're seeing a good mix of returning birds.

• Today I saw a Pine Siskin collecting nesting materiel from a neighbour's yard. There are still numerous flocks of Common Redpolls in the area although only a few are visiting our feeders.

• A dozen species of waterfowl including a male Redhead, a species we don't see every year in these parts.

• Today I heard my FOY Savannah Sparrows.

• A male Dark-eyed "Oregon" Junco continues in our yard - it's been here about a week.

Male "Oregon" DEJU in our yard

• Not sure what to make of this Junco - any thoughts?

• A Meadowlark has been present beside Peninsula Harbour since March 27. When I first located the bird, it was mute and very skittish. Today, in a less-than-full-throated song that my point-and-shoot camera barely picked up through the chorus of nearer, more common birds, it declared its identity - Western Meadowlark! It's no MEGA-rarity but it's somewhat extralimital here in the boreal forest and it's the first Thunder Bay District record for eBird.