The heron arrived just about on schedule. Early May is when we expect to see this lovely small heron at the garden. This one was calling from various locations around the site - breeding season is here and he wonders where the female is.

It was a hot day at the garden, and as the sun rose more birds became active. By the time I left I had seen the following: yellow warblers, song sparrows, white-breasted nuthatch, black-capped chickadees, tree swallows, brown-headed cowbirds, american goldfinches, house finches, american crows, mallards, american robins, starlings, blue jay, cardinals, red-winged blackbirds, common raven, blue-gray gnatcatcher, downy woodpecker, northern flicker, red-breasted nuthatch, eastern phoebe. Flying overhead was one double-crested cormorant and lots of canada geese and ring-billed gulls.