Bird season is in full bloom on Whidbey Island

Usually it is the middle of May when our yard becomes an aviary.  Their sounds are so loud that around 4:30 a.m. we have to close our bedroom windows or we can't sleep.  It's wonderful.

We sit and watch them for hours.  And make several trips to the feed store for food for them.  We get them only the best.  They count on us.

One bird that frequently arrives is the red-breasted sapsucker, a type of woodpecker.  We don't see these during the winter, as they are migratory birds.

This year we put up a bat house on one of our trees, and immediately the sapsucker headed for it.  We can't figure out why because there is no sap or insects in it.

What's cool is that his pecking on it is magnified.  Inside the bat house are a couple of chambers, so it is hollow.  When it pecks on it the sound travels all through our house.  Why he is doing this is a mystery, but it's a fun sound of nature.

Our evening grosbeaks are also here now.  These lovely birds are a deep yellow with white and black. This photo, which isn't a good one of them, shows a male and a female.

Goldfinches are everywhere.  Vicky caught a western tanager approaching a feeder, also showing a couple of goldfinches eating.