Birds are looking toward spring, too

Just in the last week or so, I've heard the cardinals start singing to stake out their spring claims.  Today I heard a couple of chickadees.  I'm enjoying watching the birds from the window.

 

 

 

I am planning to prune out this limb, but I've notice the eastern phoebe makes a habit of perching there.

I usually see this hermit thrush closer to the back fence and wooded area, but I think it had to venture into the sunlight the day I took this picture to find a bug that wasn't too frozen to move.  I remember once when Caleb was a little fellow, he and I walked into the woods in back of the neighbor's house.  We found a hermit thrush in the woods, and the thrush moved about to inspect us from all sides.  Caleb was wearing a bright blue toboggan that covered his face, and I wondered if the thrush thought he was a strange bird.  The hermit thrush will make its way back north for the nesting season. 

Do you recognize this bird?  Its winter plumage is not as bright.  I believe it is a goldfinch.



 And I always enjoy catching sight of the bluebird.