19 May 2006
Jensen, Utah

E-mail from Clay & Cliftia Johnson:
  
I’ve attached a couple of quick photos of white-crowned sparrows taken at home this afternoon. As I mentioned a year or so ago, we have the white-crowned with light lores in the fall and all winter; the dark-lored version shows up in late April-early May, as the light-lored birds disappear. I guess maybe we are sitting about where the winter range of one overlaps the summer range of the other. This is similar to our finches: house finches hang around all year, BUT Cassains finches appear in the early spring and disappear by late summer.

We also got our first Eurasian collared dove at the house this spring…even though they’ve been down in Jensen for at least a couple of years. We have Says phoebe family on the porch once again, same place as last year, and of course lots of Bullocks orioles, a few lazuli buntings, American and occasional lesser goldfinches, mourning doves, western kingbirds, and nearby a northern mockingbird and sage thrashers. A black-chinned hummer has also shown up in the last week or so.
  
Clay and Cliftia Johnson
   
   
Photos by Clay & Cliftia Johnson