Earth Day - The Evening Grosbeaks Return

Each year we anxiously await the return of the Evening Grosbeaks. Last year was a strange year. They arrived in February, stayed for a few weeks and then left. We never saw them the rest of the Summer. In a "typical" year they arrive sometime in April. We have been expecting them for the last week or two. Then, in the last week, we began hearing their familiar "churr" call in the neighboring forest. Each day their call seemed to be getting ever closer until today...when they finally arrived! Before I left for work I spotted a male sitting on one of my kitchen garden fence posts. And by the afternoon we had two couples darting back and forth to the bird feeders. Hopefully these four are the first of many more to come. Some years we have enjoyed the company of a few dozen. Either way, we are so pleased that they have returned. Happy Earth Day indeed!