Anticipation

In all deference to my Eastern blogger friends, I found it a little disappointing to return from Santa Rosa only to discover that the beguiling songs of the Song Sparrows

SngngInSprng

have only coaxed a green bud here or there,

Spng2016

though saltgrass and pickleweed have finally begun to emerge on the mud flats.

ParGrnWngdTel

Canada Geese have begun to pair off, but winter browns and whites still dominate the landscape.

PairedOff

However, mall flocks of shorebirds, like these Dunlin

DnlnRshng

are beginning to appear on Theler’s wetlands, suggesting that the great Spring Shorebird migration can’t be too far away.