Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Yellow-rumped Warbler . . . Winter Arrivals Trickle In

This morning, as a soft, welcome rain dripped through the leaves of the oaks, I heard the stuttering voice of our first Ruby-crowned Kinglet of the season. As if to say hello, it came out near the end of a branch for a minute, a tiny, greenish-gray, active bird with bright, alert eyes and neat white wing bars. Nice to have them back again – they’ll bring a spark of liveliness to a landscape that has lately seemed weary and depressed.

The kinglet is the latest of a slow trickle of birds arriving for the winter season. Yesterday morning the first Yellow-rumped Warbler flew across the driveway in front of my car as I was leaving, flashing the patch of yellow on its rump as it passed, and diving into a wax myrtle bush.