Bird & Butterfly Garden

This morning (4/22/20) Cheryl and I ventured out with our Covid-19 paraphernalia to the Bird & Butterfly Garden.  The parking lot is closed but the garden is open to the public so we parked on Hollister and walked in.  Covid contact was not a worry.  We saw only two human beings the whole time we were there and they were two Spanish speaking ranch hands on horseback about 50 feet away.  Lots of birds and butterflies were there.  Some of the birds seen were 12+ Western Tanagers (all males); Wilson's Warblers – 8+;  Townsend's Warblers – 5+; Hermit Warbler – 1; Yellow-breasted Chat -2 (very vocal); Olive-sided Flycatcher (hawking insects from the top of a tall dead tree); Pacific Slope Flycatcher -3; Hooded Oriole; multiple Rufous/Allen's type hummers; and a Lesser Goldfinch on a nest with female Cowbirds lurking in the same tree yearning to drop an egg.  I too thought it was a little early for Olive-sided flycatcher, but according to Paul I hold the county early arrival record of April 10th, 2012 at Mission Trails Park.  Who knew?

Gary Grantham
Scripps Ranch
Source: SanDiegoRegionBirding Latest Reports