I saw one--Ruby-Throated, the only kind we get out here. Thrilled me to no end. I was standing out on the deck, resting after having done some heavy digging (and whoever warned me about the dreaded Yellow Clay, you were more than right) and saw a hummingbird in the neighbor's yard. I was about to break into spontaneous cheering (see, this is why I suck at birdwatching) when it zipped over in my direction and began intently examining the potted red salvia two feet from my leg. I froze. It hovered cheerfully for a minute, ignoring me as some impossibly slow piece of furniture, and then zipped off.
So that was exciting.
The bluejay has brought a friend back. They were sitting on a branch, making aimless bluejay noises, and then one leaned over and picked something off the other one's face, a very casual, crumb-brushing kind of move that the other one bore with resigned grace. I could practically hear "You've got something on your beak. Hold still..." "...sigh..." It amused me to no end.
Also spotted a bird on the ground with a brownish back and striped head--black and white, lots of stripes, very crisply defined, like a nuthatch, only more of 'em. The books would indicate that it's a white crowned sparrow. I'm jazzed. I keep seeing new birds--I know they're usually very common birds, and it's 'cos I'm looking, but now I wish I'd actually paid closer attention back in Oregon and Minnesota to the feathered critters comin' through. Saw one yesterday that I'm stumped on--took a walk with my friend Kathy to a local lake, and there were a number of big black...thingies...in the water. They weren't ducks, although they were definitely in that genre--they seemed to have longer necks, with orange? (I think orange) beaks. The only thing that looks close are double-crested cormorants, and my notion of cormorants is of ocean birds, not the sort of thing that hangs out on a lake in the middle of Cary. So if anybody has any ideas, let me know--I did not take photos, alas. Did see spiderwort blooming, though, which was snazzy.
Nature is gooood.