One of the delights of the San Juans is the abundance of birdlife. Sadly, we aren’t there often enough to keep the feeders topped up, but when we finally show up, the hummingbirds are the first to appreciate our return!
Shortly after that, the finches realize we haven’t left them in the dust. They like black sunflower seed — which at least lasts a bit longer than the syrup in the hummingbird feeder.
Eventually, we have several finches and hummingbirds each vying for food and territory while we sit back and enjoy the show.
When the tide starts going out, the show gets even better! The herons show up, scanning for eels in the grass. They like to shake the poor eel to death. We’ve seen up to a dozen herons at once when the pickings are really good.
And on a really lucky day, the king of them all shows up to supervise, in a spot we have now labelled Eagle Rock.