We’ve been invaded by glorious Western Tanagers this spring. I think because it’s still so cold up high, we’ve got so many songbirds in town. These little guys have been all over the place — while I did the dishes tonight (after my fabulous plumbers stopped by on their way home from a whole bunch of other jobs and snaked out my clogged kitchen-and-laundry drain) I watched one sit on my bean trellis for probably five minutes.

We also have a horde of yellow warblers, and the other night I watched a flock of cedar waxwings clean my two big apple trees of some sort of insect infestation (I suspect a mild case of tent caterpillars — I found some on one of the plum trees). My hope is that because the forests are still (still!) snow-covered, these lovely lovely birds will continue to eat all the insects in my trees.

Plus, they’re just fun to watch.