I had the following visitors here in my yard in West Brattleboro late this
afternoon.  There seemed to be a lot of commotion going on - maybe
territories, nesting sites being staked out.

Chipping Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Cardinal (male)
Chickadees
Nuthatch
House Sparrows (one carrying a Blue Jay feather longer than he was!)
House Finch
Gold Finch
Mourning Doves
Pigeon (1) pied - very interesting in appearance
Red-winged Blackbirds

One Chipmunk and NO Hummers yet - the feeder is waiting.

Last week (sorry so late) at the Retreat Meadows, I saw a Great Blue Heron,
Double-crested Cormorant, Common Mergansers, Belted Kingfisher, pair of a
Downy Woodpeckers, and an Eastern Kingbird.  Also, last Friday morning
(4/30) a Sharp-shinned Hawk sat on the ground near our big bush right
outside the picture window with his prey (house sparrow) at his feet -
guess he wasn't ready for breakfast yet.

One more item of interest - on Sunday, 4/25, I was at the Oxbow Marina in
Northampton, MA watching my son play soccer.  An adult Bald Eagle circled
overhead twice during the game.  Glad I had my binoculars handy - they were
passed around a few times.  The "birder" and the "soccer mom" in me were at
odds as to where to direct my attention!  (Watching my goalkeeper son won
out :)

Laurie Miner
W Brattleboro