Spring brings delightful birds

Spring brings many birds to our yard, especially to our feeders. None of them are more colorful than the rose-breasted grosbeaks. This male beauty landed in our serviceberry and eyed me and my camera suspiciously before it decided it was safe to eat. We have also spotted our first female ruby-throated hummingbird at our wild columbine and our syrup feeder. The juncos have departed now and were replaced by a white-crowned sparrow, song sparrows, chipping sparrows, and Eastern towhees.
We are busy planting for wildlife and have added two chokeberries, two blazing stars, an American plum, and a bee balm to our native garden. Plant it and they will come!

They're here...

Things are getting exciting in our backyard now. While we still see a white-throated sparrow around, the juncos seem to be gone. Unfortunately, we have a small flock of cowbirds around. I don't like to see them because they put their eggs in other birds' nests, but there isn't much I can do about them except taking down the feeders. But then we would have missed out on a sight yesterday. First, we spotted one male rose-breasted grosbeak at our sunflower feeder. Soon, I noticed another male in our neighbor's pear tree. A female was not far behind. They all came to our feeders and ate...and ate...and ate. Did I mention that they ate? They are beautiful birds and have a pretty song, so how can I complain?
Yesterday, we also hung up our hummingbird feeder. We usually see our first hummer around May 1, but it can't hurt to be ready. The recent winds we had might carry them here earlier than normal. And what's normal around here when we have 88 degree weather in April?