I’ve been hoping to host purple martins in my backyard, but though males have visited, they haven't convinced any females to move in. I have learned there is a colony three properties upriver from our house.

I’m keeping the martin house up, hoping maturing males later in the season will want to stretch their wings and start their own colony.

It could happen.

So far, no house sparrows have moved in. So that’s good.

But we haven’t been without exciting bird-watching events. Sixteen egrets landed on our shoreline and waded for most of twenty minutes.

We’ve had as many as three egrets visit at once, but never sixteen until last week. When the first arrived, there were about six of them, but then more and more landed every couple of minutes. I kept recounting to make sure I wasn’t miscounting.

I think the record in numbers is held by the cormorants, which often form a flotilla of two hundred or more with twenty-plus great white pelicans in the mix and an assortment of seagulls. The odd thing about this group is that they are silent. I can stand on my porch, and they don’t make a sound paddling up the river or going with the flow.

Our most recent new arrival has been a greater scaup. His side patch of white stood out dramatically from the variegated grey and white of the back and the deep forest green of his head. And talk about a blue bill. Baby blue and impossible not to notice below brilliant yellow eyes.

He paddled around for more than an hour all while the neighbor boys (all under thirteen) out of school for spring break whooped and splashed.

Who knew I would find bird watching so diverting.

Between binocular breaks, I’ve been busy on Bound by Wing, Book 4 in the Fifth Flight series, which is now just a few thousand words from a complete draft. Then it's off to my early readers and the editor. There will be more news on its updated publication date soon.

Information on purple martins.