Last week I was out birding the prairie at Joint Base Lewis McChord and was really pleased to hear a singing Western meadowlark. It was early February, and seemed early for meadowlarks to be into full song, but it made me smile and feel like spring was in the air.
Western and Eastern meadowlarks are nearly identical in appearance, but have quite different songs, making them pretty easy to separate when they are singing in their overlap range.
Then another couple of days later at Spanaway marsh I heard my first-of-year Hutton's vireo singing. I was pretty proud to have finally posted a sound recording to eBird. Here is a link to the eBird list if you're interested in hearing a Hutton's vireo singing in Washington.
https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S42754617
The groundhog may have seen his shadow, but with more birds bursting into song spring seems just around the corner.
