Mike in the Wild

A sure sign that spring migration is underway was my sighting a pair of hooded orioles in my Phoenix neighborhood last weekend.  His flash of bright yellow swooping into a treetop identified the male, while only her presence accompanying the male initially pointed out the female.  They passed through quickly, pausing only long enough for me to get several lucky shots.   The couple joined a list of songbird migrations that started with a flock of cedar waxwings in my community two weeks earlier.  While the waxwings will travel to Canada for breeding, the orioles could actually stick around Phoenix to build their nests after wintering not too far away in Mexico.  I've not been fortunate in seeing one of the latter species' elaborate nests that appear like a hanging basket often descending from a tall palm tree. Eager to encounter additional migrating birds, I headed on Monday to the Rio Salado Restoration Area near downtown Phoenix.  Bordering the Salt R...