Hi there ! I am a big fan of back yard bird watching and all the things that entails. We live in a typical tightly spaced neighborhood here and on the other side of a much busier road than I like. It’s taken time to build up my bird population! I do use finch feeders and hummingbird feeders . The oriels visit briefly but never stuck around for me . I have phoebes , wrens and last two years actually had bluebirds. Doves visit often but don’t know where they nest .

I’m sorry to hear your birds haven’t come back. I wonder what caused that ! Would rats be attracted to thistle ? We haven’t noticed but maybe .

Later tonite I’ll share some pics too. I actually am adding a fountain in super excited for this weekend but it needs some painting and repairs first .

Have you heard of the Merlin bird app ? It’s really nice to use . :)

The Bird Watching Forum can be a bit tricky to locate, so I will post a link. [ Bird Watching Forum - GardenWeb | Houzz ] It is fine to post about birding in this CA gardening forum, too, where the viewers are likely to be more familiar with CA area birds.

The winter birds have departed, the spring migrants are fewer now and the resident species tend to begin nesting at this time of year. While nesting, they split up into pairs or smaller groups and tend to stay closer to their nesting area. After the young fledge, some species will return, but quite a few others will move farther away from the coast to their later feeding ground ranges inland.

I tend to see fewer goldfinches in South OC until fall. Mourning doves and Allen's hummingbirds seem to stay closer and bring their youngsters to the seeds, feeders and fountains here.

Gyr, I never noticed ” winter birds” or spring migrants here. What might they be? Ours have been the small ones mentioned , many ( mostly?) sparrows and yearround. .Some have pale red chests. And! Thank you for that bird forum link.

Ta da! We power washed the fountain a few days ago . Have seen two splashing and a pair of mourning doves nearby. That’s hopeful. Lillyfinch, I’d love to see your pics. You will love your new fountain! Ours is next to the kitchen window for easy viewing. If yours cannot be so easily seen, put up a bird watching camera as my neighbor did. I will look into thistle. Thank you both again.

The most noticeable/numerous winter sparrow is the white-crowned. Yellow-rumped warblers move more towards the mountains during the summer, although some remain throughout the year. Western kingbirds, Bullock's and hooded orioles are more commonly summer residents here. Migrants in the spring and fall are a number of warblers, nuthatches, rufous hummingbirds, thrushes, and various other birds that are just traveling through to their regular summer or winter ranges.

White-crowned sparrow

The red-breasted birds you have seen are probably house finches. They are year-round residents, but can be busy nesting now. They often will bring their youngsters by after they fledge (bottom photo).