Birds Aplenty

I captured more than these but I had to draw the line somewhere. 

Top left:  sora (my first!)  Check out their unusual call here! (very short)
Top right: male goldfinch
Bottom left:  Savannah sparrow
Bottom right:  a mallard!  Yes, Seek says over and over it's a mallard!  Can this be true?  Would appreciate the specialists weighing in...

Back at the ranch, "our" cardinal fledgings have left the Boxwood nest under the protection of their parents.  We had a male and female Baltimore oriole slurp up some grape jelly.  A pair of house wrens have taken up residence in one of the wren houses.  And grackles have nested high in the pine trees in back. 

Normal service has yet to resume here. We are making some slow progress.