Nothing takes the sting out of having to work on a Sunday like a birdwatching bike ride.

Today's welcome sighting as I rode in to the office: my first Western kingbirds of spring, on the North Diversion channel bike trail. They're a lovely yellow and gray bug-catcher that likes to sit on the bike trail fence, or up on the power lines. They have a big tail that fans out in flight, giving them remarkable maneuverability as they chase bugs.

The typically start showing up in the Albuquerque area in mid-April, but it's been a few weeks since I've been out on the bike trail, so today's sightings were my first of the year.

Also seen on the ride: House sparrows, House finches, pigeons (a ton), robins, doves (mourning and white-winged) and I think the first of the swallows that live under the bridges. (I'm sure the swallows are already here. I just haven't been out in the morning early enough to see them.)

(Picture courtesy National Park Service.)