Bird #159: Lazuli Bunting

With spring migration approaching its peak I took Friday off and spent the morning birding the neighborhood. It was a beautiful morning and it felt great just being outside. I found a nesting American Robin on Stillforest (not all robins leave us for the summer). And there were some neat migrants, including 4 Mississippi Kites over Meadowheath, a Common Yellowthroat on the flood plain property, and the first Yellow-billed Cuckoo I've heard this season.

But what surprised me most was a Lazuli Bunting I briefly saw across the small creek at Meadowheath and Briar Hollow. We are just east of this small western bird's migration path. But a few are reported in the Austin area every year. This was bird 159 on my neighborhood list, but it was also a lifer -- a bird I've never seen before. These days I usually have to travel to see lifer birds. But there one was, right in the neighborhood! I'm still excited!