Young Birds, Dry Creek

I spent about 2 and a half hours birding the neighborhood yesterday morning. I was hoping for partly cloudy weather conditions but the skies were mostly clear (until the storm in the afternoon). I was surprised to see that the small creek that runs between Meadowheath and Braeburn Glen was mostly dry. Here's a picture I took at Meadowheath and Briar Hollow. In the 4 years I've lived here I don't remember seeing this creek so dry. It seems like there was always at least a small amount of water flowing.

I found 37 species of birds, all of them being expected year-round or summer residents. There were lots of young birds around, which is always encouraging to see. I checked on the Broad-winged Hawk nest and saw 2 nestlings and 1 adult. On Lake Creek I took this picture of a juvenile Yellow-crowned Night-Heron. I believe these birds nest in the neighborhood like the Green Herons do, and here was evidence that at least one nest was successful! I also saw juvenile Northern Cardinals, Black-crested Titmouse, American Robins, and Bewick's Wren. 2 less common summer residents I found near the Lake Creek Trail footbridge were a White-eyed Vireo and a Yellow-billed Cuckoo.

On Lake Creek Trail near the low water crossing on the flood plain property the air was full of seeds from Cottonwood Trees. It was neat to see them all floating and blowing around. Here's a picture I took of some.