2 Fuzzy Photos

I birded different parts of Lake Creek Trail yesterday (Sunday) morning and today after work. It's fun to see more and more summer resident birds are showing up. Cave Swallows nest under the Parmer Lane bridge and a few are starting to appear on the trail again. Over the creek just downstream of the T&C playing fields I watched 5 or 6 flying low over the water catching bugs. I got this poor picture of one. It's fuzzy but you can see its field marks -- the buffy rump, dark orange forehead, and light orange throat. The very similar Cliff Swallow has a much darker throat, and a light spot on the forehead. Interestingly, Cliff Swallows are much more common under bridges and overpasses in the Austin area. But in our neighborhood, Cave Swallows are more common.

At the other end of Lake Creek Trail I was excited to see a Little Blue Heron on the creek, the first I've seen this year. Unfortunately as I moved to a better angle to try and get a picture of it, a dog off leash scared it away.

At the trail head parking lot, I found 3 Clay-colored Sparrows right at the edge of the asphalt, feeding in the grass. These little sparrows spend the winter in Mexico and winters in the northern United States and Canada. So we only get to see them when the pass through during migration. I got this fuzzy picture of one.