Night-Heron and Merlin

Lake Creek Trail keeps surprising me. Yesterday morning I had two memorable experiences, one with a newly returning summer species and one with a soon-to-leave winter species.

I started at the Braes Valley trail head and when I finally made it to the footbridge I ran into three fellow local birders and Travis Audubon members, Stan VanSandt, George Kerr, and Virginia Rose. As we birded from the bridge two Yellow-crowned Night-Herons landed on some of the power lines the cross the creek. As we watched, one of them performed a breeding display for the other. These amazing birds nest in our neighborhood during the summer, and the males' breeding display is something that you'd expect to see only in a tropical jungle! I've never been able to photograph it before, so I was excited to get these so-so shots:

A little later and a little further downstream as I was walking down the trail, a Merlin flew over me and landed in the creek bed. I thought maybe this winter-resident falcon had spotted a smaller bird or other prey item. But as it walked around and puffed out its feathers, I quickly realized it wanted to take a bath, something I've never seen this species do! I climbed up the nearby ridge to get a better angle and took a bunch of long-distance shots. A few came out okay:

This was all right in the middle of all the Town and Country playing fields with baseball and soccer games going on, but I don't think anyone else saw it. Soon the Merlin finished and flew up to a light post to dry off.

A few more notable bird observations were my first Chimney Swift of the year, a Swamp Sparrow by the footbridge, and my first Broad-winged Hawk of the year, soaring with a Cooper's Hawk near the end of Meadowheath. Here's my complete bird list. What a fun morning!