These are some young barn swallows before leaving in the fall and today I saw the first barn swallow back. Actually I heard it before seeing it just outside a barn. The adult barn swallows have a longer forked tail than these juveniles. Soon the nest building will occur and new eggs will be laid for another season.
Juvenile Barn Swallows
With the sunshine appearing this afternoon, I spotted a bird darting about catching insects near the pond. The little warbler is another recent arrival to its summer breeding ground. The Myrtle Yellow-rumped Warbler flashes its patches of yellow in the sun as he flutters after insects.
Warbler Watching
I think the cold, wet weather has delayed some of the spring bird arrivals, but the Killdeer has been back for a while now. I always hear the Killdeer long before I see it and when I see them, it is normally in flight as they blend in with the ground cover even with their white band. Early naturalists called the noisy bird the Chattering Plover and the Noisy Plover.
Hidden Killdeer
A pair of geese were in the creek under the fallen willow tree at the farm and another pair of geese made a visit to my pond. I spotted a red-winged blackbird today but it might want to head back south if there is much snow tomorrow. And in a few more weeks, they will be squawking at me when I approach my pond as they like to nest in the cattails there.
Red-Winged is Back
The geese are making their spring return too, although I only saw four fly overhead today and they haven’t landed in my frozen pond yet.
Geese Coming North
I saw a pheasant in the road ditch and I heard more of them calling in the woods, so there might be be a little bit of spring fever in the air.
Pheasant in a Tree
The chickadees sounded a bit more cheerful today once the temperature finally made it above zero, but they weren’t too happy when I interrupted their seed feeder time.
Cheerful Chickadee
The chickadees seemed happy in the sunshine today as they visited the feeder often for seeds, at least after I finally refilled the empty bird feeder.
Seed Grabber
Although the loud drumming can be heard a quarter of a mile away, spotting the slow movements of the Ruffed Grouse might take a little patience during quiet walks. The grouse feed almost exclusively on vegetation and in the fall, acorns and soft fruits are a main source. In the harsh winter, their food becomes buds and twigs from aspen, willow and birch as they are able to digest foods high in cellulose.
Grouse on the Move
I bet the hummingbird I saw at the feeder this morning was wishing that it had left already instead of huddling on the feeder in the forty degree weather.
Drinking in the Cold
