I went to Col Sam Smith Park this morning hoping to photograph a variety of migrating warblers. I did get one:

There is a constant stream of swallows in the air near the water here and I keep wondering where they rest in between flights. After some searching a found a spot frequented by Barn Swallows:

A Barn Swallow measures about 7 inches in length. Great Blue Herons are about seven times larger (42 – 52 inches).

Great Egrets are slightly smaller (38 inches).

When I was a child I had a puzzle which showed several birds close together in a marsh in a way which I have never actually seen in the field. Today this scene made me think of my puzzle.

MYSTERY BIRD

I will identify it at the end of the post.

Other birds:

MYSTERY BIRD

If you looked this black-throated sparrow up in a field guide, you might identify it as a Harris’ Sparrow; a bird of the south central United States which is exceedingly rare here.

This is a male House Sparrow.

NATURE QUOTES

Nature gives to every time and season some beauties of its own; and from morning to night, as from the cradle to the grave, it is but a succession of changes so gentle and easy that we can scarcely mark their progress. – Charles Dickens

Miles Hearn