Feathered Friday - Waiting for Spring Birds

Here are some spring birds from last year for this #featheredfriday by @melinda010100

It's the middle of winter and I am missing my spring birds lately. In just a couple months or so the tree swallows should start appearing here right when the trees are budding.

Spring birding is great because there are less leaves obscuring the birds.

The bright colors of the tree swallows really stand out against the neutral background of early spring.

Another early arrival is the song sparrow.

Their complex song is a sign that spring is definitely about to go into full bloom.

Bluebirds also start claiming their nest boxes in the prairie.

This one appears to have the right square footage for this little blue bird. This next spring I'll try and get shots of the babies looking out of the nest box.

Once the lakes finish thawing out the great blue herons return. I managed to catch this one mid-flight heading towards the lake to look for fish.

The sandhill cranes are also passing through looking for breeding grounds to raise their babies. Here is a pair flying over some potential nesting territory, honk/chortling along the way loudly.

This one is a bit of a mystery to me. I suspect it might be an Eastern phoebe or an Eastern wood peewee. I know it is some sort of flycatcher by the shape of its beak and the tiny hairs around the beak that help it catch insects mid-air. Sadly it didn't cooperate with me in getting a good profile shot of it for better identification.

That's all for now, happy #featheredfriday :-)