A Very Cold Mother's Day!!

We found 3 families of Swans on Mother's Day. 

The Cygnets of the Mute Swans are adorable.

They played a game of "Follow the Leader", always staying close to Mom. 

Hundreds of Swallows skimmed the water at Peers Wetland hunting for bugs. 
They have a good Air Traffic Control system as we didn't see any mid-air collisions.

We stopped on the shoulder of a rural road next to pasture to look for Upland Sandpipers. Since it was rainy, we didn't expect to see any standing on posts as is their typical habit. Instead, this one flew over our car, then ran across the road in front of us. (I wish I had a good, "Why did the Sandpiper cross the road?" joke to insert here.)

It eventually ran into the long grass and flew across the field. This bird 

and the Bobolink below, are indicator species for healthy Prairie Habitat!

Four of 30 Bobolink found near Sombra.  

I was very happy to find my first Scarlet Tanager of the year today!!

The "flute-like" call of the Wood Thrush is a welcome sound of spring! According to the Cornell Lab, All about Birds, "this songster can sing "internal duets" with itself. It sings pairs of notes simultaneously, one in each branch of its, y-shaped syrinx, or voice box.  The two parts harmonize with each other to produce a haunting, ventriloquial sound!" 

Fingers crossed for more seasonable weather to start this week!