Spring in the lower MS delta brings many varieties of songbirds that favor the swamp as the place to make their nests and raise their young. As always, we are always on the lookout for the arrival of our “holy grail” of bird watching – the Painted Bunting. I’d heard them (they have a distinctive call) and seen them ever so briefly in the past few weeks while mowing grass around the property. They are easy to recognize from a distance as they are a lightning fast, very small, red bird and are not easily confused with the only other red birds around right now – the much larger Northern Cardinals or Summer Tanagers. Today I spent about an hour photographing two males that were out back frolicking in the morning sun behind the house.
Painted Bunting Singing
Another bird that recently brought us a lot of entertainment were a pair of barn swallows that decided to use our carport as their nest site. I was lucky enough to be home to watch the babies leave the nest over a two day period. The adults became very aggressive as the little ones were trying out their wings and flew within inches of our heads as we left the house. It was an exciting two days.
Barn Swallows in Carport almost ready to fly
Barn Swallows
It was a great spring morning taking some time to chase these birds around with the camera. I probably took a hundred pictures and was rewarded with a mere handful of the camera shy buntings that were fit to publish. Happy birding.