This is the same swallow as the one in the previous picture, as you can see from this picture he really isn’t as chubby as he appeared. He also might have had a little damage to his left wing, but it didn’t appear to impact his flight.
In the air, swallows have a sleek, aerodynamic shape designed for close maneuvering so they can catch insects in flight. You’d never know it from looking at this little puffball, with his feathers puffed out he gives a false impression of being rather plump. Many birds will do this when they are cold to create pockets of warm air, much like a hiker dressing in layers.
This is not only the same treefrog I’ve posted before, but it is literally the next picture I took. Kind of funny that my two favorite pictures of it were taken back to back. It changed positions a bit and then climbed down onto a leaf to lay down.
Red-wings spend a lot of effort raising their young, from when they start staking out their territory, defending their nest, to feeding the hatchlings.
This is the reason for all that effort, a fledgling that flew a few feet from the nest, paused for a few seconds, then flew right back to the safety of the nest.
Like with many species of birds, both male and female hatchlings resemble the adult female in coloration, but one look at the over-sized eyes and beak tells you this youngster hasn’t been out and about for long.
When the young are born, male red-wings spend less time vocalizing from the tops of the cattails and more time on the ground gathering food for their little ones.
This male had gathered a mouthful of caterpillars but still couldn’t resist the urge to call out before popping down into the nest. He kept his mouth closed and didn’t extend his body like he usually would have, so I was surprised at how loud the call was.