They're baaaack!

Swainson's Hawks!

I took my lunchtime walk today further along the Coal Creek trail. I saw a bit of variety, but mostly common species as I walked along. Not having seen anything too spectacular, and having spent most of my time well away from the creek following the trail, I decided to sit for fiver in a copse where the trail rejoined the creekbed.
As it got close to turn around time I decided to just go under the next bridge and have a peek at the trees beyond to make sure I wasn't missing an obvious owl or something in the trees. I was glad I did because the two Swainson's above were visible just as I emerged beyond the underpass.
It isn't a perfect shot, but considering I have recently traded manual for autofocusing while trying to track airborne birds I think I got fairly close to locked on.




When I was on my sit I heard and then saw this Downy Woodpecker working on a new nest hole, or at least doing some major renovations.

This does seem to be the week of the Kestrel. I go for long stretches not seeing any, and then get a run of them. They are welcome anytime they want to make themselves visible.

Finally under the bridge I startled out this lightly colored Rock Pigeon. It paused for just a moment before making a noisy exit.

One more Swainson's shot to round out the post.

I didn't add any new species, but if I could bottle the feeling of seeing a near talon grab - and then seeing it well captured later in the day I wouldn't worry about another ID again. Okay maybe I would, but it was still pretty good.