New Birds! And Not Just Migrants

It's finally thinking about warming up here and we're starting to get in more spring migrants. While it used to be just blackbirds, sparrows and meadowlarks in the field (with the occasional shorebird) we're starting to add some new birds. Eggs have also started hatching, so hopefully soon we'll have baby birds galore!

Red-winged Blackbird on the sign for one of our study sites.

Same Blackbird singing.

Grasshopper sparrow on some little bluestem.

Badger! Badgers are endangered in MO, so he's a really exciting find.

This is a Dickcissel, one of our new arrivals. They're everywhere now.

Brown-headed cowbirds. Appropriately hanging out in a pasture with cows.

Upland Sandpiper sitting at the very edge of our study site.

White-Crowned Sparrow calling.

Two more white-crowns foraging for food.

Ornate box turtle. He peed all over me when I picked him up.

Hairstreak butterfly

Baby Kildeer! They are like cute little cottonballs on toothpicks that peep.

Bobolink, another one of our new birds.

And these "cute" little ones are newly hatched meadowlarks.

They don't look like much now, but they'll grow up pretty fast.