All Five Species of Swallows! ~ September 27, 2022

I spent the morning at the Regency Boulevard retention ponds, hoping to find some more migrants. I only spotted one Magnolia Warbler and an Eastern Phoebe along the edge of the woods, but I did see at least three Lincoln's Sparrows along the field edge.

Lincoln's Sparrow

When I walked over to the north pond, the first thing I noticed was the swarm of swallows there. There were at least a couple hundred Tree Swallows flying around.

Just a portion of the Tree Swallows

Tree Swallow

Closer inspection of the flocks revealed all five of the expected swallow species that included a late Cliff Swallow, a few very late Bank Swallows, several late Barn Swallows, and several Northern Rough-winged Swallows. It's always tough to get photos of swallows because of the way they zip up and down and back and forth, so these were the only two worthwhile photos I got of the Cliff Swallow showing its light buffy rump patch.

Cliff Swallow

At least three Bank Swallows were noted darting around the south pond.

Bank Swallow

One series of photos captured two Bank Swallows in the same frame.

Two Bank Swallows

At least eight Barn Swallows were spotted, too.

Barn Swallow

Also, among the swallows in the north pond were the Hooded Merganser, the Pied-billed Grebe, one Lesser Yellowlegs, and two Blue-winged Teal.

Blue-winged Teal

---