Meadow Moments: sky shadows and look-alikes ...

The sky gave us all something else to awe over last night, as if there is not enough in the day ...

This was the eastern view with a bright blue sky above ...

The trees on the western ridge behind us are painting a fantastical forest on the clouds.

rain clouds lit by the setting sun ...

there are so many new mouths to feed at this time of year ...

This Junco is busy keeping her two charges fed while she teaches them to hunt.

They catch on fast but are still dependant on mom.

flying into a nearby bush, these little guys display the same level of alertness as their parents.

This is a young Junco. It is not easy to identify fledglings as many look so unlike their parents and so much like each other. Sometimes following them to see who feeds them is the only way to tell.

this is his parent ... an adult Junco.

Below is a controversial visitor, the European Ring Neck Dove (actually from Africa) which is rapidly making its place in North America after colonizing much of the rest of the world.

I do not aprove of this species presence on the meadow. It is large and agressive, hoarding the feeder and gobbling up large amounts of feed. In some areas, It is actually causing a slight boost in the number of mourning Doves by providing a feeding crowd, but it is proving to be a pest for farmers and grain growers. Native Mourning Doves are smaller and sound somewhat similar.

However, I can listen to a mourning dove endlessly ... not so much with these... I understand they taste pretty good. Squab ...

Our jeuvenile blackbirds are another difficult identification challenge. The Redwing Males are fairly easy but the brewers are more difficult, although their more grackle shaped tail gives them away.