July Birds

July was not a good birding month for me. Too much else happening, I guess.  And when I went looking for my best July birds, my favourite photo was the Vesper Sparrow I already posted at the beginning of the month. However, This Cedar Waxwing came in second so here it is.

This Purple Finch didn't make a great photo, but is notable for being slightly more unusual than the Goldfinches, Robins and Catbirds that I generally see around the yard in July.

 And speaking of not-great photos. I snapped this Lark Bunting through the blur of the windshield, but I chose it as a reminder of the summer I saw more Lark Buntings than in all the rest of my life combined. Actually I managed that with the first 5 or 6 I saw in May. This one was in a gathering of half a dozen males three or four miles north of our farm shortly before sunset on July 2.

 Clay-coloured Sparrows are a bird I normally ID by ear. It was kind of funny the first time I realized that the small brown sparrow I was stalking was the same bird that had long been appearing on our bird lists.

This Purple Martin is here just because we don`t have them at home and anything we don`t have seems exotic when I see them.  I assume this is a young bird, but as I`m not very familiar with them, it might be a female.