My drive home from work yesterday reminded me that you don’t always have to go birding to see interesting birds and bird behavior.

As I was leaving the CyFair campus, I noticed two hawks in the sky. No doubt Red-tailed Hawks, but I stopped to check them out, just in case. In fact, they were Swainson’s Hawks, a bird I really see. Unfortunately, they were flying very high and so the only photo I managed to grab didn’t come out well.

A few hundred yards down the road, I was able to pull over safely to watch two grackles bathing. The Great-tailed paid me no attention at all.

However, the Common Grackle stopped and gave me a hard look ...

before going back to his bath.

Back on the road, I soon had to pull over again to check out a Barn Swallow on a utility wire. I had just taken his photo ...

when a Cliff Swallow flew in to join him.