This week's favorite hiking moments

It was a rainy week, and a little chilly again, too, but we had some good birding opportunities anyhow, like watching the swallows play over the lake at Dolph. We captured four different species on our camera card (can't say film anymore, eh?) to positively ID at home; the tree and barn swallows are easy to ID in the field, but the other two we weren't sure about. On another walk through the same park, we got within three yards or so of a Great Blue Heron fishing in the pond area. We also saw a bit of the fuzzier side of nature this week.

Northern Rough-winged Swallow (brown above with brown shading below)

Bank Swallow (brown above, white below with a brown ring, or "nacklace", around the neck)

Barn Swallow (blue above, peach/brown chest and chin, white belly)

Tree Swallow (blue above, white below)

Eastern Kingbird (not a Swallow, but he looks like he's wearing a funny hat here)

Eastern Cottontail

Great Blue Heron

American Redstart, female

Snapping Turtle (in the parking lot)

Robin, after a bath