In the morning, John has been walking the, roughly, one mile hike from the RV around the Otter Stream trail trying to get pictures of new things. Kate has been staying home for these treks because they are about 1/3rd walking and 2/3rds picture taking. Today was a bit of a bust.

We could not identify this sparrow. It might be a Field Sparrow, Clay-colored Sparrow, or another kind, but this early bird got the worm!

There were a few Eastern Kingbirds in the field. John watched one begging for foo, the other bring food, and the first one spit the bug out. I imagine the bird saying “Ungrateful wretch! I slave over a hot prairie, and this is the thanks I get?”

These strange purple flowers are not blooming. The stalk looks a little like red asparagus with purple flowers blooming on it.

The doves here are very skittish, but John finally got a marginal picture of a pair of them.

John saw a Grey Catbird in the trees on the way out, but it flew away too fast for a picture. On the way back, it was waiting on the camp loop dumpster.

Two new bird pictures, but overall, the hike was a bust.