Yesterday afternoon I drove out to Polk County to a kingbird roost about 1.5 hours from my house. Both Western Kingbirds and Scissor-tailed Flycatchers have been regularly reported there over the last few weeks. I arrived around 4:30 and within about 10 minutes or so, the Western Kingbirds started flying in. I counted about 8 of them before a kestrel came by and dispersed them.<\/p>\n
As it got close to 5pm, I started to worry that the Scissor-tailed Flycatchers may be perching on a set of wires outside of my field of view, so I started driving around the area, and sure enough, 4 of them were with another group of about 10 Western Kingbirds.<\/p>\n
I’m uncertain how many of those kingbirds I’d seen before the kestrel dispersed the first group I saw, but I believe there were at least 12 in all. Pretty easy and fun birding. And I must say, that area of Polk County is quite beautiful.<\/p>\n The first group of Western Kingbirds I saw had the decency to pose in some pretty nice afternoon light,but the Scissor-tailed Flycatchers were perched on wires facing east,and I had to shoot towards the west to get my photos. There’s only one photo that I feel comfortable sharing. But they’re such pretty birds, just watching them was reward enough.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/DailyShoots\/2016\/11-12\/i-Hwk867N\/0\/L\/_MG_3329-L.jpg\" "\\"\\"")