After returning from the UK, all of the errands that needed to be done, the high heat and high humidity, and the off and on rain, kept me from birding. I ventured out this morning around 9:00 here in Stoney Creek. The humidity was still high, but at least it had not gotten so hot at this time. I didn't expect to see too much.
There were quite a few Bluebirds, and some Cardinals, Crows, Carolina Chickadees, American Goldfinches, and Canada Geese. Just after I said to myself that it was time to head home as I wasn't going to see anything of unusual interest, I looked to my left while walking along the small pine forest at the end of Sawmill Creek Drive, and there was a Yellow-billed Cuckoo just a few feet away from me. Only the second one I have seen, and as far as I know, the first one seen here in Stoney Creek.
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
A few minutes later, I saw a female Scarlet Tanager high up in a tree.
Female Scarlet Tanager
As I approached my house, I could hear a Yellow-billed Cuckoo calling from a tree across the street. I couldn't see it, but it kept calling and then got some return calls from far away. As I walked down the driveway to my house, there were a pair of Hairy Woodpeckers. Not a bad hike for hot and humid August morning.
Hairy Woodpecker