Additions

OK, here are a couple of species that I overlooked or need to add to the list, having come across them in the last few days.

* Rose-ringed parakeet (in Houston; presumably this introduced species is expanding its range in urban areas)
* House sparrow
* House finch
* Red-headed woodpecker

I've heard some individual meadowlarks calling, so it's been possible to peg those, at least, as the Eastern variety.

I met with a large thrasher yesterday but need to do further investigation to determine which of the family it was.

Change of hemisphere

Since May 26 we have been in Texas, so the available avifauna is quite distinct from what we are used to in Mbale. Our travels around the state since arriving in Houston have not left much time for focused birding, but I have appreciated the "in-passing" encounters with several of the species that one can expect to see in these parts at this time of year. Here are a few that have crossed my path recently.

* Northern mockingbird
* Laughing gull (Gulf Coast at Galveston)
* Blue jay
* Northern cardinal
* Swainson's hawk
* Red-tailed hawk
* Barn swallow
* Cliff swallow
* Great-tailed grackle
* Common grackle
* Eurasian collared dove (ringed turtle-dove)
* Inca dove (in Abilene)
* Mourning dove
* White-winged dove
* Chimney swift
* American crow
* Yellow-billed cuckoo
* Cattle egret
* Mississippi kite
* Song sparrow
* American robin
* European starling
* Eastern bluebird
* Red-winged blackbird
* Green heron
* Black-crowned night-heron
* Yellow-crowned night-heron
* Killdeer
* Black vulture
* Turkey vulture
* Purple martin
* Loggerhead shrike
* Western tanager
* Meadowlark (unsure whether Eastern or Western; I need to get more field experience distinguishing these two)
* Scissor-tailed flycatcher
* Common nighthawk

I haven't been writing these down as I see them, so I'm sure I'm forgetting some. I'll add others as they come to mind.