Blue Sky Birds

The past couple of days have been cool and sunny, perfect weather for hanging around in the yard and watching various birds cruise by overhead. I'm having great fun figuring out who regularly uses these airways. Turkey Vultures make dark slouching shapes as they soar by:
 

These birds are so big and imposing, and their silhouettes look so cool against the clouds:
 

Here's another big dark bird, but it's not a vulture.... Yes, Bald Eagles are apparently fairly common here (so awesome), and I've seen immature birds like this one over our yard a couple of times already:
 

This morning, a young Cooper's Hawk swept into the yard, scattering the smaller birds. It didn't manage to catch a meal, and the Barn Swallows promptly chased it away again:
 

Barn Swallows are pretty much always swooping around over the yard, which makes me really happy. Swallows and swifts are definitely becoming some of my favorite birds; these guys are just so much fun to watch as they zip and swerve all over, and Barn Swallows especially are super fancy in flight:
 

Hooray for beautiful days and aerial activity!