We first went to the area we call Mustang Road 'playas,' though the name of this section of the street, which is in Yukon, has been changed to Yukon Parkway. We drove north from 50th and found this Eastern Meadowlark perched on the fence rail.

Meadowlarks often fly away when we approach them, but this one turned to stare us down.

And then he burst into his song to prove to us he was an Eastern Meadowlark, not Western.

Farther north on Yukon Parkway, on the same (west) side of the road, Mary spotted some Upland Sandpipers in the field.

Farther along, we saw this Solitary Sandpiper walking in the standing water left by recent rains.

We wanted to show Rich and Karen the eagles in their nest, but we found the nest was empty. Then we spied an adult Bald Eagle sitting on a fallen snag close to the ground in the field with the nest tree.

The Bald Eagle hopped down to the ground and picked up a big stick.

Then it appeared to be bathing in a low spot in front of the snag.

Bald Eagle on the ground on the west side of north Yukon Parkway

After shaking itself off, the eagle hopped back up on the snag.

We were distracted by other birds on the other side of the road and, when we looked back, the Bald Eagle has disappeared from the snag. Then, as we were driving back south, Rich spied two birds sitting together on a distant branch.

Some of the birds that had distracted us included this Lark Sparrow (L) and the much smaller Chipping Sparrow (R).

Lark Sparrow with its striking face pattern

The Chipping Sparrow has a rufous crown, a white stripe over the eye, a black stripe that goes through the eye, and a clear gray underside.

This Chipping Sparrow looks as if it is about to bite into that dandelion head.

The Lark Sparrow was after the dandelions as well.

The Lark Sparrow takes a bite out of an unopened dandelion head.

Back at the standing water, we found this Spotted Sandpiper bobbing its tail as it walked around the puddle.

We turned east onto Foreman Road and this male Baltimore Oriole came out to greet us.

We had played the oriole call from our cell phone app and the bird showed a definite interest.

At the east end of Foreman Road, we turned north and found this big-eyed Tufted Titmouse in the trees next to the road.

The titmouse was not easy to find or photograph with the light behind it.

Tufted Titmouse

On the way back out to 50th Street, we found several Snowy Egrets sitting on the fence rail to the east of the road, including this one displaying its yellow feet.

Snowy Egrets on the fence rail south of 50th Street (labeled Wagner Road in Yukon) on Yukon Parkway

Snowy Egrets

After our tour of the playas area, we took a break and went to lunch at Jason's Deli on NW Expressway. After soups, salads and a little soft-serve ice cream, we went back to birding, starting at the rookery near 10th Street and Council Road where we found dozens of Great Egrets building or sitting on nests in the trees.

Several egrets were going down to the ground to pick up sticks for their nest-building.

Here is a couple of Great Egrets in the process of building their rickety stick nest--at least one of them is working at it.

There appears to be a completed and occupied nest on right and a couple just starting their building on the right.

Great Egret, with its tail feathers splayed, starts its nest-building with the first stick.

After leaving the rookery, with drove to the area along Sara Road, north of 50th/Wagner that is called Rose Lake. On the barbed wire fence on the west side of the road, we spied this male Scissor-tailed Flycatcher.

There was not much happening on the water at Rose Lake, but just north of the intersection of Sara Road and NW 63rd Street, we saw a couple of Little Blue Herons like this one and a couple of Snowy Egrets as well.

Then, in the field directly north of the intersection, we counted 8 Snowy Egrets and 35 Little Blue Herons wandering around in the grass, along with the cows.

This Great Blue Heron flew across the area while we were there.

Then, at the first house on the north, east of Sara Road, we noticed some black birds in a bare tree and stopped to look at them. Then we noticed there were some Yellow-headed Blackbirds among them.

Male Yellow-headed Blackbird on NW 63rd Street, east of Sara Road

Male Yellow-headed Blackbird

We drove on down to the bridge over Kilpatrick Turnpike to look at gulls and other water birds and found this Swainson's Hawk nourishing itself with its recent kill, a Franklin's Gull.

Swainson's Hawk with dead Franklin's Gull

Looking at this photo of the Swainson's Hawk flying away, we realized there was a second SWHA in the field adjacent to the sand pits.

There were still hundreds of Franklin's Gulls in the water in the sand pit.

There were ducks in the water, including these Gadwalls.

There were also a number of Northern Shovelers on the water as well.
We left the area, drove south on Morgan Road, then east on 50th Street till we got to County Line Road. We saw a few sparrows along the way, but took no more photos. We drove along the north side of Lake Overholser without seeing much, then called it a day and drove home.