Great Day at Wichita Moutains

Photo taken by Michael Male and used with permission from Wikimedia Commons.

My father-in-law visited over the weekend and my husband and I took him to Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. My husband always wants to see elk, which rarely happens (and didn't this trip either), but we did see lots of buffalo, some white-tailed deer, prairie dogs, a wild turkey and of course, Texas longhorn cattle.

However, my best sighting of the day was a couple of black-capped vireos along one of the trails. The black-capped vireo is an endangered species and the Wichita Moutains is one of the few places you have a good chance of seeing one. I have actually seen one in Lake Wichita Lake park some years back, but that sighting wasn't accepted by the Texas Bird Records Committee (TBRC) since I was the only one who saw it, and I didn't have a camera. Wichita Falls is not considered a mecca for the bird. But the bird is distinctive enough I am satisfied I saw it, so that is the important thing.

I looked for the canyon wren at Quanah Parker Dam but no luck this time. I almost always hear one there at the very least, but not this time. I guess I shouldn't expect to see everything on every trip.

The weather, although hot, wasn't miserable. There was a fair amount of shade in many areas, and a good breeze atop Mount Scott, which is usual. A good day in the refuge topped off by beef ribs at Meers (hubby had his usual Meers burger and Dad got one of the 1/4 lb burgers.)

Good birding!