Ka-Ching!

Sunday is my day to volunteer at Wild Bird Rescue. Now that we have babies in the house, there is no chance to bird on Sundays. I have been doing a lot of early morning babysitting, so just haven't had a chance to get out. The reports of migrants on TEXBIRDS have been making me antsy to get out. When I left the house, there was a small flock of cedar waxwings in the front yard--that decided me. So I decided to delay my arrival at Wild Bird Rescue for a half hour to check out the chat trail at Lake Wichita Park, normally a good place to find migrant warblers.

I wish I had gotten there earlier. I know I missed some good birds--I heard and saw them, but didn't have the time to seek them out. I also saw some sandpipers in flight (my nemesis) and didn't have the time to study them in order to sort them out. However, an eared grebe at the barrow pit (which does have a little water in it now) and several mourning warblers along the chat trail made for a very good morning. I also enjoyed seeing the white-faced ibis where the white face was obvious.

However, in spite of less than an hour on the trail, I did see some excellent birds:

American coot
Eared grebe
Blue-winged teal
Black-necked stilt
Mallard
Ring-necked duck
Northern shoveler
Gadwall
Canada geese
Spotted sandpiper
Lesser yellowlegs
Killdeer
Green heron
White-faced ibis
Turkey vulture
Downy woodpecker
Red-bellied woodpecker
Mourning dove
White-winged dove
Eurasian collared dove
Northern mockingbird
Bullock's oriole
Carolina Chickadee
Cardinal
Eastern phoebe
Blue jay
Scissor-tailed flycatcher
Barn swallow
Purple martin
Mourning warbler
Song sparrow
Clay-colored sparrow
White-crowned sparrow
Spotted towhee
Brown thrasher
American robin
Red-winged blackbird
Great-tailed grackle
Common grackle
House finch

 So, get outside--there are some great birds out there!

Good Birding!

Yes, You Can Bird Anywhere!

Thursday, a group of gentlemen I work with decided to go golfing, and I was invited along. I don't golf. However, an afternoon outside is always a good thing. So I agreed to go, as long as I didn't have to golf. While they golfed, I heckled and did some birding. The guys aren't birders, but they got into the spirit of the thing and didn't give me too hard of a time. Overall, it wasn't a bad day birding, considering we were on the course in the afternoon (1:00 - 5:15 PM) and it was very windy.

I saw my first green herons of the year and my first snowy egret. My favorite sighting was a flock of chipping sparrows. Here is my list for the Country Club golf course, 18 April:

Mallard
Blue-winged teal
Killdeer
Great blue heron
Snowy egret
Eurasian collared dove
White-winged dove
Rock pigeon
Red-tailed hawk
Turkey vulture
Mourning dove
Northern cardinal
Blue jay
Robin
Cedar waxwing
Scissor-tailed flycatcher
Mockingbird
Barn swallow
Cliff swallow
Purple martin
Eastern phoebe
European starling
Red-winged blackbird
Brown-headed cowbird
Great-tailed grackle
House finch
White-crowned sparrow
Chipping sparrow
House sparrow

It just goes to show, you can have a good day birding anywhere, anytime. Just keep those binoculars at hand.

Good birding!

Book Review: The World's Rarest Birds

A few days ago I received a review copy of The World's Rarest Birds from Princeton University Press. This is a beautiful book with so much detail and interesting information, you can stay absorbed for hours. At the same time, it is so heartbreaking that most if not all of the critically endangered species discussed will be gone by the time my 17-month-old granddaughter graduates high school.

This large book is an effort to raise awareness of bird conservation issues worldwide. In 2010 two of the authors established an international photography competition to compile a complete photographic directory of every Critically Endangered and Endangered bird in the world. The contest was repeated the following year to try to get photos of some of the birds not photographed the previous year. This book showcases the winning photographs from both competitions as well as 800 others and 76 illustrations of birds which are not known to have been photographed and may already be extinct. As you can imagine, the photographs in the book are absolutely stunning.

Introductory chapters highlight threats the birds face and include a variety of maps and tables with information about the last documented sighting of the species that are possibly extinct or possibly extinct in the wild. Following are region-by-region discussions of conservation, threats and species at risk. Each species has a photo or illustration with information on the population numbers, threats, distribution, habitat, and behavior. Each account also has a QR code, which will take the reader to the species account on the BirdLife International website, with the most current, more complete information on that species.

The book is intended to educate and mobilize birders, naturalists and the general public to take action to save threatened birds and to raise awareness for the BirdLife Preventing Extinctions Programme.

The World's Rarest Birds is $45 and worth every penny. The 360 pages contain 377 illustrations, 977 color photos and 610 color maps.

Good Birding!

Some Bird News

Spring migration is well underway with several summer species back. Although I have been hearing reports of scissor-tailed flycatchers in the area, I didn't see my first one until today and saw several. Great egrets are back. I saw a large flock of ring-billed gulls heading out with the storms this week. You never know what you are going to see at this time of the year so get out.

In addition to spring migration, there are several things coming up over the next few days:

• Saturday, April 13, 8:00 AM. Bird Walk at Lake Arrowhead State Park. Terry McKee will be leading the walk this month.
• Saturday, April 13, 1:00 - 3:00 PM. Open House/Baby Bird Shower at Wild Bird Rescue, 4611 Lake Shore Dr., Wichita Falls, TX. This is the one time a year the public can tour the facilities and see what happens at Wild Bird Rescue. The baby birds have started coming in. In addition to a tour, visitors will be able to see education programs with our avian ambassadors, eat hot dogs and cake. There is no admission fee, but of course, donations are welcome. Cash is needed most, but if you would prefer to donate goods, here are some possibilities: flat sheets in good condition, aquariums (they don't have to be leak proof), laundry detergent, bleach, paper towels, Dawn dish soap, gift cards to Petco and grocery stores, and large pet carriers.
• Tuesday, April 16, 7:00 PM. North Texas Bird and Wildlife Club. NALC Building, 5310 Southwest Parkway, Wichita Falls, TX. I will be the speaker, but I haven't decided what to talk about yet, so it's a surprise. Open to the public. No RSVP required.  

Good birding!

BirdFest Texoma, Here I Come!

Well, I finally got my registration sent off for the BirdFest Texoma. I think I missed being able to sign up for many of the field trips I wanted since I waited so long to send in my registration, but regardless, I plan to spend the weekend birding around Hagerman NWR. I'll be more proactive about getting my registration in for the Lower Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival when registration opens in June.

I know that Nila Dowlearn from Wichita Valley nursery is planning to attend the BirdFest as a vendor. Is anyone else from the area going? If so, post a comment or send me at email at txbirds@gmail.com.

Good birding!