Purple Martins Arriving Soon!

 

Purple martin house at Wild Bird Rescue

I have not personally seen any purple martin scouts yet, but there have been reports in our area and it is about time for them to show up. If you have a martin house, it's time to ensure it is clean and ready for this year's nesting season. Clean up the house and block the entrance until you see scouts. Otherwise, you will have a house full of starlings and house sparrows.

Lake Arrowhead SP Birding

Painted bunting at Lake 
Arrowhead SP

Every second Saturday there is a bird outing at Lake Arrowhead State Park. We wander about a mile over an hour or two (depending on the birds we see). Debra Halter and I, from the Rolling Plains Texas Master Naturalist chapter, lead the walk. 

Don't know the birds? No worries--you learn by going out with others. Bring the kids! We love to introduce kids to the natural world. Interests expand beyond birds? No problem. Master Naturalists are into everything and we often stop to look at plants, and spiders, and mussels, and bugs, and deer, and more. Mobility issues? We can easily stay on paved surfaces.

The bird in the photo top the left is a painted bunting. We won't see one this month, but it won't be long until they are back for the summer. (Of course, I say that and June McKee had a summer tanager at her feeder this week and posted a photo on Facebook. So, one never knows!)

The walk starts at 8 AM at the admin building parking lot (between the swim beach and the fishing pier). Just look for a small group with binoculars and cameras. Park entry fees apply ($4 per person). The park office doesn't open until 8:00, so give yourself a little extra time to stop at the self-pay table just inside the entrance.

Happy birding!

Great Backyard Bird Count Coming Up!

One of my favorite birding events is coming up February 16 - 19. The Great Backyard Bird Count is a joint citizen science project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology,  National Audubon Society, and Birds Canada. It has found its way worldwide since tallies are now submitted through eBird.

The idea is to watch birds at home, your local parks, or wherever you happen to be for 15 minutes (or more) and submit your checklists through eBird. I usually try to hit up several local parks since I do Project Feederwatch in my yard every week. I might change my mind, but right now, I am thinking I will bird Lake Wichita Park on Friday, Lake Arrowhead SP on Saturday, Wichita Bluff Park on Sunday, and Lucy Park on Monday. I might throw in some short times at Williams Park and the Circle Trail at a couple of spots that are sometimes good birding.

This is a great project for kids. Since you only need to spend 15 minutes, even the little ones can stay focused. This would also be a good project for homeschoolers.

Good birding!

Just Ducky!

 

Prasan Shrestha, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

We've had a couple of decent rains lately so I decided this morning I would go out looking for ducks. With the lack of water, I haven't had much luck recently.

As it turned out, it was a good morning. I have a number of chores that need to get done today, so I didn't take a lot of time. I started at the Lake Wichita spillway. The lake is still far from full, but it is coming up some. There were lots of ruddy ducks, some buffleheads, coots, gadwalls, mallard, Canada geese, and a lone northern shoveler.

Then I went down to the boat ramp and picked up some green-winged teal.

I took a run down W. Rathgeber Rd to get to Crestview cemetery. Although this road is a dump for glass bottles, there are a few small tanks along that road and the largest one had several ring-necked ducks. At Crestview I saw my favorite duck, the northern pintail (see the photo). They are such an elegant looking bird. Unfortunately, there was only the one, but I was happy to see him. That's the first one I have seen this winter.

Then I took a quick swing by Stone Lake. Not much going on there this morning, but I did add pied-billed grebes. Overall, a good morning.

Good birding!