March Birding at Lake Arrowhead State Park

Snow geese

Photo by Raymond Eichelberger on Unsplash

Saturday was the monthly bird outing at Lake Arrowhead State Park. The morning was beautiful. However, a

brisk wind, combined with 40 - 45 degree weather meant it was a little nippy to start. We had a new birder with 

us this month. She said birding was on her retirement bucket list. I can't imagine anything better.

This time of year is the beginning of the spring migration (although April should be even better). Purple Martins

are back, and our winter birds are still here. There have been reports of some summer birds showing up very early

(a summer tanager, for example). The highlight of my morning was a small flock of snow geese that flew over

our heads. A neotropic cormorant was also a good sighting. We also saw a beaver, and I saw some white-tailed deer.

I got to the park a little early and also birded West Arrowhead Rd that runs just outside the park boundary for a 

short time after we broke up, so my list includes those birds.

The birds I saw/heard included:

Canada goose

Snow goose

White pelican

Double-crested cormorant

Neotropic cormorant

Great blue heron

Ring-billed gull

Killdeer

Least sandpiper

Gadwall

Mallard

American Coot

Black vulture

Turkey vulture

Eastern phoebe

Ruby-crowned kinglet

Northern cardinal

Northern mockingbird

Carolina Chickadee

Eastern bluebird

Dark-eyed junco

Harris's sparrow

White-crowned sparrow

Field sparrow

Brown-headed cowbird

Great-tailed grackle

Red-winged blackbird

European starling

Overall, a very good morning. You're invited to come bird with us on the second Saturday of each

month. We start at 8:00 AM in the parking lot near the fishing pier. Beginners and kids welcome. We look

at more than just birds--plants, bugs, etc. This is a leisurely stroll of about 1 to 1.5 miles.

Good birding!

Birding is Good for You!

 

Me birding at Lake Arrowhead 
State Park (several years ago)

I was reading an article in the March 2024 American Birding Association magazine, Birding, titled, "The Birding Prescription." Although the ABA posts its magazines online, the March issue isn't posted yet, and it will be in a members only area of the website. I am fairly certain this isn't a magazine carried by the Wichita Falls Public Library, although I haven't looked at their magazine selection for some time.

I know I always feel better after being outside birdwatching (or watching birds through the window on days I can't/don't want to go anywhere). However, this article outlines the author's anecdotal experience with birding (or ornitherapy, as she calls it) when she was fighting breast cancer. After this, she summarizes results from multiple studies which indicate birdwatching has many positive affects on people. Here is a summary of the main points:

• Listening to bird song for 6 minutes can reduce anxiety and irrational thinking for up to 8 hours
• Although not necessarily birdwatching, 20 minutes of exposure to green spaces lowers cortisol (stress hormone)
• Participation in citizen science activities improves well-being (that's part of the reason members of our local Texas Master Naturalist chapter are such a positive group!)
• People who live in areas with higher bird diversity experience fewer hospital admissions for mood and anxiety disorders
• Birding can help restore attentiveness, reversing attention drain (attention restoration therapy)
• Offer social connections. Feelings of isolation and loneliness and lack of connections may increase the risk of premature death.

The author provides a list of references to the various studies she cites, so if you want to do more study on your own, you can do so.

Whether you agree with all of the assertions in her article or not, it doesn't cost anything to watch the birds. Try it our for yourself. I know some time birdwatching is always a pick me up for me.

Good birding!