I Am Over Summer

Dominic Sherony, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

 I am not a Summer fan. The prediction for today is 106 degrees. Ugh! Come on, Fall!

However, I did get out this morning early and did a short bird walk in Lake Wichita Park. I spent almost an hour, going down the chat trail, around the barrow pit, and most of the way around to Murphy's Mound. It was 80 degrees with a light breeze at 7AM when I started out and too darned hot by the time I got back to my car.

July is not the best time for birdwatching in Wichita Falls. The birds are finishing up raising their broods and most have ceased their territorial singing, making them harder to find in the foliage. Since we had more rain than usual so far this summer (yeah!), the foliage is fairly full. The birds are also too darned hot and not expending more energy than necessary and hiding out in the shade. Fall migration has now started. Our first spring migrant, the purple martin, has departed the area within the last week.

Having explained all the reasons birding sucks in late summer, I had a good morning. My favorite bird was the yellow-billed cuckoo (shown above). These birds are considered a threatened species and are secretive. I didn't see it this morning, but I heard its distinctive call. My birds this morning: double-crested cormorant, cattle egret, great egret, yellow-crowned night heron, green heron, mallard duck, Mississippi kite, Eurasian collared dove, mourning dove, yellow-billed cuckoo, northern cardinal, Carolina wren, blue jay, western kingbird, robin, scissor-tailed flycatcher, barn swallow, chimney swift, red-winged blackbird, common grackle, and great-tailed grackle.

Good birding!