Hummingbird Presentation Slides

At the River Bend Sip 'n Science program on hummingbirds on the 19th, some of the attendees requested a copy of the slides I used. Here is a link to those slides.

Hummingbird Presentation

More Hummingbirds!

The hummingbird presentation at Wild Bird Rescue went fairly well. I'll be doing an expanded version for the River Bend Nature Center Sip 'n Science program this Friday, July 19, 6:30 - 8:30 PM. Register at their website. You must be 21 to attend.

Feast or Famine

Chat Trail

The objective of birding is to see birds, but some days you have better luck than others. You can bird an area one day and see birds everywhere and the next, you get skunked. On Saturday, the 6th, I went out to the chat trail in Lake Wichita Park. As a rule, the chat trail is one of the best locations to see a variety of birds in Wichita Falls.  Not on Saturday. Winter is close and as you can see, there are few leaves on the trees. However, I didn't see much when I was there, partly because I went later than usual (11 AM - Noon). In the hour I was walking the trail, I saw: mallard ducks, Canada geese, rock pigeons, a red-tailed hawk, a northern flicker, northern cardinals, a blue jay, a house finch, a Lincoln's sparrow, white-crowned sparrows, and Harris's sparrows. Not the longest list, but I was happy with the exceptionally good look at the Lincoln's sparrow.

Circle Trail in Lucy Park

The next day, I decided to try Lucy Park. This used to be my favorite place to bird before the city tried to control flooding by denuding the park several years ago. I won't say I don't see some good birds on occasion, but it is no comparison to what it used to be. The loss of almost all of the understory and many of the older trees greatly impacted the bird habitat. But it is worth a walk now and again. The best areas now are the 3rd Street entrance to the falls and the fence line between the park and River Bend Nature Center. I turned in the other direction, toward the log cabin. Again, I was there later than my usual time (10:40 - 11:40) and saw just a few birds: a northern cardinal, a couple of blue jays, some Carolina chickadees, robins, dark-eyed juncos, a great-tailed grackle (yes, just one) and a solitary cedar waxwing. Initially, when I saw the waxwing in the cedar tree, I thought it was a titmouse, but once I got my binoculars on it, it was definitely a waxwing. I listened and looked around for more, but didn't see or hear any.

Standing water in the barrow pit

I skipped Monday, as it was raining (hurray!), but walked the chat trail again Tuesday. Work sucked up my morning, so since I didn't get to the park until around 3 PM, I decided just to walk and if I saw any birds, great. Since I decided to try the Conqueror Challenge for 2024 (365 miles), I focused on walking, but did see some incidental birds. And with the decent rain on Monday, there was a pool of water in the barrow pit--I haven't seen any standing water in there for months. Proof is in the picture to the left. A northern harrier was hawking around the pit, looking for a snack. There was a group of northern flickers hanging around also--both yellow-shafted and red-shafted. Besides those birds, there were several Eurasian collared doves, some white-winged doves, some robins and a cardinal. 

All-in-all, this week has been a bird famine, but it's still better than working.

Good birding!
 

Happy National Bird Day!

Blue Jay

Who knew?

I didn't realize there was a National Bird Day. In reading through the website, you can see that it seems devoted to better treatment of pet birds, although it is obvious their thoughts are that birds are not pets and should live life "outside the cage." Their focus is on the conservation of birds that are used in pet trade.

However, I am not one to quibble. I am just happy that there is any effort to show people how intriguing and how important birds are in our ecosystem. But, as far as I am concerned, every day is Bird Day!

Why not celebrate Bird Day with a donation to some bird-related cause? Some local 501(c) options:

  - Wild Bird Rescue rehabilitates wild birds and returns them to the wild for all of us to enjoy. They are hosting 11 barn owls right now in addition to some other birds--these are very expensive to feed and house to release.
  - River Bend Nature Center, which does not focus on birds, but does help our community better understand the ecosystem as a whole.
  - Texas Master Naturalist, Rolling Plains Chapter, which trains volunteers to help others learn more about the environment. The group does many projects gathering and reporting information useful to learning more about the birds in our area as well as providing programs and events to connect people with our local plants and animals.

Two other options for you out-of-towners:

  - Texas Ornithological Society
  - Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Even better, watch the birds in your backyard, on the Circle Trail or at one of our local parks.

Good birding!

Good Birding Weekend

Left: summer tanager concealed in undergrowth at Lucy Park at upper center of photo.

Yesterday, I had some budding ornithologists and others on a bird walk at River Bend as part of the Earth Day celebration. Although we took our walk at 2:00 PM, we did see some decent birds. Among them: house sparrow, house finch, cardinal, common grackle, tufted titmouse, great crested flycatcher, Carolina chickadee, blue jay, red-bellied woodpecker, and cedar waxwings.

When I got up this morning, I was debating where I should bird while on my way out to my truck. I saw a small flock of chipping sparrows in my front yard and decided to head back to Lucy Park. Since there was a light mist and there appeared to be a good chance of rain, I modified my usual route, which turned out to be a good thing. It didn't rain, but I was on a path I rarely take and saw a summer tanager (see photo.) At first, I saw a brillant red bird with darker wings and thought I was looking at a scarlet tanager. I used to see them growing up in Indiana on occasion, but not here. I called Terry McKee to gloat. But as I continued to watch the bird and tried to get a decent photo (what you see is the best I was able to get--you can see a little better if you enlarge the photo.) Anyway, when I got a good view underneath the bird, it became obvious that I was looking at a summer tanager, not a scarlet. Although a scarlet tanager would have been a great bird, the summer is great as it is a lifer for me. I was alble to watch the bird for a good 10 minutes.

Left: American goldfinch, male, photo from Wikimedia Commons, by mdf.

I was also lucky to see a flock of goldfinches that were still hanging around--some of which were completely in their summer yellow and black plumage as in the photo at the left.

Other birds this morning in Lucy Park included: northern cardinal, blue jay, mockingbird, chipping sparrow, mourning dove, white-winged dove, cedar waxwing, rock pigeon, Carolina wren, Carolina chickadee, yellow-rumped warbler, western kingbird, red-bellied woodpecker, tufted titmouse, mallard, European starling, great-tailed grackle, green heron, and brown-headed cowbird. A flock of ring-billed gulls also flew over the park.

So overall, a very nice morning.

Good birding!

Winged Migration Program Tonight

"Winged Migration: Mysteries of Bird Migration" is tonight at River Bend Nature Center, 7 - 9 PM. For Rolling Plains Texas Master Naturalists, this program counts for advanced training credit.

Admission is free for RBNC members; $3 for non-members.

Good birding!

Save the Date! River Bend Lecture Series

On March 7, I will be presenting "Winged Journey: Mysteries of Bird Migration" at River Bend Nature Center. The program is scheduled for 7 - 9 PM. Admission is free for members; $3 for all others.

For my Texas Master Naturalist friends, this program will meet the requirements for advanced training.

Good birding!

GBBC Results River Bend Nature Center

View of the River Bend trails from just under the pavilion at the top of the switchback trail.

Since I have more places to bird than days of the Great Backyard Bird Count, some places get birded late in the day. As River Bend doesn't open as early as I like to bird, that means it is on the late list. Late birding is never as good as early morning, so I wasn't expecting a lot of birds, but it was a good short (1 hour) count anyway.

By far my best bird was a great horned owl that flushed from his roost when I passed too close. He was roosting fairly low in the tree. If I had seen him before he flushed, I would have gone around, but I didn't.

Overall a nice walk with a few good birds:

Great horned owl 1

Blue jay 2

Cardinal 2

Red-belllied woodpecker 1

House finch 1

Dark-eyed junco 6

Ruby-crowned kinglet 1

White-winged dove 4

Carolina chickadee 1

Black-tufted titmouse

Cedar waxwing 14

House sparrow 1

European starling 1

Good birding!

Bird Migration Program

River Bend Nature Center is starting the next round of Adult Education programs. I was asked to do a bird-related topic so posted a query on Facebook for possible topics. The big winner was migration. Therefore, on Monday, March 7, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM, I will be presenting "Winged Journeys: Mysteries of Bird Migration."

If you're interested in this topic, please plan to attend. Historically, River Bend has had a small admission fee for non-members and members could attend at no charge. When I see the promotion for the event, I will post those additional particulars. For Texas Master Naturalists, the intent is the program will meet requirements for advanced training credit.

Good birding!

Science Saturday on Migration

Tomorrow's Science Saturday at River Bend Nature Center is on migration. Birds aren't the only animals that migrate, but they are among the most spectacular. A good time for the kids. Check out the blog roll for River Bend's blog--further details are there.

Good birding!

December 12 at River Bend

We had a nice bird ID workshop Saturday. We had some new Wichita Falls residents come. One couple had lived near San Franscisco for many years, so this habitat is new. Two others just moved from Nebraska. After the indoor workshop, we walked the trail at River Bend. Even though it was rather late for a bird walk, we did see a few good birds: white-winged doves, goldfinch, house finch, slate colored juncos, red-bellied woodpecker, downy woodpecker, tufted titmouse, cardinal, Carolina chickadee, Eastern phoebe, and blue jay.

Many thanks to Wild Birds Unlimited at Smith's Gardentown for donating door prizes.

Good birding!

Don't Forget!

Don't forget bird identification workshop tomorrow at River Bend Nature Works, 2200 Third Street, Wichita Falls, TX. 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM. Free to River Bend members/Rolling Plains Texas Master Naturalists; $3 all others. At the conclusion of the presentation, those interested can walk the trails to practice.

RBNC Bird ID Course December 12

As promised, here is the official flyer for the bird ID course on December 12.

Good birding!

Basic Bird ID Course

River Bend Nature Center will be hosting a basic bird ID class from 10:00 - 11:00 AM on Saturday, December 12. This will be both an advanced training for the Texas Master Naturalists and an adult education course for River Bend. We'll talk about the process of identifying birds and go over some of the more common birds people are likely to see at their feeders and on the Christmas Bird Count.

Although not part of the class, anyone interested in a bird walk following is welcome (Any excuse to bird is a good excuse.) Although late morning is not the absolute best time for birding, in the winter it won't be bad at all.

I believe River Bend will be charging $3 for non-members; adult education courses have traditionally been free for members. When I get the official ad from River Bend I will post.

Good birding!

River Bend Nature Center Program

Last night I attended a program at River Bend Nature Center presented by Bob Lindsay at Wild Bird Rescue on "Attracting Birds to Your Yard." It was a good program with about 15 people in attendance. It should have been more, but word really didn't get out well.

Good Job, Bob! (If Wild Bird Rescue posts the handouts to their web site, I will add a link in a future post.)

Good birding!

Jokesters of the Bird World

I find that people tend to love or hate blue jays. There doesn't seem to be a middle ground. Those that hate them do so because they are aggressive and sometimes predate the young of other birds. Those of us who love them do so because they are bright, brash and beautiful. They are curious and intelligent. They are also good mimics.

Yesterday the afternoon was gorgeous. Warm but not too warm; with bright sunshine and a light breeze. The cupboards were bare, so I decided to leave work a little early to go to the grocery and couldn't resist a short stop at River Bend Nature Center to walk the trails before going home. Although the afternoon isn't the best time to bird, I of course, carried my binoculars. You just never know.

I was walking the trail, enjoying the weather and the scenery when I heard an odd call. It was like an American Phoebe but with a different dialect--a little softer in tone and a the second tone a little lower. I decided it wasn't a phoebe, but I sure wanted to know what it was. I could hear two birds calling to one another--one several yards away, and the other nearby, above my head. You've probably guessed--it was a blue jay, and probably his friend, calling in a completely atypical call for them. I could watch the blue jay above my head make the call, so there is no doubt just who it was.

In the fall I had heard the call of a Mississippi Kite after the kites left for the winter and discovered a blue jay producing it. We also had a jay at Wild Bird Rescue this past year that would imitate the ringing of the phone in order to get one of the volunteers to go back into the room. When they left, he would make the ringing sound; when they came into the room, he would stop. Rather like a small child and the "uh-oh" game they all learn--dropping things off their high chair tray so we adults can retrieve them.