Good Birds for Mother's Day

Treated myself to birding at Lake Wichita for Mother's Day and had a very nice bunch of birds. I went down the chat trail to the barrow pit and then stopped for a short time by the playground and main pavilion at the south end of the park.

It's getting to the time of year when you have to start early in order not to melt into a puddle after an hour or two. We're not quite there, but it was close to 80 degrees when I got up at 6 AM. But it isn't yet miserable weather in the morning. But with predictions of temps returning to the 100 degree mark in the afternoons, it won't be long.

So far this spring there haven't been many mosquitoes, but with the recent rains, they are back. Not horrible, but you can definitely tell they're around.

Left: yellow warbler photo by Dori, Wikimedia Commons.

It's warbler migration season and I am sure I missed several with the heavy foliage along the chat trail, but I did see and hear a number of yellow warblers. I also saw a common yellowthroat along the drainage ditch along the chat trail. I know I saw a vireo I couldn't quite identify. I know some species it wasn't, but not certain about what species it was. The story of my birding life.

One of the morning's highlights was watching a black-chinned hummingbird pluck an insect out of a spider's web. It may have caught the spider itself, but I couldn't tell for sure, but whether a spider or insect, it was a plump morsel.

When I got to the barrow pit, I was surprised at the number of water birds still present. Not a lot of them, but several types, to include: mallard, ruddy duck, blue-winged teal, cinnamon teal, gadwall, northern shoveler, redhead, American coot, and pied-billed grebe. There were also a number of Wilson's phalarope on the water. These are such a slender, elegant bird, I enjoy seeing them when they pass through on migration. I did not realize until I read the species account I linked to the name above, I didn't realize that in this species the female is the more colorful bird and the male incubates the eggs.

Photo left, eastern kingbird by Dori, Wikimedia Commons

One of my best sitings of the morning were Eastern kingbirds. I have very occasionally seen one here in the past. I saw two near the bridge from the chat trail to the dam and then another near the entrance to the chat trail on the way out.

I then decided to make a quick stop at the inlet adjacent to Wild Bird Rescue, but was thwarted by a swarm of bees. It seems there is a swarm in that area around the willows every spring.

Overall a very nice morning with some good migrants. There are still cedar waxwings in large numbers--they should be gone in the next week or two, so I am enjoying these pretty birds while I can. My birds this morning included: killdeer, Wilson's phalarope, great blue heron, green heron, Canada goose, American coot, cinnamon teal, blue-winged teal, northern shoveler, redhead, ruddy duck, gadwall, pied-billed grebe, mallard, turkey vulture, red-tailed hawk, Swainson's hawk, Mississippi kite, Eurasian collared dove, white-winged dove, mourning dove, American robin, brown thrasher,black-chinned hummingbird, northern mockingbird, blue jay, cardinal, scissor-tailed flycatcher, eastern kingbird, western kingbird, cedar waxwing, chimeny swift, barn swallow, purple martin, house wren, red-winged blackbird, common grackle, great-tailed grackle, brown-headed cowbird, yellow warbler, common yellowthroat, chipping sparrow, clay-colored sparrow, and house sparrow.

Happy Mother's Day and good birding!

Swainson Love or War?

Why is it that I often see really interesting things while driving, when I can't easily stop in time to get a good look?



I was driving the other day and caught a glimpse of two Swainson's hawks grappling and falling toward the ground. They broke apart and flew away just before reaching the ground. Neither appeared to be injured. Could it have been two birds establishing territory for nesting or was this some mating ritual?



I pulled up Birds of North America online, my usual source of information on all things about birds (especially relating to ID and behavior.) I did not find a reference to this specific behavior. The mating behavior described was not specifically as seen--that doesn't mean this wasn't what I saw. By the same token, Swainson's are not especially territorial, except immediately around a nest and then primarily against red-tailed hawks, not one another.



It's interesting to note that the Cornell All About Birds shows that Swainson's don't winter in our area--just another example that birds don't read the range maps. They are not in The Birds of North Central Texas checklist as common in the winter, but I have been seeing them fairly regularly the last couple of years--another bird changing its range?



Another mystery; another reason birding is always so interesting.



Good birding!

Responses to Mystery Bird

I had six responses to my mystery bird TEXBIRDS post, evenly divided between Mississippi Kite and Swainson's hawk. I guess we will just have to give the little guy more time. I will see him again tomorrow and see if an ID is possible yet.

Good birding!

It's Not Always the Birds

There wasn't much in the way of birds to see on my trip to San Antonio. It wasn't intended as a birding trip, but one likes to think we'd still see some good birds on the way, especially as I didn't have to drive.

The trip down was done in the heat of the day, which makes birds less likely to be out and about. However, I did see one black vulture around Mineral Wells and a Swainson's hawk in Jack County.

We went out to eat in Lytle, TX (outside San Antonio). I saw a black-bellied whistling duck jump up into a tree and then, better, started seeing bats pouring out from behind a sign on the front of a small store across the street. There were easily a couple of hundred bats. That was exciting.

We left San Antonio before light on Thursday, July 16 to head back to Wichita Falls. Going through the hill country was beautiful, and I have not seen more deer in my life. They were in every field and often yards. It was a bit harrowing driving the narrow roads with so many deer on either side of the road. But my best siting was at 7:24 AM. A cougar was in the field just off HWY 16, just north of Kerrville. This was the first cougar I have ever seen in the wild, and was I excited (still am for that matter.) I was fortunate to have a siting as clear as day.

The rest of the trip was uneventful, with few birds other than turkey vultures, which were abundant. But with bats and a cougar, I am not complaining!

Good birding!

Beaver Creek Breeding Bird Survey

Every year I say I won't wait until the last minute to run my breeding bird surveys and it seems every year, I do it. I had to have the Beaver Creek survey done by the 30th. That left today as the only non-workday to get it done.

My husband got up to go with me (early mornings are not his favorite time of day.) When I went out, I knew it was going to be absolutely miserable--already in the low 80's, very humid, and no breeze. Thankfully, Mother Nature helped us out. By the time we got out to the starting point at 5:45 AM, a weak cool front was coming through. It dropped the temperature down to 81 and kept it there the entire survey, stirred up a breeze, provided a couple of short, light showers and most importantly, got rid of a lot of the oppressive humidity. It's getting hot again this afternoon, but the survey was pleasant enough.

We saw a great horned owl early and later, the best siting of the day was a flock of orchard orioles. I have never seen a group of 7 at once before, but there they were. I was excited.

We didn't see any unusual birds, nor much other wildlife (except wild pigs and far off in the distance at one stop, some calling coyotes.)

After the end of the route, saw a couple of Swainson's hawks, a kestrel and turkey vultures (which were NOT seen during the survey.)

All in all, a great morning of birding. And happy 29th anniversary to my husband.

Good birding!