Williams Park Surprise

Photo by Mathew Schwartz on Unsplash

I went over to Booker T. Washington elementary school this morning to meet with my Read 2 Learn 1st grader. Unfortunately, he wasn't at school today. Since I had some extra time, I went to Williams Park, which is just across Holliday Creek from the school.

Williams Park is not very big, but it has good understory for little dickey birds, and that was my focus for a quick stop. I was heading over to a brushy area near the Circle Trail. I had my eyes down, looking for little birds in the brush, and out of the corner of my eye, I say a large bird flush from a tree right on the trail. Initially, I thought it was probably a great horned owl as they are common in our area and it isn't uncommon to flush one out. It's a good thing I looked up, because it wasn't an owl, it was a mature bald eagle. We do get bald eagles here in the winter, although not in large numbers. I see them at Lake Arrowhead State Park most often, but I have seen one flying over SW Parkway, so you can observe them most anywhere.

Unfortunately, I wasn't prepared for this bird and he flew down the creek too quickly for me to get a picture with my cell phone. I did walk a ways down the trail in the direction he flew, but he apparently did not alight nearby. I did look at eBird and there is a record last year (with pictures) of a bald eagle in Williams Park.

I was at the park for 30 minutes. In addition to the eagle there was a Carolina chickadee, some dark-eyed juncos, blue jays, cardinals, great-tailed grackles, a savannah sparrow, white-winged dove, and a mourning dove.

I picked up more litter than saw birds. The main portion of the park looks good, but the edges are full of trash. I forgot to pull one of the trash bags I keep in the car to pick up litter on walks since I didn't plan to be there long, but easily picked up enough trash to fill at least one bag. There is still plenty of trash there is someone has some spare time.

BONUS: Like to draw? The Cornell University Lab of Ornithology had a webinar this week on drawing birds. I am totally incompetent when it comes to anything more complicated than a stick figure, but for those with a modicum more talent, you can see the recorded webinar here.

Good birding!

Birding at 75+

I've been a road warrior for work lately. I've spent way too much time in the truck. As much as I like what I do, the miles on the road sometimes get to be a bit much.

When my husband is driving, it isn't too bad. He doesn't mind driving and I can look around. However, as a rule, he doesn't come with me on work trips, so I have to drive. My husband teases me when we are traveling together because I always have my binoculars at the ready and have my little notebook to record any birds I see while we are flying down the road. But he has gotten pretty good about paying attention and letting me know if we pass a county line. He thinks I am crazy to record birds by county and at high speeds, you can't really get a good look at the birds.

It was hard enough at 70 mph. Since Texas raised the speed limit to 75 (and in some places, 80 or 85), it is even more difficult, especially if you are the one driving. Nonetheless, I do try to keep an eye out for birds, while trying to be safe. I must admit my scribbles are nearly indecipherable, as I have to try to write without actually looking at my note pad.

Over the past few weeks I have put around 2000 miles on my truck, with more than that still to come over the next two weeks. I always say I am going to take time on these work trips to do a little recreational birding, but it never seems to happen that way. I am either driving there, doing my work, or driving back. I was in McAllen a couple of weeks ago and didn't bird at all--that is really sad. I have been in 28 counties over the past two weeks and expect to be several more before I wrap up at the beginning of April.

Open area and wooded lot behind the hotel in Conroe

When you are birding at a high rate of speed, you really only see the birds that are very big, very conspicuous or very common and sitting right in front of your face. If you compared my lists from one county to the next, certain birds would be on more than not. I don't think I have a single county without a turkey vulture, for example. American kestrels and mockingbirds are also on most county lists. Unfortunately, so are starlings.

Good spot for a ruby-crowned kinglet

Why keep lists by county? First, because it is a fairly small area when trying to determine a bird's range. So when you put your counts into eBird, it helps create the range maps all of us rely on. Also, the Texas Ornithological Society created the Texas Century Club some years ago to encourage people to bird some of the more remote counties and find out more about the birds found in our state. The idea was to challenge birders to find 100 birds in 100 different counties. There are some people who have managed to do that. They are more focused than I. I probably have birds in 100 counties, but no where near 100 in many of them. But I am inching my way along-it's a target to work on, but I am not competitive enough in my birding to push for it. I'll get there eventually.

Tonight I am in Conroe, TX, near the beautiful Sam Houston National Forest. I did manage a short walk near the hotel this evening, as much to stretch my legs as to look for birds, but I can multitask. The best bird was probably some eastern bluebirds, although the ruby-crowned kinglet was nice as well. I've put a couple of cell phone pictures in this post. Construction crews are busily cutting down the trees and clearing the lands for stores and hotels, so most of this will likely be gone by next year.

It just goes to show, you can enjoy birds anywhere!

Good birding!

Do You Bird Around Jacksboro, TX?

A friend of mine, Terry McKee, is compiling a checklist for Fort Richardson State Park and the Lost Lake area near Jacksboro, Texas. If you have sitings from this site, please send to her at dgm59@aol.com.

Good Birding!