Listing

Field list

Bird people are notorious for their lists. Many keep all kinds of lists. The most significant list is their life list. As you might guess, a life list is a list of every bird you have seen in your lifetime, usually with the date and place you identified the bird first.

Before the advent of computers, everyone kept their life list on paper. Not ideal. I have lost my life list twice. Once you lose the documentation, you can't remember every bird you have seen, let alone when and where. Now, we have eBird, which protects your list. But I know I have seen a LOT of birds that are not on my current list, especially from the years I spent in Europe. I still have hope that I come across the list in one of the boxes in the garage that haven't been unpacked since our last move.

eBird does have a phone app. I have it on my phone, but I don't use it. It would make sense to do so, since I have to take my field notes and enter them into eBird when I get home, which means I have a lot of checklists that I haven't entered. And, as you can see in the photo, my field list is a little messy. I am working on entering some today.

If you would like to use eBird, you might consider taking the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology Bird Academy course eBird Essentials. It's free. There's a lot of things you can do with eBird besides keeping your lists.

In addition to life lists, birders keep yard lists, state lists, county lists, patch lists, etc. There is a Texas Century Club to encourage birders to find 100 birds in 100 counties in Texas (for those not familiar with Texas, we have 254 counties). There are several counties in Texas that are sparsely populated and bird records were few. The Century Club, and eBird, have greatly improved our knowledge of bird ranges. 

I can recall many years ago, when I would update a sighting in Wichita County, I would get calls from the people who try to help keep eBird accurate, questioning my entry since the bird wasn't supposed to be here or not at that time or in those numbers. Since I don't carry a camera, I don't take a lot of photos to prove I saw what I saw. Fortunately, there are a lot of people who do carry cameras and provide photographic evidence, and now there is plenty of documentation that the birds are in our area, which has made challenges rare.

I do know (a very few) birders who do not list. They feel keeping lists detracts from the experience of observing the birds. And I get that. Some people do seem to just want to tick off a bird on their list and not spend any time enjoying the bird. But I don't think that's true of most.

Truly, the best thing about lists is the memories they bring back. When I look at sightings, I can often remember the place, the people I was with, or some other fact about the day. I was on a hike in Copper Breaks State Park this weekend, and one of the people I was with stopped in the middle of a trail and said, "It was at this exact spot that I heard a canyon wren..." I often stop at places I have seen a special bird just to remember how I felt at the time.

To list or not to list...it's a question only you can answer for yourself.

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!

Great Backyard Bird Count

The Great Backyard Bird Count is this weekend. I plan to bird every day for a while. If you want to go, message me and we'll connect. I try to bird at least Lucy Park and Lake Wichita Park. I haven't decided if I will try to add to my Texas Century Club count or perhaps try several spots along the city trail system.

Smith's Gardentown is doing a count at their store all day on Saturday.

The Rolling Plains chapter Texas Master Naturalist usually has a public count out behind Wild Bird Rescue. I haven't heard about a definite time/date. I'll post as soon as I hear something.

This is a great activity to do with kids, whether you know much about birds or not. You can participate for as little as 15 minutes.

I hope you find the time to take part sometime over the weekend.

Good birding!

Archer County Birding

Well, Sunday morning I decided to head to Archer County after feeding the hawks at Wild Bird Rescue, to see if I could make a dent in my Texas Century Club count for that county. I can't say I had the best morning, but good enough. I did add a couple of species to my county list.

I went out toward Archer City and stopped at Lake Archer. No birds on the water, but I did pick up a few small birds such as a song sparrow and spotted towhee, as well as the first cedar waxwings I have seen this winter, so it was a nice stop.

Harlan's red-tailed hawk, photo Dominic Sherony, Wikimedia Commons

My best  bird of the day was a dark-morph Harlan's red-tailed hawk. Although red-tailed hawks are fairly common in the winter, the Harlan's subspecies is more common further west. I was driving on FM 368 near Camp Stonewall Jackson when I saw what at first glance looked like a turkey vulture sitting on a stump, but its head wasn't right. It was a large, dark bird, which brought the turkey vulture to mind. I did a U-turn and went back for a better look. I got a good look as the bird flushed--no doubt of the I.D.

I usually stop at Camp Stonewall Jackson, but noticed a few cars, so didn't. That is one of the disadvantages of birding alone as a woman--even we older women have to be concerned with safety in more isolated locations. Although men need to be safety conscious as well, the threat is more for a woman alone.

In slightly less than three hours I saw the following birds: mallard, great blue heron, Eurasian collared dove, mourning dove, red-tailed hawk (to include 1 Harlan's), American kestrel, northern harrier, northern mockingbird, loggerhead shrike, blue jay, eastern bluebird, eastern meadowlark, American crow, cedar waxwing, great-tailed grackle, red-winged blackbird, European starling, white-crowned sparrow, song sparrow, dark-eyed junco, spotted towhee, house sparrow.

Overall, not a bad day.

Good birding!

Feeling Better

I have been feeling a little cooped up lately. I haven't birded much in recent weeks, and I needed a break. So this morning, I made a break for it. Although my Texas Century Club counts would have been better served by a morning in a different county, but since this is my day at Wild Bird Rescue, it was more convenient to bird Lake Wichita Park, so I did.

It was a beautiful morning--bright sunshine, light frost and no wind. I didn't have great birds, but I had some good birds, and more importantly could feel my stress level drop almost immediately. The lake levels continue to drop. If we don't get some substantial rain soon, it is going to be a tragic summer for birds and other wildlife.

Here are the birds I saw this morning: northern shoveler, mallard, Canada goose, double-crested cormorant, American coot, greater yellowlegs, killdeer, ring-billed gull, Eurasian collared dove, American kestrel, northern flicker (yellow-shafted), downy woodpecker, cardinal, blue jay, American robin,  red-winged blackbird, European starling, great-tailed grackle, house finch, American goldfinch, song sparrow, field sparrow, Harris's sparrow, white-crowned sparrow, and house sparrow.

Overall, a great attitude adjustment.

Good birding!

Birding 2013

I don't know why, but I can't help but put some significance on the first bird I see each year. It's as if I think that bird is a harbinger of the year. Intellectually I know that is not true, but that doesn't mean I don't feel that way regardless. For example, in 2011 my first bird was a house sparrow but that same day I spotted a whooping crane (a lifer), so it is demonstrably not true.

In 2012 we did the Wild Bird Rescue Big Day fundraiser and the first bird was a white-crowned sparrow, the start of a good count.

White-winged dove
Photo by Dan Pancamo via Wikimedia Commons

This year, the white-winged doves were first up. What does that say for my birding year in 2013? I must say, so far 2013 hasn't been very exciting on the birding front. However, if you want to see birds, you have to bird, and so far this year, I haven't been out much at all. But I intend to change that. I made some birding resolutions for 2013. Since I am known to be a little compulsive on my New Year's resolutions (especially after sharing them with you,) I am looking forward to a good year.

What are my birding resolutions this year?

• Attend two birding festivals. Right now I plan for those to be the Birdfest Texoma in May and the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival in November. If I can fit in one of the Texas Ornithological Society (TOS) meetings, I will. But the Winter and Spring meetings don't fit my schedule, so we'll see about the Fall meeting.
• Be more consistent in keeping up this blog--in order to do that I have to get out and see some birds. I am shooting for a minimum of 1 blog post a week. I have done more than that in previous years, so it shouldn't be a problem.
• Update my sightings in eBird regularly. I can use eBird to keep track of the birds I see. After having lost my life list not once, but twice, this is a good thing. I can't replicate those earlier records, which is discouraging, but at least I can avoid a similar disaster.
• Add five counties to  my Texas Century Club count. This will force me to get out and bird, which is the only way to become a better birder. I am not as competitive as many people participating in this program, but I am using it as a way to encourage me to get out and bird.

I am planning for a great birding year. What are your birding resolutions this year?

Good birding!

Archer County This Morning

I did a short (1.75 hr) birding trip in Archer County today, trying to increase my numbers for my Texas Century Club list for that county. Don't know that I added more than one or two species, but there was rain, so no complaints. Not a lot of rain, but more than I was seeing at the house, and much needed. Altogether I saw 33 species driving the roadways, with a few short stops.

 At Lake Archer, there was a mixed flock of turkey and black vultures perching on the dock and a nearby tree I was able to get fairly close to. Once again, I left  my little camera at home and had to use my cell phone camera, so the pictures are not the best.

I also saw a small flock (11) of ruddy ducks on the lake.

I mostly saw the usual birds, but some special ones (in my book) were a golden-fronted woodpecker that flew across the road in front of my car on Hwy 25, a Bullock's oriole in the Hollliday cemetery and a yellow-headed blackbird on Hwy 277, just before the county line into Wichita.

My list: killdeer, rock pigeon, Eurasian collared dove, white-winged dove, mourning dove, cattle egret, great egret, great blue heron, snowy egret, Canada goose, ruddy duck, gadwall, turkey vulture, black vulture, golden-fronted woodpecker, northern cardinal, blue jay, American robin, scissor-tailed flycatcher, Western kingbird, Bullock's oriole, northern mockingbird, purple martin, cliff swallow, chimney swift, eastern meadowlark, common grackle, great-tailed grackle, yellow-headed blackbird, red-winged blackbird, brown-headed cowbird, European starling, house sparrow.

Altogether, a nice start to the day.

Good birding!

Upcoming Bird Events

May 12: I will be leading the bird walk at Lake Arrowhead State Park beginning at 7:00 AM at the firewood shed. The $3 park entry fee applies. Many thanks to Terry McKee for filling in for me last month.

May 15: I will be the program speaker for the North Texas Bird and Wildlife Club meeting at 7:00 PM at the NALC Building. The topic will be brood parasitism.

I hope to see you at one of these activities. In the meantime, the weather is still relatively mild and the birds are active, so get out and go birdwatching! I am planning to bird heavily over the next few days as I ended up having to cancel my TOS Spring meeting trip. I am in mourning over that, but decided I can still bird here. I am going to see how much progress I can make on my Texas Century Club lists for Clay and Archer counties. If anyone wants to go with me, give me a shout at txbirds@gmail.com. If I see anything great, I'll tweet it out. You can follow me (I don't tweet a lot) at @birdwithpenny (or watch the Twitter feed on this blog.)

Good birding!

Palo Pinto County Birding

Left, Lake Tucker near Strawn, TX.

Saturday I went birding with fellow birder Brady Surber from Vernon. Brady is active in the Texas Ornithological Society (TOS) Texas Century Club. This is a project to encourage birders to visit and record their observations in more Texas areas. There are many hot spots in Texas that are visited regularly, so we have a good understanding of the birds that inhabit those areas. However, there are many counties in Texas for which records are sparse. Hence, the Century Club, which is a challenge for birders to find at least 100 birds species in at least 100 counties. Brady has completed 40-some counties, and Saturday he wanted to work on Pal Pinto county. He already had 66 species.

Saturday was not the best day to bird in our region of Texas. The misty rain wasn't an issue, but the high winds were. Birds don't really like to expose themselves to a lot of wind any more than we do. We thought our best bet would be ducks, but we had only minimal luck with those, although we did add a few waterfowl to Brady's county list. As you can see in the photo of Lake Tucker above, the birds were not sitting on any open water. We found some ducks on small, sheltered tanks along the roadsides, but that was it.

One phenomenal sight was a kettle of hundreds of migrating turkey vultures passing over Strawn, TX. There were a few black vultures mixed in, but the turkey vultures stretched for miles. It was an impressive sight.

My own favorite bird of the day was the hooded merganser (see photo left, from Malcolm on Wikimedia Commons.) These are just beautiful, elegant birds. We came across a small tank and counted 10 birds in the small flock.

Although it wasn't a great birding day, I had a great time. Even a poor day birding is better than a good day doing anything else. We drove about 320 miles on this trip.

My list for the day included: mallard, gadwall, green-winged teal, ring-necked duck, hooded merganser, western grebe (I didn't get the greatest look at this one, but Brady was able to identify it,) pied-billed grebe, turkey vulture, black vulture, red-tailed hawk, sharp-shinned hawk, American kestrel, northern harrier, mourning dove, rock pigeon, northern cardinal, Carolina chickadee, Bewick's wren, yellow-rumped warbler, American crow, eastern bluebird, northern cardinal, ruby-crowned kinglet, field sparrow, white-crowned sparrow, Harris' sparrow, white-throated sparrow, European starling, and American goldfinch.

Good birding!

Road Trip

Today my husband and I drove to Dallas, TX to pick up my son's car. He moved to Chicago and they elected to take only his wife's car. Since he did not sell the car before he left, we went to get it, and I drove it back. It is my habit on road trips (when my husband is driving) to take my binoculars and bird. I forgot my binoculars, which is nearly unheard of, but did see some birds on the way. My husband gets a kick out of me writing down the birds I see, especially as I keep track of the county I am in.

The Texas Ornithological Society (TOS) has a Texas Century Club, where members try to log at least 100 species in each of 100 Texas counties. There are 254 counties in Texas, only a few of which have many records on file. The goal is to encourage more birding in under-birded counties. Although birding along a highway is not easy and tends to be monotonous as we don't stop, I have meticulously kept lists of birds I see in each county we pass through. My problem is that I don't update them in ebird, which is the official repository for the information. TOS has added a link to the Century Club section on its web site (http://www.texascenturyclub.org/.) It is easy to tell who the dedicated counters are.

Overall, I think this is a great idea. Now if I can just find someone to enter all of my lists.....