Owl Serenade

I haven't been birding much over the summer. I hate hot weather, and the birds aren't thrilled with it either.

I finally decided I was going this morning. It was sprinkling and looked like the rain could get heavier, so I decided to go to the Chat Trail in Lake Wichita Park instead of the Nature Bluff section of the Circle Trail. The good thing about going birding when there is a little rain is you have the parks to yourself--Wichita Falls people don't go out in the rain.

The decision to go birding turned out to be a good one. I didn't see a lot of birds on the Chat Trail, but I saw some good ones.

When I got out of the car at the parking lot, I saw a large bird perched in some dead branches in the top of a tree a good way down the trail. It was a great horned owl, so things were starting out pretty nice. I am including a short video clip. I took it with my phone, so the picture is not the greatest. I also didn't do a very good job of holding the phone steady. If you listen carefully, you can hear him calling. But that wasn't the best part. I didn't catch it on video, but there was a second great horned owl in the wooded area behind me that occasionally called back.

Great horned owl

I was pretty stoked about this, but I walked further down the trail, near the bridge and heard another great horned owl in the wooded area over by the dam. Then heard another behind me again. All of a sudden, the one behind me flew over my head toward the owl calling by the dam. I got my binoculars on the one in flight and saw it fly into the trees and flush out the other owl.

That was four great horned owls. I don't think I have ever seen that many in one small area, ever. When I was coming back to the parking lot, the first great horned owl was still on the exposed branches, but he had been joined by an immature Mississippi kite and a Cooper's hawk. I was surprised by the Cooper's hawk, as it is a little early for them. The birds finally flushed the great horned owl and chased it back across the trail toward me, and there was a second Cooper's hawk in pursuit as well.

I didn't see a lot of birds this morning, but then I didn't stay out long--the rain did get a little heavier while I was out. I'm glad I decided to go. Here's the complete list.


Great egret
Green heron
Snowy egret
Canada goose
Double-crested cormorant
Black-necked stilt
Great horned owl
Mississippi kite
Cooper's hawk
Black-chinned hummingbird
Eurasian collared dove
Mourning dove
Rock pigeon
Belted kingfisher
Blue jay
Cardinal
Northern mockingbird
Barn swallow
American robin
Red-winged blackbird
House finch

Good birding!

Black-necked Stilts

Black-necked stilt. Photo by USDA.

With the very low water levels at Lake Wichita, the noisy black-necked stilts have been very common over the past year. The barrow pit at Lake Wichita Park is pretty much just a mud flat--with not much mud.

Last time I walked back to the barrow pit a couple of weeks ago, I saw what appeared to be a nesting black-necked stilt on a pile of mud in the middle of the pond. I thought to myself, "No, that can't be right--those birds only migrate through here. They don't nest." Well, I guess they do now. I went out there this AM and two little long-legged, fuzzy babies were huddled up next to the nest and then took off across the mud. Although they lack the distinctive black and white plumage of the adults and don't have the pink legs, the only birds out there were black-necked stilts, and these guys were right there with them, with distinctive baby fuzz. With my phone camera, I couldn't get any decent pictures.

Good birding!

And the Drought Continues

Yesterday I went out to the Lake Wichita spillway. I intended to spend most of the morning birding but forgot I had promised to help accept donations for the Wild Bird Rescue garage sale and fold newsletters at 9 AM, so was only able to stay for a short time. Although the lake is way down, this is the deepest part of the lake so there is still a fair amount of water. Numerous yellowlegs, both greater and lesser, were present. Generally it is difficult to tell one from another without hearing their call. This time I was given extra assistance as some of the birds were close to one another and the size difference was readily apparent. Many killdeer were also present.  There was a lone redhead duck a little further out in the water. Overall, not a lot of birds, but not bad for a quick stop. The birds seen included: robin, starling, pigeon, killdeer, greater yellowlegs, lesser yellowlegs, snowy egret, great blue heron, great egret, white pelican, spotted sandpiper, mourning dove, white-winged dove, Eurasian collared dove, red-winged blackbird, mallard, black-necked stilt, yellow warbler, red head duck, house sparrow, and great-tailed grackle.

This morning I went to Lake Wichita Park and walked the chat trail and down to the barrow pit, which although not completely dry, is well on its way, although there were a large  number of black-necked stilts, killdeer and some peeps I wish I had been able to identify.

Barrow pit--nearly dry

I also wanted to check out the new wildlife observation platform, which I had heard was completed. And sure enough, it was.

Wildlife viewing platform in Lake Wichita Park

View toward pelican point this morning

It is where I wanted it to be placed, which was at the end of the barrow pit overlooking the well-concealed inlet and out toward pelican point. Right now, the view is not so great as the lake has almost completely dried up at this end.

Overall, a fairly disappointing half hour. I did see a group of scissor-tailed flycatchers and an orchard oriole. As always, the cardinals were plentiful. Unfortunately, so were the mosquitoes and flies. I only got bit a couple of times by the mosquitoes but the flies were driving me nuts.

I decided my luck had to improve so in spite of the heat, which was already becoming oppressive at 8:30 AM, I decided to make a quick stop at Crestview Memorial Park on Hwy 79--often a good spot. However, both ponds are nearly dry--no birds of note.

I am looking forward to the promised rain later in the week and the cooler weather forecast for next weekend. Next Saturday is our regularly scheduled bird walk at Lake Arrowhead State Park.

Good birding!

Sandpiper Migration Underway

Although we are still in the height of summer in terms of heat, fall migration has started and sandpipers are passing through on their way south. I decided to try to beat the heat yesterday morning and got out at 7:00 AM--84 degrees--to the chat trail in Lake Wichita Park. I walked to the barrow pit in hopes there would still be some water, and consequently some birds.

I make no bones about the fact that I find shorebird identification difficult. I have to have a good view for a long time to be sure of any but the most distinctive shorebirds, especially the peeps (the smallest of the sandpipers.) Fortunately, I got both.

The first was a spotted sandpiper, easily told by the distintive bobbing motion it makes as it walks along the shore line. The photo below (courtesy of Mike Baird, Wikimedia Commons) doesn't show the spots on the underside. I has a lot more difficulty with the two small peeps. I easily spent 20 minutes watching them and working with my field guide to identify the Baird's sandpiper. (Photo below courtesy of the US Fish and Wildlife Service.)

The black-necked stilts are still present in decent numbers and easy to identify. There were also some blue-winged teal on the barrow pit.

Warblers are also beginning to come through on migration. I saw several yellow warblers along the trail and around the barrow pit (photo below from Wikimedia Commons.)

I was sitting on one of the benches along the trail looking over the barrow pit. The stilts were unusually quiet. Then all of a sudden all of the birds starting making noise. When I looked up, there was a Cooper's Hawk flying over the water, probably looking for breakfast. A couple of killdeer flew up and mobbed him into the trees. I don't recall seeing shorebirds mob predators before, but obviously they do.

A little later, I was trying to identify a little Empid (no luck there) when I had the chance to watch two black-chinned hummingbirds chasing each other all over the area.

On the way back to my truck, I watched a pair of orchard orioles searching through the willows for bugs. All in all, a good morning.

Good birding!

Drought and Unusual Birds

Barrow Pit at Lake Wichita Park, showing how far the water has receded.

This morning I went down the chat trail to the barrow pit at Lake Wichita Park. I didn't see or hear much on the trail--not unusual at this time of the year. The barrow pit has evaporated to mostly a mud flat with some shallow pools. Ducks can wade in most of the water--there are just a few deeper pools in which they can swim.

Black-necked stilts at the barrow pit.
I was surprised by some of the water birds I found. First there were about 2 dozen black-necked stilts. Although they are not unknown at this time of year, they are not common.

What was more unusual to me were the redhead ducks and canvasbacks. These are definitely winter ducks and although there are records here in late May/early June, this is definitely late for them.

Redhead ducks

Little blue heron

Other birds seen this morning included: blue jay, white-winged dove, rock pigeon, mockingbird, cardinal, brown-headed cowbird, robin, Carolina wren, snowy egret, great blue heron, Mississippi kite, American coot, chimney swift, barn swallow, purple martin, mallard, scissor-tailed flycatcher, and western kingbird.

Good birding!