Good Saturday Morning Birding

Black and white warbler. Photo by William H. Majoros, Wikimedia Commons.

Well, Saturday was a busy day. I decided to do a quick stop at Lake Wichita Park to check the chat trail and the barrow pit. Thirty minutes, tops. The birding was very good, so I ended up staying a little over an hour and made an extra stop at the mudflats over by Murphy's Mound.

My surprise bird was a black and white warbler. Not generally here in the summer, but if I remember correctly, I had one or two sightings last summer as well. I also saw a brown thrasher. Although known to be in this area year around, I usually only see them in the winter. This one was looking a little rough with molt well underway.

As mentioned in the previous post, I also tried out my newly acquired shorebird identification knowledge on some long-billed dowitchers and a snowy plover. It's hard to believe fall migration is starting, but it is. Seems like we just finished spring migration.

Overall, a good hour with the following birds seen:

Green heron, black-necked stilt, great egret, killdeer, snowy plover, long-billed dowitcher, Mississippi kite, turkey vulture, white-winged dove, mourning dove, Eurasian collared dove, red-bellied woodpecker, downy woodpecker, chimney swift, barn swallow, purple martin, black and white warbler, orchard oriole, robin, cardinal, blue jay, black-crested titmouse, Carolina chickadee, western kingbird, scissor-tailed flycatcher, mockingbird, brown thrasher, great-tailed grackle, brown-headed cowbird, red-winged blackbird, house finch, house sparrow.

Good birding!

Winter Warblers Back

Today I decided to bird Lucy Park. I haven't been there in a while and it is a good habitat for warblers and sparrows. Although the woods were a little empty today, it was a great morning. The weather was clear and in the 60's.

It is a little hard to bird Lucy Park because it is adjacent to Hwy 287 and there is constant traffic, that makes it difficult to hear small birds in the underbrush. If you aren't right next to a bird, you aren't likely to hear it; you have to see it. I am sure if it was a little quieter, I would get lots more birds. But that's just the way it is.

I saw my first of the season brown thrasher. He was scolding up a storm--one bird I did hear. Two winter warblers back in good numbers in the park were yellow-rumped and orange-crowned. As usual there were several ruby-crowned kinglets--they will practically get in your face. Two special sparrows migrating through that were present in fairly large numbers were clay-colored sparrows and chipping sparrows.

Lucy Park is a good place to look for cavity nesters. Carolina chickadees, tufted titmice and woodpeckers are normally easy to find and that was the case today. Downy woodpeckers, red-bellied woodpeckers and flickers were all over the park. If you haven't birded Lucy Park in a while, you're due for a visit.

Good birding!

Snow and Ice Makes for Busy Bird Feeders

Yesterday (and so far today) has been excellent for watching feeder birds. I posted the photo of the spotted towhee yesterday morning. I looked out the window later and there were three towhees. The most I have had at one time before is two. I also had a brown thrasher yesterday and already this morning. The thrasher is a very rare visitor to my feeder. The juncos, cardinals and house finches are pretty thick as well as the ever present house sparrows and white-winged doves. I have had surprisingly few blue jays.

I need to "man up" this morning and get out to refill feeders, spread more seed on the ground and spread more bark butter on the tree trunks.

I hear we're due for rolling brown outs throughout the state today, and the roads are still a sheet of ice. Authorities are still asking people to stay home and off the roads unless it is an emergency, so try to stay warm and enjoy all the birds at your feeders.

Good birding!

What's Up With This?

Eastern Bluebirds are generally birds of the countryside. For example, in Wichita Falls, you see them in the county but not inside the city, and the "city" isn't really all that urban. I have seen occasional bluebirds in Lake Wichita Park, but that is pretty much it.

We're on vacation and got stuck in a traffic jam in Atlanta (I-20 E, just outside the Loop 285) and decided to pull off as soon as possible and find a motel for the night. As my husband is checking in what do I see? I had to get out my binoculars to be sure, but there it was, a male Eastern Bluebird at the side of the road.

In addition to the bluebird, I saw a brown thrasher carrying food to its young. Two good birds for anywhere, seen in Altanta, GA.

Good birding!