Buffalo Creek Reservoir

I went out to Buffalo Creek Reservoir yesterday to do a little advance scouting for the Houston Audubon Society. You just don't realize how noisy daily life is until you are out where there just aren't that many people. It was so quiet that the sounds of the double-crested cormorants flying overhead were very distinctive as were the quiet calls they sent to one another in flight. I had never heard those sounds before even though there are a lot of cormorants at Lake Wichita. The quiet also made it easier to find the sparrows in the grasses.

You also meet interesting people. I chatted for awhile with two sisters who were looking for a haunted bridge rumored to be in that area. I haven't heard the story, so I wasn't able to help them with directions, but I did recall hearing about someone in town who just started a business connected to local murders, so I gave them that contact information.

It was a relaxing afternoon, which led to me staying longer than I intended. I can't say I had a great outcome on my birding either--hope we do better with the out-of-towners. That's the thing with birding--some days you hit the jackpot and others you get skunked. I did get some nice views of American pipits on the Harmony Rd side of the reservoir though.

But as I always say, a bad day birding is still better than most anything else.

Good birding!

Double-crested Cormorants

Well, they're not supposed to be here in July, but there were two small flocks of double-crested cormorants at Lake Wichita on Sunday. They were on the pilings in the boat ramp and spillway areas. Of course, I was thinking I don't see them in the summer, but I didn't take a picture. They were too far off to get a good picture with my camera, but I should have made an attempt. I will go back to see if they are still there--probably not.

Good birding!