Mussel Watch at Gordon Lake

I went out to Gordon Lake in Iowa Park to look for mussels. I got skunked on mussels, but it was as good an excuse as any to go birdwatching as well.

I got out a little late. I set the time at 9 AM for the mussel watch so others wouldn't have to get up so early, since I have been fussed at about the time in the past. Since no one else came (for the second time in as many watches), I am thinking after the next one in July, I am going to suit myself and go earlier in the day. Less hot and better birding.

Anyway, there were no extra special birds, but I did see the following in addition to the domestic ducks in the park: Canada geese (at least 50), great blue heron, chimney swift, barn swallows, cliff swallows, killdeer, scissor-tailed flycatcher, mallard ducks, Western kingbird, great-tailed grackles, mourning doves, white-winged doves, Eurasian collared doves, rock pigeons, red-winged blackbirds, purple martins, and house sparrows.

There were two baby barn swallows on a barn branch overlooking the lake being fed by their parents. There were also a couple of fledgling purple martins on a wire.

It should be a good year for the dove hunters. There were hundreds of doves (mostly white-winged) in the fields around the lake.

Good birding!

Catching Up

I can't believe it has been so long since I posted--seems like just a few days. Time flies, as they say.

Last week, on one of my round trips to/from Cresson, I had a wading birds day: great blue heron, cattle egrets, green heron, little blue heron and a great egret all seen from the car at various points along the way. The green egret was flying down the middle of the road as if it was pacing my car.

Wild Bird Rescue is picking up. I volunteer as a rehabilitator there on many Saturdays and we are at the point where the work load is busy but a person can keep up. Within the next week or two, it will be hectic and I will hope to have at least some volunteer help. It appears promising--on my last Saturday I had a very nice couple helping out, who appear to have the right view of the job. It is harder than most people think, with a lot of manual, dirty labor. Many prospective volunteers find it is more than they want to take on, so I really appreciate those who hang in there during the long, stressful summer. If you might be interested in learning more, call Bob Lindsay at Wild Bird Rescue at 940-691-0828.

Good birding!

Recycling the Neighborhood

Out near the Lake Wichita Spillway there is an overpass that houses a lot of pigeons underneath year around and in the summer, hundreds of cliff swallows along the outside, under the overhang of the road. The cliff swallows have headed south, abandoning their nests for the year. As soon as the cliff swallows leave, the house sparrows move in. Last winter, almost every nest had house sparrows. So far this year, it appears to be about half. I am sure the nests provide better shelter than most of the places the house sparrows nested. The openings point down, which would keep the rain off and help make the shelter less accessible to predators. However, I do note that it appears the house sparrows gravitate toward nests that have some damage (and therefore, a wider opening)--at least at first.

I originally intended to check out the tank to see if any ducks were coming yet, but youth football season has started and the park was packed, so I headed toward the spillway. In a short walk along the biking/walking trail between the spillway and Southwest Parkway, I saw a great blue heron, American phoebe, killdeer, blue jays, mourning dove, Eurasian collared dove, white-winged dove, starlings, barn swallows, chimney swifts, pigeons, house sparrows, red-winged blackbirds, and an immature red-bellied woodpecker. There was also an Empodonax flycatcher I was unable to clearly identify. As usual. I also heard a belted kingfisher, but did not find him. So nothing spectacular, but the weather was beautiful and since I only had 45 minutes to spend before I had to get back to Wild Bird Rescue, it was good.

Later in the morning, I did see a green heron at Wild Bird Rescue.

A Musseling We Will Go

Sunday was hot. It is of course, summer in Texas, so that should come as no surprise. Other than being at home, soaking up the air conditioning, there is no better place to be than in the water. Even when that water registers 90 degrees on the thermometer.

I had planned a Nature Trackers Mussel Watch for Sunday at Lake Arrowhead State Park. I usually like to get up early to go, but had set a later time of 10 AM since my husband doesn't like to get up so early (not that he was planning to go--he just babysits the critters while I am gone). The Rolling Plains Texas Master Naturalists conduct a number of Nature Tracker programs (www.tpwd.state.tx.us/learning/texas_nature_trackers) during the year. The primary one I am involved with is counting mussels in various waterways in our area. Sundays are not a good time to schedule these events as most of our members are dedicated church goers. However, between my schedule and the other chapter projects planned during the summer, there were few options left. And as it happened, I was the only one able to make it. But that was fine--it is easier to combine a mussel count with birdwatching by myself.

As it happened, it was a great day for mussels. There is one area at Lake Arrowhead that predictably had a high count and that is where I headed. Pink papershells, fragile papershells, giant floaters and Texas Lilliputs were in good number. Later, sorting shells on the tailgate of my pickup, where my thermometer was recording 120 degrees (who decided to make bed liners black, anyway?), I was less enthusiastic about the numbers to sort out.

I keep meaning to learn more of the freshwater invertebrates. There were a lot of them to see. But I had neglected to bring my freshwater invertebrate field guide (yes, they make them; yes, I am a geek for having one) and hand lens, so stuck to mussels and birds.

Birds were also good. The herons and egrets haven't yet headed south, so there were numbers of great egrets and snowy egrets. I also saw a green heron. But it is also obvious migration is underway. A few cormorant were sunning of the pier (soon there will be thousands). A few white-faced ibis and a reddish egret were wading near the shore, and a small flock of terns were fussing. Terns are difficult for me. I have the identification narrowed to two possibilities and need to get out my CD of bird calls to resolve the matter. A couple of peeps flew past, too fast for me to make a call on the little guys.

Overall, a great morning. My husband could tell I had a good time when I came home wet, covered with mud and with a red nose from the sun. Life just doesn't get any better.

Good birding!