Bird Walk at Lake Arrowhead State Park

I'm a little late writing this post as the monthly bird walk at Lake Arrowhead State Park was Saturday, January 12 (well, okay, a lot late.)

Bonaparte's gull, photo by Dick Daniels
Wikimedia Commons

Forster's tern, photo by Dick Daniels
Wikimedia Commons

It was a cold day, but Lynn showed, so she and I checked out the birds. Admittedly, we didn't go as slowly as usual and finished the walk in just over an hour. That being said, we found some good birds. The best birds from my point of view were the Bonaparte's gulls and Forster's terns.


We had only one woodpecker, a northern flicker, seen within just a couple of minutes of me saying, "I haven't seen any flickers this winter."

Birds seen (not included on this list is a Wilson's snipe that Lynn caught on camera that I don't recall seeing--one of my favorites):

Canada goose
American coot
Northern shoveler
Gadwall
Double-crested cormorant
White pelican
Pied-billed grebe
Ring-billed gull
Bonaparte's gull
Forster's tern
Kildeer
Greater yellowlegs
Lesser yellowlegs
Western sandpiper
Northern flicker
Northern mockingbird
Northern cardinal
Eastern phoebe
Bewick's wren
Harris's sparrow
White-crowned sparrow
Orange-crowned warbler

Not a bad hour on a cold morning.

Don't forget the monthly bird walks at Lake Arrowhead SP are on the 2nd Saturday of each month, starting at 8 AM. Park entry fees apply--get there a little early as the ranger station won't be open yet, so you'll need to make out your fee envelope. We meet at the dump station area (2nd left after you enter the park, then the first right, on the left). Kids and novices are welcome.

Good birding!

Winter Birds Returning

Went out to Lake Wichita Park this morning as it is on my way to Wild Bird Rescue, where I volunteer on Sundays. Fall migration is well underway and the winter sparrows are beginning to show up as are other winter residents.

Some of the winter birds I saw this morning for the first time included several northern flickers (some red-shafted, some yellow and a few I couldn't tell for sure), a ruby-crowned kinglet, savannah sparrows, a song sparrow and some green-winged teal.

I noted some migrant mourning warblers as well as another pretty warbler that unfortunately didn't stay in place long enough for me to make a positive ID.

Many summer birds are still around: barn swallows, chimney swifts and scissor-tailed flycatchers for example. The scissor-tails are beginning to mass in good numbers. I watched a couple of dozen hawking the area between the barrow pit and Lake Wichita. Hopefully, they will still be around for the Big Sit next weekend.

Overall, it was a good hour. In addition to some good birds, the beavers were pretty active along the chat trail. A list of birds seen: great blue heron, greater yellowlegs, killdeer, American wigeon, green-winged teal, mallard, redhead, American coot, Red-tailed hawk, Eurasian collared dove, rock pigeon, downy woodpecker, northern flicker, barn swallow, chimney swift, mockingbird, blue jay, robin, cardinal, scissor-tailed flycatcher, phoebe, ruby-crowned kinglet, Carolina chickadee, great-tailed grackle, red-winged blackbird, mourning warbler, song sparrow, savannah sparrow, and house sparrow.

This is a great time to bird this area.

Good birding!

Winter Ducks Arriving

Photo of Wilson's Snipe by Cephas, Wikimedia Commons.


I took a short walk in Lake Wichita Park this morning looking for migrants. It was a cool morning--it finally feels and smells like fall.

At the entrance of the chat trail was a herd of 6 white-tailed deer that watched me very closely for several minutes until they got too nervous and turned tail back into the woods.

The ducks are beginning to come in. On the barrow pit the were hundreds of waterfowl: American coot, redhead ducks, American wigeon, mallard ducks, pied-billed grebes, and a single Wilson's snipe (one of my favorite birds.)

The turkey vultures are also on the move with a few dozen birds flying over this morning.

I also saw my first northern flickers of the fall--two yellow-shafted flickers flying over and another flicker perching on the lights of the football field.

Other birds seen this morning: scissor-tailed flycatcher, blue jay, cardinal, red-winged blackbird, great blue heron (an immature that caught two fish while I watching), Eurasian collared dove, mourning dove, robin, double-crested cormorant, killdeer, common grackle, great-tailed grackle, and European starling.

Good birding!

Good Morning for Woodpeckers at Lucy Park

Photo of rehabbing downy woodpecker courtesy of Wild Bird Rescue.


Sunday morning I decided to go to Lucy Park for my bird walk in hopes of seeing some spring migrants. That didn't pan out, but it was a good morning nonetheless, primarily because of the woodpeckers.

Lucy Park is a good place to see woodpeckers because of the large number of snags in the woodland. On Sunday, the birds were drumming and calling to establish territories, which made it easier to find them. I saw/heard several red-bellied woodpeckers and the downy woodpeckers seemed to be everywhere. A special treat were the yellow-shafted flickers. According to the North Texas Bird and Wildlife Club checklist, The Birds of North Central Texas, flickers don't breed here, but they must do some pairing before heading north, because a couple were drumming and calling like mad.

I was watching a yellow-shafted flicker drumming and calling from a bare snag when a downy landed immediately below him. It must be a snag that has good noise-producing qualities. The downy was not able to convince the much larger flicker to leave, so he hopped over to an adjacent branch to start his own drumming.

I almost always see (or at least hear) the red-bellied woodpeckers in Lucy Park. I often see one or two downys. However, on Sunday I saw and heard numerous downys (at least 6) and as many or more red-bellied woodpeckers. I saw 3 flickers. I thought I saw a hairy woodpecker, but the distance was too far and the glimpse too brief to be absolutely certain.

Since I was having such a great woodpecker morning, I walked over to the duck pond where I have seen red-headed woodpeckers a few times in the last several months, but no luck this time. It would have been exciting to have seen them too, but I suppose I shouldn't be greedy and should be content to see them on another day.

Good birding!