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!

Rare Bird Alert--Brown Pelican at Lake Wichita

Photo of brown pelican courtesy of Calibas, Wikimedia Commons.


Last Friday I got an email with a rare bird alert from Terry McKee with the North Texas Bird and Wildlife Club. Robert from Texas Parks and Wildlife contacted Terry with the news.





I was out of town on Friday and had to teach class on Saturday, so didn't have a chance to go look for the brown pelican until Sunday morning. Of course, I was thinking it would be just my luck the bird would be gone already, and I would have missed him. But there he was, on the pier next to the spillway, where the pavillion used to be. Since I broke my camera on a previous outing and haven't yet replaced it, I didn't get a photo. I did attempt a photo will my cell phone, but the bird was too far out for a decent picture. Robert did take some photos on the 10th to document the bird. If I can get his OK to post one of his picures, I'll do that in the next couple of days.





The brown pelican is a threatened species. Although I have seen them along the coast, they are listed as accidental in the North Central Texas checklist. We have lots of white pelicans Fall - Spring, but not the brown. It is very posible the bird arrived with the Hurricane Hermine front that came through last Thursday.





I also saw my first pied-billed grebes of the season and my first orchard orioles.

A Brillant Morning at Lake Wichita

It was a gorgeous morning on Lake Wichita and a great day for birding. I decided to start at the spillway, cross the dam and then bird the chat trail and the barrow pit.

When I got out of the car at the spillway, I knew it was going to be a great morning, even if I didn't see another bird. I heard dozens of clay-colored sparrows as soon as I got out of the car and as soon as I looked into Holliday creek, there were 12 snowy egrets. Things continued to get better with a flock of yellow-headed blackbirds at the top of the dam.

Even a poor day birding is a good day, but some days you remember for a long time. Today was one of those days. The thistle plants were all going to seed along the dam and there were hundreds (and probably thousands) of chipping and clay-colored sparrows rising up all around me as I walked. In fact, sparrows were good all the way around: in addition to chipping and clay-colored sparrow, I saw house sparrow, song sparrow, lark sparrow, savannah sparrow, and white-crowned sparrow.

A couple of first of season birds: yellow-billed cuckoo and male orchard oriole.

Here's my bird list for the two hours this morning (51 species): common grackle, great-tailed grackle, European starling, mourning dove, house sparrow, cliff swallow, killdeer, great egret, red-winged blackbird, snowy egret, great blue heron, Canada goose, eastern meadowlark, scissor-tailed flycatcher, yellow-headed blackbird, white pelican, chipping sparrow, song sparrow, Western kingbird, Savannah sparrow, American coot, yellow warbler, yellow-rumped warbler, barn swallow, chimney swift, double-crested cormorant, cedar waxwing, mallard, cardinal, turkey vulture, robin, house finch, blue-winged teal, ruddy duck, brown-headed cowbird, white-crowned sparrow, mockingbird, eared grebe, spotted sandpiper, red-tailed hawk, white-winged dove, blue jay, rock pigeon, American pipit, white-faced ibis, Eurasian collared dove, Carolina wren, orchard oriole, American goldfinch, yellow-billed cuckoo, and lark sparrow.

Good birding!

A Good Morning for Orioles on the Chat Trail

I had another good morning on the Chat Trail at Lake Wichita Park. The morning was a little muggy with no breeze, but the birds didn't seem to care.

There were several orchard and Bullock's orioles today; I was able to watch them for several minutes. I also had a very nice view of a warbling vireo gleaning catepillars off the undersides of leaves. Another treat for me was a great-crested flycatcher.

Other birds this morning included: northern cardinal (several young ones), blue jay, red-winged blackbird, chimney swift, robin, Mississippi kite, Canada goose, flicker sp, coot, pied-billed grebe, killdeer, mallard, blue-winged teal, mockingbird, mourning dove, great egret, little blue heron, white-winged dove, and barn swallow.

Good birding!

Beaver Creek Breeding Bird Survey

Every year I say I won't wait until the last minute to run my breeding bird surveys and it seems every year, I do it. I had to have the Beaver Creek survey done by the 30th. That left today as the only non-workday to get it done.

My husband got up to go with me (early mornings are not his favorite time of day.) When I went out, I knew it was going to be absolutely miserable--already in the low 80's, very humid, and no breeze. Thankfully, Mother Nature helped us out. By the time we got out to the starting point at 5:45 AM, a weak cool front was coming through. It dropped the temperature down to 81 and kept it there the entire survey, stirred up a breeze, provided a couple of short, light showers and most importantly, got rid of a lot of the oppressive humidity. It's getting hot again this afternoon, but the survey was pleasant enough.

We saw a great horned owl early and later, the best siting of the day was a flock of orchard orioles. I have never seen a group of 7 at once before, but there they were. I was excited.

We didn't see any unusual birds, nor much other wildlife (except wild pigs and far off in the distance at one stop, some calling coyotes.)

After the end of the route, saw a couple of Swainson's hawks, a kestrel and turkey vultures (which were NOT seen during the survey.)

All in all, a great morning of birding. And happy 29th anniversary to my husband.

Good birding!