Christmas Bird Count Report

National Archives at College Park - Still Pictures,
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Well, the Wichita Falls CBC did not happen on the 14th. Due to some team members falling ill to a respiratory illness going around, we delayed the count for a week.

As I stated in my last post, we break our circle into three sections, with a different team for each one, and then consolidate our results with the other teams at the end of the day.

Frank was on my team. We started at the Lake Wichita Spillway a little before 7:30 AM. It was a chilly, but beautiful, morning. I was hoping we would get the rock wrens each of us had seen in the past couple of weeks, but of course, on count day, they were absent. We did see a small flock of American pipits, which was a new bird for Frank. When we got to the chat trail in Lake Wichita Park, we enjoyed a large number of cedar waxwings at the beginning of the trail. They were apparently attracted by the pool of water in the drainage ditch, as they were taking turns bathing.

Frank and I covered our section fairly thoroughly, driving 61.8 miles and walking another 5.4 miles on the day. The other two teams mostly drove. At the count dinner, eating delicious Luigi's pizza and nibbling yummy petit fours, we compiled our lists. Overall, it was not a great day in terms of numbers of species or individuals. The numbers of individuals have been in decline for years. I believe the only bird that we counted over 1,000 individuals was the European starling, and that is not a native to the U.S.

Overall, a fun day, but disappointing in terms of the numbers and types of birds. A consolidated list of birds seen by the three teams included (in order of the Audubon checklist): cackling goose, Canada goose, black-bellied whistling duck, gadwall, mallard, northern shoveler, northern pintail, canvasback, ring-necked duck, bufflehead, ruddy duck, wild turkey, pied-billed grebe, double-crested cormorant, American white pelican, great blue heron, turkey vulture, black vulture, northern harrier, sharp-shinned hawk, Cooper's hawk, bald eagle, red-tailed hawk, American coot, Killdeer, greater yellowlegs, ring-billed gull, rock pigeon, Eurasian collared dove, white-winged dove, great horned owl, red-bellied woodpecker, downy woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, northern flicker, American kestrel, loggerhead shrike, blue jay, American crow, Carolina chickadee, tufted titmouse, black-crested titmouse, eastern bluebird, American robin, brown thrasher, northern mocking bird, European starling, American pipet, cedar waxwing, common yellowthroat, lark sparrow, fox sparrow, dark-eyed junco, white-crowned sparrow, Harris's sparrow, white-throated sparrow, song sparrow, spotted towhee, northern cardinal, red-winged blackbird, meadowlark, Brewer's blackbird, common grackle, great-tailed grackle, house finch, American goldfinch, and house sparrow.

Good birding!

Lifer!!

Black phoebe at Lake Wichita spillway

Getting adjusted to retirement is harder than I thought. I have a dozen posts in my head, but haven't managed to get them up. But a lifer can break through the logjam.

I got a text yesterday from a birding friend, Debra, that there was a black phoebe at the Lake Wichita spillway. She texted me later that she took her mother out later, and it was still there. Since it was Thanksgiving day, I wasn't able to get out there.

I decided to go out this morning, in hopes the bird was still there and I could score a lifer (for those who may not be birders, a lifer is the first time you see/identify a new bird). It took a little bit, but it made an appearance. A very pretty bird. It reminds me of a slate-colored junco, only with a longer tail and the typical flycatcher behavior.  I didn't get the greatest picture with my cell phone, but I did get one.

In addition to the black phoebe, there were a couple of rock wrens just below, in the rocks.

Other birds seen at the spillway were Eurasian collared dove, mallard duck, ruddy duck, American coot, double-crested cormorant, northern shoveler, Canada goose, killdeer, ring-billed gull, northern mockingbird, American robin, blue jay, and eastern phoebe.

I decided to go around to Lake Wichita park, near the veterans' memorial and walk the trail west behind the American Legion post 169. A good choice. Birds seen included mallard, northern shoveler, American wigeon, ruddy duck, American coot, pied-billed grebe, double-crested cormorant, white pelican, great blue heron, northern mockingbird, American robin, Bewick's wren, common yellow throat, orange-crowned warbler, ruby-crowned kinglet, American goldfinch, European starling, northern cardinal, blue jay, belted kingfisher, and song sparrow.

Good birding!

Christmas Bird Count December 17

Picture of me checking a sparrow ID during the CBC by E.B. Hawley.

We had a good day on the Christmas Bird Count yesterday. It started out a little chilly with temperatures in the uppers 20's, but since there was no wind, it was a nice morning. It warmed into the low 50's by the afternoon.

We divide our count circle into thirds and have different groups cover each one in order to get good coverage of the area. I have the Lake Wichita area. Sue and Warren King and Elizabeth Hawley started the day with me, covering the area on foot from the spillway, along the dam, around the barrow pit and down the chat trail in Lake Wichita Park.  The highlights from this section of the count were 3 rock wrens (I think the first rock wrens of a Christmas Bird Count in our area, although they have been sighted in the area before) and 10 wood ducks.

My chat trail and barrow pit let me down during the count. I have been having excellent results lately at both places. On the day of the count, although we had some decent birds, we didn't get the variety of ducks I  have been seeing lately on the barrow pit, and we didn't get the numbers of species or birds I sometimes get on the trail. Oh well, if the birds were a sure thing, there wouldn't be nearly the challenge. We did see an albino Canada goose in a flock that flew overhead. Elizabeth Hawley got a good picture (see below.)

They then left for other activities, and I conducted the driving portion of the count, as well as Camp Stonewall Jackson near Holliday, TX. Stonewall Jackson is normally a great place for woodpeckers and the little birds like brown creepers, nuthatches, titmice and sparrows. It was pretty much a bust yesterday, except for some eastern bluebirds, which are very common there.

After 7 1/2 hours of birding, I went  home to make dessert for the count supper. Jimmy and Jeannette Hoover were once again kind enough to open their home for a pot luck spaghetti dinner and compiling the count numbers from the three teams into one report. Katherine Smith of Smith's Gardentown Wild Birds Unlimited store donated goodie bags for the count participants--always nice to have more feeders to fill up (good marketing, Katherine!)

I am waiting for the official count results--I'll post them when I get them from the count compiler, Debra Halter. I imagine that will be later in the week.

Good birding!

Rock Wren at Lake Wichita

Rock Wren, Photo by US National Park Service, Wikimedia Commons

Sunday was more typical of the weather in the winter, with a cold wind. Brady Surber and I went out for a final morning of birding with the Houston Audubon group. Lake Wichita let me down a little--usually there are many more birds. But windy conditions are never a good thing.

On Saturday we had spent a fair amount of time trying to entice a rock wren out at Miller Creek Reservoir with no success. Brady had records of the bird there, but Saturday was a different story. Sunday at Lake Wichita we were heading up to the spillway and Jennifer with the Houston group said it looked like good habitat for rock wrens. I told her I often saw sparrows in the rocks, but never a rock wren. As we were scoping birds at the top of the spillway, Jennifer said, "There's a rock wren." Sure enough, there it was, right out in the open. Everyone got good looks. That was the highlight of my morning.

We made a quick stop at Bridwell tank (Three Island Lake for non-area residents) to make sure the group members could see the tundra swans before they left.

Brady decided to spend the rest of the day working on his Wise County list. I have to admit I was more in the mood for hot tea and a book, so I headed home.

Overall, a very good birding weekend. My feeder birds were not happy with the neglect this weekend though--not a single bird at my feeders (that I saw) Sunday afternoon. I imagine there will be a crowd today though with the storm front/frigid weather moving in.

Good birding!