Beautiful Day

Yesterday morning was definitely fall, with dark clouds and a nip in the air. Today was spring--bright sunshine and that mellow, slightly damp feeling the air has at that time of year.

I have been gone for a couple of weeks, so was looking forward to getting back to Lake Wichita, one of my favorite local birding spots. I took the chat trail to the barrow pit. Not a long walk, but far enough to be certain our winter birds are back.

The birding wasn't the best this morning, but since there were a few first of season birds, that is OK in my book. Here's a list of the birds seen today: cardinal, spotted towhee, American goldfinch, blue jay, great blue heron, double-crested cormorant, American wigeon, blue-winged teal, green-winged teal, bufflehead, northern shoveler, American coot, pied-billed grebe, ruddy duck, redhead duck, mallard, great blue heron, ring-billed gull, yellow-shafted flicker, song sparrow, white-crowned sparrow, slate-colored junco, European starling, red-winged blackbird, great-tailed grackle, northern harrier, Cooper's hawk.

Surprisingly, no doves--but I think all of those are at my backyard feeders. :)

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!