An Excellent Big Sit

Turkey Vulture in Flight (Photo: Geoff Gallice, Wikimedia Commons)

More people participated in the Big Sit on Sunday morning than we have ever had--we had a total of 11 people who came at one time or another.  Peggy Browning (who wrote Saturday's article about the Big Sit in the Times Record News), Tami Davis, Jim Hensley, Sue King, Warren King, Terry McKee, June McKee, Chris Peterson, Katherine Smith, and Chuck Thueson watched birds with me from 7:30 - 10:00 AM.

We thought this would be a lackluster year because of the drought and predicted rain. The location of the Big Sit, behind Wild Bird Rescue has been dry for a while and is now a good distance from any water. We did not have nearly the number of ducks and shorebirds we could have because the birds were too far to positively identify, even with a scope. However, in spite of that, we did have a very good count. The weather was also very pleasant, although none of us would have been upset if it had been pouring rain.

One of the highlights of the morning included a continuous series of kettles of migrating turkey vultures. A total of 147 vultures passed overhead during the 2.5 hours we were observing. The sight was even more impressive given that the vultures don't take to the air until later in the morning when they can catch a good updraft.

Another highlight was the sighting of 4 species of woodpeckers. Usually we are lucky to find one or two species. We had a red-bellied woodpecker, two northern flickers, a pair of downy woodpeckers and a hairy woodpecker, a less common woodpecker.

Altogether we 29 species--not bad considering the conditions and the limited time the Sit took place. We did have some birds we were not able to identify for one reason or another (usually too short of a view or poor lighting.)

Here is a complete listing of birds seen:

Canada goose
White pelican
Northern shoveler
Great blue heron
Greater yellowlegs
Long-billed dowitcher
Double-crested cormorant
American avocet
Killdeer
Turkey vulture
Downy woodpecker
Hairy woodpecker
Red-bellied woodpecker
Northern flicker
White-winged dove
Mourning dove
Rock pigeon
American robin
Scissor-tailed flycatcher
Yellow warbler
Northern mockingbird
Northern cardinal
Blue jay
Ruby-crowned kinglet
European starling
Eastern meadowlark
Red-winged blackbird
Great-tailed grackle
House finch

Many thanks to Katherine Smith of Wild Birds Unlimited for donating a goodie bag to all of the participants.

All in all, a great morning.

Good birding!

Archer County This Morning

I did a short (1.75 hr) birding trip in Archer County today, trying to increase my numbers for my Texas Century Club list for that county. Don't know that I added more than one or two species, but there was rain, so no complaints. Not a lot of rain, but more than I was seeing at the house, and much needed. Altogether I saw 33 species driving the roadways, with a few short stops.

 At Lake Archer, there was a mixed flock of turkey and black vultures perching on the dock and a nearby tree I was able to get fairly close to. Once again, I left  my little camera at home and had to use my cell phone camera, so the pictures are not the best.

I also saw a small flock (11) of ruddy ducks on the lake.

I mostly saw the usual birds, but some special ones (in my book) were a golden-fronted woodpecker that flew across the road in front of my car on Hwy 25, a Bullock's oriole in the Hollliday cemetery and a yellow-headed blackbird on Hwy 277, just before the county line into Wichita.

My list: killdeer, rock pigeon, Eurasian collared dove, white-winged dove, mourning dove, cattle egret, great egret, great blue heron, snowy egret, Canada goose, ruddy duck, gadwall, turkey vulture, black vulture, golden-fronted woodpecker, northern cardinal, blue jay, American robin, scissor-tailed flycatcher, Western kingbird, Bullock's oriole, northern mockingbird, purple martin, cliff swallow, chimney swift, eastern meadowlark, common grackle, great-tailed grackle, yellow-headed blackbird, red-winged blackbird, brown-headed cowbird, European starling, house sparrow.

Altogether, a nice start to the day.

Good birding!

Thanks Readers

I like getting email from readers of this blog. Most are sending me more information about the subject of one of the posts.

Thanks to E.B. Hawley who publishes the Traveler Literary Gnome blog listed in the blog roll. She always has such beautiful pictures on her blog. She sent me a link to her pictures of turkey vultures on the blog, published a couple of years ago when she had a roost near her property. She was also kind enough to send me a very good article from the New York Times on purple martins. Although purple martins are leaving us now, this article is good inspiration for those who may want to set up martin houses in their yards next spring.

So keep that email coming!

Good birding!

Stalking the Elusive Turkey Vulture

For the past few weeks when I have been in the area of Kemp Blvd and Midwestern Parkway between 8:30 and 9:00 AM, I have seen large flocks of turkey vultures circling over the area near Barwise Junior High. Easily 30 - 50 birds in a flock. One morning there were 2 flocks circling the area.

Turkey vultures roost in groups. They are not active early and wait for the sun to start heating the atmosphere, creating updrafts in which they can soar all day. Wednesday AM I had a little time so decided to hang out in the Barwise Jr. High parking lot to see if I could refine a roost location. I got some funny looks from the adults with the girls' track team. Possibly because I got caught up in looking for the birds and was stopped in the middle of the parking lot instead of a defined parking space. I didn't notice until people started driving around me, giving me the evil eye.

I could see 3 vultures on the school's roof and noted a couple of birds launching from nearby trees off Maplewood and flying to Barwise around 8:30. Unfortunately, I had to leave for an appointment (work seems to interfere with my birdwatching waaaay too often) so wasn't able to tell much more.

Today I took the day off and headed out for the Maplewood/Barwise area around 8:30 and staked out the area around Hirschi Realtors, across the street from Barwise. There was a roost on the roof of Barwise. I counted as many as 16 turkey vultures perched where I could see them. However, this was not nearly all of the turkey vultures to be seen. As the air heated up, turkey vultures started launching themselves out of trees in the area, but the largest group came from an area northeast of that location, so it looks like I will be out on another surveillance Sunday AM. It appeared that the Barwise/Maplewood area was a "meet up" location before dispersing. If you have any ideas on the location of the second roost, please post a comment.

Good birding!

Spring Birds Arriving

As mentioned on the 8th, the first purple martin scout was reported a few days ago. I understand from Bob at Wild Bird Rescue that they have arrived there and were fussing to have the house opened.

I saw my first turkey vulture of the spring in Wichita Falls today and I saw my first barn swallow on I-44 between Wichita Falls and Lawton, OK this afternoon.

Good birding!

Fronts and Migration

Migration takes a lot of energy, so when possible, birds use weather fronts to give them a tail wind and help them along the way. Earlier this week we had a small front come through bringing a little rain (1/4 inch) and a cool front (100's before, low 90's after). When I drove into Midwestern State University, I saw a kettle of turkey vultures (TV) forming overhead, probably 25 or so when I first saw it, gathering more as it moved away. Turkey vultures are usually here in large numbers until late September--this could have been the first of our locals heading out or a group from further north passing through. I was reading up on Birds of North America Online and noted that TV migration is not well studied. It always amazes me what we don't know about fairly common birds.

Later that afternoon, I saw a group of about 30 common nighthawks forming up. This is about the time the vast majority leave the area--they are mostly gone by mid-September, although a few linger to the beginning of October. We received a newly hatched common nighthawk this week at Wild Bird Rescue, so I hope at least some adults linger longer--adults have to feed on the wing and handfeeding a bird for months over the winter is not a pleasant prospect.

Good birding!

Turkey Vultures

This morning about 7 AM I was driving down Seymour Highway and saw over 50 turkey vultures circling over the recently acquired 80 acres for park land. I usually don't see that many unless they are migrating. It was quite a site.

Good birding!

More Harbingers of Spring

A post on TEXBIRDS a couple of days ago indicated a purple martin scout in Laredo, so the martins are beginning to move back. They should begin showing up in our area in a few weeks, so if you have a martin house, you might want to put your spring cleaning on the schedule.

If the scouts were watching the weather, they would delay their trip a little, I think. It is supposed to be nasty here with a winter ice storm later today.

It looks like the Turkey Vultures have held up in Montague County. I took another trip to the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex on Saturday, again seeing plenty of turkey vultures, but not north of Montague County. As cold as it was, it is a wonder they weren't staging a retreat.

Good birding!

Talking About Turkey Vultures

I wrote a post a couple of days ago about black vultures. One of the comments was that turkey vultures aren't here in Wichita Falls in the winter.

But what is winter in Wichita Falls? I was brought up in Indiana and although I haven't lived there in 30 years, I still tend to have winter in my brain as November - February and for birds, winter is more like Sep/Oct - Mar/Apr. However, winter is more truncated here. The birds start moving south in the fall and meander through Texas later (sometimes weeks later) than their northern departure. In the spring, they again pass through Texas moving northward earlier than they arrive up north.

Today I was driving home after dropping my daughter at the DFW airport and guess what? Turkey vultures! I had been to Plano (between Dallas and Ft Worth, to the north) on the 16th and did not see any TV's the entire trip. Today, I saw large flocks in Denton County, some in Wise County, and one or two birds in Montague. None in Clay or Wichita, but the birds appear to be moving this way--I expect they'll be coming in within the next day or two.

So I had to check the North Texas Bird and Wildlife Club checklist for our area. It is not just Wichita County, but close enough. It shows the TV common and abundant most of the year and uncommon over the winter. So I guess occasionally the birds do hang out here over the winter and I just haven't noticed them previously. But regardless, they seem to be moving this way as we speak, so spring appears to be closer than I think (I don't think of January as spring--but then the buds are swelling on the Bradford pear tree next door, so what do I know?)

Good birding!

It Just Takes One Thing

I have been birding for many years, and am still learning. Thankfully, there will never come a day when I know everything there is to know about birds. What fun would there be in that?

I find that you can struggle with identifying a bird for years and then one thing will strike me and afterwards I'll be able to identify the bird on sight. Sometimes, these identification hints come from another birder, a magazine article, a blog post, or a field guide (that's why most birders have multiple field guides--the identification information varies).

I used to struggle with the black vulture on the wing. I don't know why as their shape is quite different from the turkey vulture, but there you have it. But then somewhere I read about a triangular "window" at the wing tips, and I haven't had a problem since. And with that key ID information, I have been able to spend more time looking at the bird, just to watch. Even more differences then become apparent when you're not so focused on trying to compare ID points.

This "window" is very helpful when driving. Friday, I was driving down the highway at 70 mph and caught sight of a flock of black birds over a field. It's not a good idea to spend a long time scoping out the birds at that speed, but in this case, a fraction of a second was all that was required--the field mark was obvious. There are no turkey vultures in this area in the winter, but when I initially caught sight of the flock, I thought "crow." Size-wise that doesn't make much sense, but at a distance and at speed (and supposedly focused on traffic), it's easy to jump to the wrong conclusion.

To a birder experience with the black vulture, it might seem this was an easy ID, and it was. But I am often asked by new birders how I can ID birds so quickly. All I can tell them is practice, practice, practice. Every year another bird goes from my frustrating list to my familiar list. I'm not likely to live long enough to move all of the birds from one list to another, but I look forward to the process.

Good birding!