Turkey Day!

I picked up a new Breeding Bird Survey route in Archer County this year and wanted to scout the route. Most of the routes are in rural areas and the maps can be confusing. My husband agreed to go with me and drive while I tried to navigate. Road signs out on the county roads would be very helpful. There are poles where the signs used to be, but very few signs were on the poles. It took us three hours to drive out, map the route and drive home, but at least I am pretty sure of the route for the count.

Wild Turkey

Photo: Andy Reago and Chrissy McClarren

Wikimedia Commons

You see very different birds in the county than you do in town. Although birdwatching was not the purpose of the morning, I did a little bit anyway in between trying to figure out where we were and where we should be going.  The roads were mostly gravel and dirt. A couple were a little more dirt tracks than actual roads--it was obvious they were not heavily traveled. I am very happy my husband was with me. He must have said at least a dozen times, "This route is not one you want to do by yourself. If you can't find someone to go with you, be sure to wake me up and I will go." (He is not a birder and he isn't a morning person, so it's very sweet of him to go with me, which is about half of the surveys I do.)

I put the picture of a wild turkey on this blog because turkeys were a frequent sighting. I saw an even dozen all told. One was a male showing off for the ladies--always impressive.

I also saw several roadrunners and loggerhead shrikes. I saw two what-appeared-to-be prairie falcons, but they should be gone. They generally leave in early March. But they were too light to be peregrines and too large and light to be kestrels. I can't think of anything else that look like and fly like these birds other than prairie falcons, so I am going to call them that. Of course, I don't have pictures.

Birds seen were:

Blue-winged teal
Killdeer
Turkey vulture
Black vulture
Prairie falcon
Red-tailed hawk
American kestrel
Mourning dove
Wild turkey
Northern mockingbird
Scissor-tailed flycatcher
Loggerhead shrike
Roadrunner
Eastern bluebird
Cliff swallow
European starling
American crow
Common grackle
Lark sparrow
Meadowlark (my bet is eastern, although they weren't singing)
House sparrow

I'll be looking forward to running the survey to see what birds I see when I am looking for them.

Good birding!

Not-So-Fair-Weather Birding

Saturday, Jan 9, was the monthly bird walk at Lake Arrowhead State Park (2nd Saturday of each month.) The forecast was for a mixture of rain and snow with little or no accumulation and this time, the weather forecast was spot on. However, the further out of Wichita Falls I drove, the more rain and less snow. As you can see by the photo to the right, there wasn't much accumulation at 8AM when the walk started, and what little there was, was gone by the end of the walk at 9:30.

Although I had posted on Facebook that the walk was a go, I thought it unlikely anyone but me would show, and I was right. Texans are definitely fair weather birders. All I have to say is, "You snooze, you lose." It was a pretty good morning with some decent birds. On the drive out to the park, I saw a flock of wild turkeys in someone's front yard on FM 1954 (Archer Co.)

Overall, I saw the usual birds, although there were some special moments. Dozens of white pelicans were following one another over the lake--there was a large pod of white pelicans and cormorants fishing. Periodically, a group of  pelicans would take off for another part of the lake, flying low over the water.

Marsh wren, Wikimedia Commons, Allan Vernon

I had a close-up view of a Loggerhead shrike. There were several ruby-crowned kinglets--these little inquisitive birds would alight on branches right in front of my face, making sure I got a clear look. A marsh wren was also checking me out, so I had the chance to get a very good look. There were two birds I wasn't able to identify because I caught only fleeting glimpses--one was a warbler (not a yellow-rumped or orange-crowned) and the other was a larger bird flying through the trees.

Birds seen: double-crested cormorant, white pelican, Canada goose, gadwall, American coot, mallard, pied-billed grebe, great blue heron, killdeer, ring-billed gull, red-tailed hawk, red-bellied woodpecker, northern flicker, mourning dove, Bewick's wren, marsh wren, northern cardinal, dark-eyed junco, European starling, meadowlark, Loggerhead shrike, northern mockingbird, eastern phoebe, American goldfinch, ruby-crowned kinglet, American crow, song sparrow, and white-crowned sparrow.

On the way home, I made a quick drive past Stone Lake, just to check for ducks. In addition to more mallards and coots, there was a lone male shoveler and some lesser scaup.

Overall a good morning.

Good birding!