Looking Back on the 2014 Great Backyard Bird Count

Texas Master Naturalist and friends enjoying the GBBC at Lake
Arrowhead State Park.

I had a pretty good Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC.) Whenever possible, I try to do a little birdwatching all four days. It doesn't always work out, but this year I did manage to bird every day, although the time available wasn't much on Friday and Monday.

I started out my Valentine's Day at Lake Wichita Park at 7:45, spending about 45 minutes walking from the parking lot next to Murphy's Mound around to the barrow pit and back. It was a beautiful, clear morning with a temp near 40 degrees, but the wind was bitter cold. The best bird there was a brown thrasher. Other birds included: northern shoveler, gadwall, Canada goose, double-crested cormorant, ring-billed gull, greater yellowlegs, northern flicker, Eurasian collared dove, northern cardinal, northern mockingbird, white-crowned sparrow, Harris' sparrow, song sparrow, American robin, and meadowlark (sp.)

On Saturday I started at Lake Arrowhead State Park where the Rolling Plains Texas Master Naturalists hosted a public GBBC count. It was fairly windy. The best bird there was a ferruginous hawk. We didn't get a lot of species, but other birds included: American white pelican, double crested cormorant, Canada goose, ring-billed gull, killdeer, downy woodpecker, red-tailed hawk, northern mockingbird, northern cardinal, Bewick's wren, meadowlark (sp.), white-crowned sparrow, and house finch.

On the way back from Wichita Falls from Lake Arrowhead, I stopped in to Crestview Memorial Cemetery. Probably the best birds there were the large number of cackling geese (they look rather like stumpy Canada geese.) In addition, the following birds were present: Canada goose, mallard, bufflehead, ring-necked duck, gadwall, northern shoveler, red-tailed hawk, red-winged balckbird, northern cardinal, northern mockingbird, song sparrow, and Harris' sparrow.

Still not ready to head home and grade final exams (bleh!), I decided to cut through by Stone Lake.  I drove by there and parked behind Grace church for a quick survey of a nice wooded area. I stayed for about 20 minutes and saw American coot, northern shoveler, mallard, Canada goose, American kestrel, northern cardinal and spotted towhee.

In yet another delaying tactic, I swept through Kiwanis Park and Lakeview Cemetery (any idea why it is called Lakeview?) I have never seen any good birds in this park, but you have to give it a shot every once in a while. The only finds there were 1 each, great-tailed grackle, blue jay and starling.

I then cut back across Southwest Parkway to check out Rosemont Cemetery. I haven't had a lot of luck since they started expanding and making "improvements" in the cemetery, but nonetheless, I did see my first turkey vulture of the year soaring overhead, so that was a good find. Other birds included: Eurasian collared dove, northern mockingbird, northern cardinal, American robin, white-crowned sparrow, Harris' sparrow, and house finch.

On Sunday the Rolling Plains Texas Master Naturalists hosted another public GBBC count behind Wild Bird Rescue, where the Big Sit is held. There is no water in the lake at the west end due to the drought, but we did have some good birds, notably a flock of white-fronted geese flying over and an orange-crowned warbler. In addition to these sightings, the group saw: Canada goose, double-crested cormorant, ring-billed gull, killdeer, northern harrier, rock pigeon, Eurasian collared dove, northern cardinal, blue jay,  red-winged blackbird, European starling, great-tailed grackle, spotted towhee, dark-eyed junco, song sparrow, and house sparrow.

On Monday, I drove through Riverside Cemetery between meetings. I was only there for 15 minutes, but the only bird I saw was a northern mockingbird. However, the wind was blustery and cold--not promising.  Although I didn't expect to get much, I was right by Lucy Park, so had to at least make a quick 15-minute drive through. Although I didn't spend much time and didn't get out of the vehicle, I had the good fortune to see three wood ducks on the duck pond. Even if I didn't see another bird, I would have been happy. As it happened though, the wood ducks were not the only birds (although they were far and away the best ones.) Other birds includes: Canada goose, mallard, northern shoveler, great blue heron, Eurasian collared dove, northern mockingbird, blue jay, American robin, European starling, great-tailed grackle, and common grackle.

All told, I spent 7.75 hours birding over the four days and drove about 50 miles all told. I had a great time and saw some good birds.

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!

Report of Wood Ducks and Townsend's Solitaire

After the Master Naturalist meeting tonight, I was talking to member Lisa Gunnell and she mentioned seeing some wood ducks in the creek behind American National Bank recently. Although wood ducks are in this area, I don't often see them so I will have to make it a point to stop by that area a few times over the next few days--it is only a few blocks from my office.

That reminded me that Terry McKee mentioned seeing a Townsend's Solitaire out near Lake Arrowhead State Park a few weeks back. This is much more uncommon and would be a life bird for me. I haven't had a chance to go out that way. We had the ice storm after the meeting and I haven't gotten to it yet. I will try to make a trip this weekend, if not before. Hope I haven't missed it.

Good birding!