Results of Big Sit

Got my North Texas Bird and Wildlife Club newsletter and a write up on the Wichita Falls Big Sit was in there. I missed this year since I was in Ft. Worth, which is probably why the weather was so nice. Almost every year I have taken part, we have been cold and sometimes wet.



Our group doesn't tough it out as long as many Big Sit groups, so we don't normally have big numbers of birds. However, the group did have some good ones. According to Terry McKee, birds sighted included: mallard, Canada geese, ruby-crowned kinglet, great blue heron, great egret, snowy egret, yellow-crowned night heron, robin, yellow-shafted flicker, double-crested cormorant, turkey vulture, red-tailed hawk, killdeer, Eurasian collared dove, white-winged dove, chimney swift, barn swallow, cardinal, northern mockingbird, scissor-tailed flycatcher, common grackle, great-tailed grackle and red-winged blackbird.

Sounds like a good time. Maybe next year I'll be home!

Good birding!

Good birding!

Science Saturday on Migration

Tomorrow's Science Saturday at River Bend Nature Center is on migration. Birds aren't the only animals that migrate, but they are among the most spectacular. A good time for the kids. Check out the blog roll for River Bend's blog--further details are there.

Good birding!

Fort Worth Birding

Village Creek Wastewater Plant Drying Beds and Overlooking the Trinity River in River Legacy Parks

I had to be in Fort Worth for a meeting on Saturday and a conference beginning on Monday, so decided to see what birding spots I could find on Sunday morning. I posted a plea to TEXBIRDS and received a couple of responses to look at the Fort Worth Audubon Society website, along with some specific suggestions for where to go. I had time to go to two locations: the River Legacy Parks and the Village Creek Wastewater Drying Beds.

I can't say that I had excellent birding at either location, but there's a lot of potential. It's the same everywhere you bird--some days are great and some are good. But I had a great time anyway.

River Legacy Parks is in Arlington not far from the Drying Beds. The park runs along the Trinity River and has a wonderful trail system. The park was busy, even relatively early and by late morning, it was packed. Runners, walkers, bikers and a few skaters filled the trails. The park should be a great place for warblers and other songbirds--the habitat is prime. I didn't have a lot of luck, although the belted kingfishers were a treat. Either the first pair I saw followed me for a few miles along the trail, or there were multiple birds along the river. In Wichita Falls, I often wonder how the birds can make a nesting burrow--I don't see much in the way of suitable habitat along the water (although there is obviously some) but as you can see in the picture of the river above, there is a lot of river bank that looks like it would provide great nesting habitat.

I then went to the Village Creek Drying Beds where I ran into a group of birders participating in a Big Sit. Although I arrived late in the morning, I did see some good water birds. As always, the birders were friendly. One of the group (and the same person that responded to my TEXBIRDS post with the birding ideas) allowed me to view a kestrel through his spotting scope. I would have missed that bird without him pointing it out. I would love to get a scope--I have held off because I am a klutz and am sure I would break it. As expensive as they are, I would be a basket case when I dropped it (a sure thing.)

Meeting this group reminded me that the Wichita Falls group was scheduled for a Big Sit Sunday. I hope they had a great day and I look forward to learning what they saw--I'll post the results when I get them.

Good birding!

Want to Learn More About Sparrows?

Photo by Phil Myers, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan.

Most of the people I know think the only sparrows here are house sparrows, but thankfully not so! There are a lot of sparrow species in Texas in the winter like the beautiful white-crowned sparrow pictured to the left. I have spent considerable time over the past couple of years working on my sparrow ID skills. I am much improved, but still have a long way to go.

If you are interested in seeing and learning more about sparrows, the Texas Ornithological Society (TOS) is sponsoring a field trip February 12 and 13, 2011. The information will be posted to the TOS website at some point, but it isn't there yet.

Some basic information. The field trips will be to Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge near Marble Falls. Cost for both days of the field trips will be $80 for TOS members; $110 non-members (includes one year of dues.) The trips will include parts of the refuge not open to the public. Expect moderately strenuous hiking with few trails and rocky hill country terrain. The field trips include lunch, but other meals will be on your own, as is the cost of the hotel. Transportation will be provided from the hotel to the refuge both days. For accommodations information, contact Shelia Hargis at shargis@austin.rr.com. Full payment is due by December 15, 2010. The minimum number on this trip is 8 and the maximum is 12. To reserve your space, contact Jim Hailey at irasciblej@gmail.com.

Sounds like a fun time!

Good birding!

Project Feederwatch Starts Soon!

Yesterday I received my Project Feederwatch (PFW) materials in the mail, so now I am getting excited. I have participated in PFW for several years and look forward to having an excuse to watch birds over the winter.

Project Feederwatch is a citizen science project sponsored by the Lab of Ornithology at Cornell University. This is one of several citizen science projects that takes data gathered by volunteers and consolidates it for use by researchers.

Feederwatch season starts November 13 and runs through April 8. I'll be cleaning all of my feeders over the next few weeks and stocking up on bird food in preparation. Not that I have to wait for the PFW season to officially start to put up feeders and watch birds, but there's nothing like the excuse that I "have" to watch for birds for my reports.

Good birding!

Winter Ducks Arriving

Photo of Wilson's Snipe by Cephas, Wikimedia Commons.


I took a short walk in Lake Wichita Park this morning looking for migrants. It was a cool morning--it finally feels and smells like fall.

At the entrance of the chat trail was a herd of 6 white-tailed deer that watched me very closely for several minutes until they got too nervous and turned tail back into the woods.

The ducks are beginning to come in. On the barrow pit the were hundreds of waterfowl: American coot, redhead ducks, American wigeon, mallard ducks, pied-billed grebes, and a single Wilson's snipe (one of my favorite birds.)

The turkey vultures are also on the move with a few dozen birds flying over this morning.

I also saw my first northern flickers of the fall--two yellow-shafted flickers flying over and another flicker perching on the lights of the football field.

Other birds seen this morning: scissor-tailed flycatcher, blue jay, cardinal, red-winged blackbird, great blue heron (an immature that caught two fish while I watching), Eurasian collared dove, mourning dove, robin, double-crested cormorant, killdeer, common grackle, great-tailed grackle, and European starling.

Good birding!

Bird Lectures at OU

Since Norman, OK isn't all that far away, I want to pass on information about some birding lectures at OU this week. Here is the announcement from OKBIRDS:

"Dr. Masakazu (Mark) Konishi from Caltech, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, will be on the OU campus next week to give two lectures on the two fields he pioneered. He will speak on "The Science of Birdsong" at the Sam Noble Museum Tuesday, October 6 at 7 PM (reception following) and will give a presentation on "How Owls Catch Prey in the Dark" in George Lynn Cross Hall 123, Wednesday, October 6 at 4:30 PM. Both are free and open to the public."