My Best Birding Buddy

This is Amelia, my granddaughter, and my best birding buddy.  We went to Lake Arrowhead State Park for the monthly bird walk on Saturday, January 9. As you can see, it was a chilly morning, which meant she and I were the only participants that morning. I don't know what it is about Texans, but if the temperature is in the 30's or less, it is very unusual for anyone else to show. The same if it rains. This was unfortunate that Saturday as it was a bright, sunshiny morning with no wind. There was a heavy frost. 

Amelia loves going birdwatching with me, although she is interested in a lot more than birds. She was fascinated with the frost patterns on everything (she is holding some dead leaves she was showing me the lacy frost on) and had a lot of fun breaking off small sheets of ice along the edge of the lake.

We spent about an hour and a half at the park and found 31 species--a good morning. As we were leaving, I stopped at the park headquarters to renew my park pass. The ranger asked Amelia what bird she saw that morning was her favorite. I expected her to say the American Coot because she talked about them a lot while we were walking. But she said the Great Blue Heron. We only saw it for a few seconds before it flew off. But it is an impressive bird. Personally, my best bird of the morning was a Golden-fronted Woodpecker.

Here is a list of the birds seen that morning:

Canada goose, American coot, Green-winged teal, Gadwall, Pied-billed grebe, White pelican, Great blue heron, Greater yellowlegs, Killdeer, Wilson's snipe, Ring-billed gull, Red-tailed hawk, Northern harrier,  Great horned owl, Morning dove, Eurasian collared dove, Golden-fronted woodpecker, Ladder-backed woodpecker, Northern cardinal, Northern mockingbird, Carolina chickadee, Carolina wren, Fox sparrow, White-crowned sparrow, Harris's sparrow, American pipit, American goldfinch, European starling, Meadowlark, Dark-eyed junco, and Red-winged blackbird. We also saw several peeps, but I wasn't able to get a good enough look to identify whether they were western or semipalmated.

Overall, a very good morning. The next bird walk is Saturday, February 13, 2021. This happens to be one of the days for the Great Backyard Bird Count (see an upcoming post). We meet at 8:00 AM at the dump station. The route is a very easy walk of about 1 mile total. There are several COVID-19 safety requirements (which could change, depending upon the circumstances at the time). Group size must be less than 10 (that's not generally a problem). Masks and social distancing are required. Field guides and binoculars cannot be shared. Come on out! 

Good birding!

Starting the New Year Right!

I don't know about you, but I allowed COVID to disrupt my life way too much last year. In some ways, life went on as normal. I am not the most social person in the first place, so staying home more wasn't that difficult. However, I allowed the pandemic to interfere with birding and with sharing the joy of birds with others. And that's a shame. So, I've decided that this year, in 2021, I am going to get back to birdwatching and sharing that with those of you who may still be catching this blog. On the other hand, I have talked to a few people who were not into watching birds who called me at some point during the year to tell me they were very much enjoying watching the birds in their yard during increased time at home. So, perhaps we have some new converts.

Happy New Year! We had some snow last night. As you can see in the pictures, it wasn't a lot and it will all melt today, as our temperatures are supposed to get into the 40's. It's pretty though so I am enjoying it. The other good thing about cold weather and snow is that it brings more birds to the feeders.

I have been working gradually on improving my small yard for birds and pollinators. My neighbors aren't helpful--they all have pretty barren yards. However, my efforts have started paying off. A couple of months ago, I had my very first Carolina Chickadee in my yard. This morning, I started the new year off with a bang--I saw a Spotted Towhee in my yard for the first time, searching in the leaves that my neighbors hate that I refuse to rake. I wasn't able to get a picture before she left, but it was a nice start to the day. Neither of these birds is uncommon in our area, but they haven't visited my yard in the 9 years I have lived here. Progress!

This is a great time of year to plant some perennials in your yard to attract and feed the birds and pollinators in 2021 and for years after.

Good birding!

Great Backyard Bird Count Coming Soon!

One of my favorite birding "events" of the year is the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) that occurs mid-February every year.

This is a great project to do with your kids or grandkids as you only have to participate for 15 minutes. For homeschoolers, this is a great science project to show how field data is collected and compiled for use in various studies.

Want to participate? It's easy. Here is a link to instructions.

Again this year I will be doing the GBBC all four days and invite anyone who would like to come. I am a little restricted on time on Monday, February 18, but I plan to go anyway for a couple of hours. Here is where and when I intend to start each day:

Friday, February 15: 8:00 AM, Wichita Bluff Nature Area, off Seymour Highway. Meet in the parking lot. We'll walk the entire trail to Loop 11 and back (about 2.5 miles round trip). This will probably be the longest in terms of time, so expect around 3 or 4 hours, depending upon the birds. Although not a strenuous hike, it is the most hilly of the GBBC target places. People with limited mobility may find this difficult, but the trail is paved.

Saturday, February 16, 8:00 AM, Lake Arrowhead State Park. This is the regularly scheduled monthly bird walk. We usually walk about 1 mile. We take our time, so it normally takes around 1.5 hours. The ground is level, but there are places where we are not on a paved surface surface.

Saturday, February 16. TBD. I am thinking about heading from Lake Arrowhead to do a short walk along the Wichita Valley Rail Trail. I have been meaning to hike this trail and haven't yet. The trail is 5.6 miles and I don't have any intention of hiking the entire distance (especially as I would have to walk the return as well.) I thought I would hike a mile or so and then turn around. If someone wants to go, we can iron out the details. The trail is reported to be cinder and gravel.

Sunday, February 17, 8:00 AM. Circle Trail between Lucy Park and Williams Park. This is a very pretty section of the trail. We had some good birds here last year. This is not a strenuous walk. There are a couple of low-grade hills. The entire distance is paved. I have never measured the distance but I estimate the walk there and back would be around 2 - 2.5 miles.

Monday, February 18, 8:00 AM. I have some limitations on time on Monday, so my plan is to go to the Chat Trail in Lake Wichita Park and walk around the borrow pit as well. When the birds are cooperative, this is "the" birding location in Wichita Falls. This is a short hike on gravel and some on a paved surface. About a half mile total. If I have time, I may walk more of the trail toward the spillway or along the lake shoreline--weather dependent.

Contact me at green.wichitafalls@gmail.com if you would like to bird with me one of these days.

Good birding!

Bird Walk at Lake Arrowhead State Park

I'm a little late writing this post as the monthly bird walk at Lake Arrowhead State Park was Saturday, January 12 (well, okay, a lot late.)

Bonaparte's gull, photo by Dick Daniels
Wikimedia Commons

Forster's tern, photo by Dick Daniels
Wikimedia Commons

It was a cold day, but Lynn showed, so she and I checked out the birds. Admittedly, we didn't go as slowly as usual and finished the walk in just over an hour. That being said, we found some good birds. The best birds from my point of view were the Bonaparte's gulls and Forster's terns.


We had only one woodpecker, a northern flicker, seen within just a couple of minutes of me saying, "I haven't seen any flickers this winter."

Birds seen (not included on this list is a Wilson's snipe that Lynn caught on camera that I don't recall seeing--one of my favorites):

Canada goose
American coot
Northern shoveler
Gadwall
Double-crested cormorant
White pelican
Pied-billed grebe
Ring-billed gull
Bonaparte's gull
Forster's tern
Kildeer
Greater yellowlegs
Lesser yellowlegs
Western sandpiper
Northern flicker
Northern mockingbird
Northern cardinal
Eastern phoebe
Bewick's wren
Harris's sparrow
White-crowned sparrow
Orange-crowned warbler

Not a bad hour on a cold morning.

Don't forget the monthly bird walks at Lake Arrowhead SP are on the 2nd Saturday of each month, starting at 8 AM. Park entry fees apply--get there a little early as the ranger station won't be open yet, so you'll need to make out your fee envelope. We meet at the dump station area (2nd left after you enter the park, then the first right, on the left). Kids and novices are welcome.

Good birding!

Book Reviews: Gulls Simplified

Gulls are tricky to identify. Not only are the birds largely similar, but it takes multiple years for the birds to reach mature plumage and the plumage differs by age. To make things more fun, there can be a fair amount of variation within age groups.

For most of our birds, we learn male, female, immature, and possibly nonbreeding. If you live in an area where gulls are common, you would have a motivation to study and get good with identification. Here in the Wichita Falls, TX area, we only get gulls in the winter and 95% or more are ring-billed gulls. Consequently, many locals identify gulls as a "ring-billed gull" or "not a ring-billed gull." We really have to have time to study a gull to have a hope of making an accurate identification--and we are hoping we have adult plumage to work with. Many of us have more "gull species" than clearly identified species on trip lists.

Princeton University Press sent me a review copy of Gulls Simplified: A Comparative Approach to Identification, by Pete Dunne and Kevin Karlson. What makes it especially useful are the numerous pictures (330 color photos). The species accounts are focused on identification which is the purpose of the book. There are lots of pictures with a discussion of what field marks to look for and where you may get confused with another species. There isn't a lot of text, but there is some commentary on those traits that experienced birders notice that can make a difference in deciding between two species. For example, the Great Black-backed gull is referred to "chestier" than a Herring Gull and its gait is referred to as a "waddling sailor's gait." To a non-birder, this may not seem to be anything other than literary description, but it is precisely these things that allow a birder to identify similar species quickly in the field.

Overall, this is an excellent book to hone your gull identification skills. It isn't a book to take into the field, but a great supplemental reference to use when you get back to the house with your field notes and/or photos.

The list price for this book is $24.95. It is also available for less from other outlets (the least expensive I found in paperback was Barnes and Noble for $17.21).  The least expensive version is the Kindle edition, but I just don't care for my bird books in ebook format. But that is my preference. If you like ebooks, the Kindle version is $15.72 (and of course, you can have it immediately.)

Book Review: How to Be an Urban Birder

I very much enjoyed the book, How to Be an Urban Birder by David Lindo, sent to me by Princeton University Press for review.

But before I even opened the book and read the first word, do you know what caught my eye? The author, David Lindo, is not white. That seems wrong to notice that first, but at least here in the U.S., birding is predominantly a hobby enjoyed by white people. I am not sure why that is as birding is one nature activity you can do anywhere, but it seems to be a hobby by those who can get out of town into the countryside. Which is unfortunate. Those of us who bird know how endlessly fascinating birds are, and I would love to see more people enjoy the hobby and gain a greater appreciation for the creatures that share our world.

This book is a celebration of birds and birding in places we don't think of as good birding locations--our urban environment. If you ask someone what birds you are likely to see in a city, the most likely responses are pigeons, starlings, house sparrows, and similar birds. But I have been in many large cities and seen some excellent birds. It's a matter of looking. Lots of photos of birds seen by the author in his urban environment show how much more is possible.

And that really is the point of this book. We can introduce people to birds and nature anywhere, building an appreciation of the environment they might not otherwise have. As more and more people live in urban areas, it becomes harder to connect people to nature. As David Lindo says, "If we can learn about the importance of wildlife conservation in our cities then we will understand the connection in the general web of life on this planet, enabling us to reach out and strive to protect the rest of the world's fauna and flora and ultimately, ourselves."

Mr. Lindo is based in England, and that was much of the fun for me. I lived in England for a few years, so it was fun to read some of the expressions I had forgotten and to see pictures of some of the birds that were so familiar when we lived there, but I haven't seen since we returned to the U.S.

This is a good book for a new birder. He writes about field guides, binoculars, telescopes, cameras and all of the other paraphernalia birders tend to accumulate. There is a chapter on creating a more bird-friendly yard. Scattered throughout are examples of the things many cities are doing to improve the urban environment for birds, wildlife, and people. Whether a new birder or one more experienced, this is an interesting read.

You can find this book on Amazon for $15.45 or from Princeton University Press for $18.95.

Yes, Fall Migration is Upon Us!

Blue-gray gnatcatchers are a treat
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, mauricholas

Tuesday night at the North Texas Bird and Wildlife Club we discussed sightings, as we always do. I didn't have a lot to contribute (except a Hudsonian godwit at Lake Arrowhead SP I saw September 8.) I haven't been out much. I told everyone that with the front expected to come through with significantly cooler temps, I was going out this weekend. Today was the day, and I am very glad I went.

It has been raining since Thursday night. This morning has been a light drizzle on and off, but nothing of significance. I decided to hit the Chat Trail at Lake Wichita Park since it is usually a great spot for migrant warblers.

I was starting onto the trail and noted two raptors high up, circling. They reminded me of ospreys, but I couldn't get a good look so decided it was wishful thinking. Later, back by the borrow pit, an osprey flew low over my head with a fish clutched in his talons, so it seems very possible the birds I saw at the head of the trail were indeed osprey. Regardless, I know the one was.

As it turned out, the warblers are moving through. I saw several common yellowthroat, a Wilson's warbler, two blue-gray gnatcatchers, a mourning warbler, and others I didn't get a good enough look at to identify. There were also some interesting calls that I recorded. I also got a good look at a clay-colored sparrow. My favorite sparrow spot was an excellent spot for warblers today.

I saw a hummingbird zip by but didn't see enough to identify the species. But if you have a hummingbird feeder up, don't take it down yet.

Overall, a good hour of birding. Total list for this morning:

Great egret
Snowy egret
Killdeer
Eurasian collared dove
White-winged dove
Cardinal
Carolina chickadee
Blue Jay
Bewick's wren
Barn swallow
Scissor-tailed flycatcher
Blue-gray gnatcatcher
Common yellowthroat
Mourning warbler
Wilson's warbler
Robin
Red-winged blackbird
Clay-colored sparrow

Don't let a little rain keep you in the house now that migration has hit its stride. There are some great birds out there.

Good birding!