Rock Wren at Lake Wichita

Rock Wren, Photo by US National Park Service, Wikimedia Commons

Sunday was more typical of the weather in the winter, with a cold wind. Brady Surber and I went out for a final morning of birding with the Houston Audubon group. Lake Wichita let me down a little--usually there are many more birds. But windy conditions are never a good thing.

On Saturday we had spent a fair amount of time trying to entice a rock wren out at Miller Creek Reservoir with no success. Brady had records of the bird there, but Saturday was a different story. Sunday at Lake Wichita we were heading up to the spillway and Jennifer with the Houston group said it looked like good habitat for rock wrens. I told her I often saw sparrows in the rocks, but never a rock wren. As we were scoping birds at the top of the spillway, Jennifer said, "There's a rock wren." Sure enough, there it was, right out in the open. Everyone got good looks. That was the highlight of my morning.

We made a quick stop at Bridwell tank (Three Island Lake for non-area residents) to make sure the group members could see the tundra swans before they left.

Brady decided to spend the rest of the day working on his Wise County list. I have to admit I was more in the mood for hot tea and a book, so I headed home.

Overall, a very good birding weekend. My feeder birds were not happy with the neglect this weekend though--not a single bird at my feeders (that I saw) Sunday afternoon. I imagine there will be a crowd today though with the storm front/frigid weather moving in.

Good birding!

Great Day Birding (Again!)

A chilly morning at Lake Kickapoo with some super birds.


We continued the pursuit of good birds with the Houston Audubon Society group. We intended to start the morning at Lake Kickapoo, but on the way out, one of the group saw a hooded merganser on a roadside pond, and we all piled out to enjoy several birds--to include greater yellowlegs, pintails, etc. After a nice half hour there, we continued to Lake Kickapoo.

When we got out of our vehicles a flock of Franklin's gulls flew overhead, and we saw some Bonapart's gulls on the water. We saw eared grebes, horned grebes and pied billed grebes. We circled around the lake and stopped for some songbirds. We had the opportunity to watch a swamp sparrow for several minutes--these birds are normally pretty secretive, so this was a special treat. In the same area a little later, we saw a red-shouldered hawk.

Two other wonderful opportunities were a great horned owl and a golden-crowned kinglet up close.

I was able to get a lifer today; we came across some longspurs. These were target birds for our visitors, so we have been trying to find some. There was a mixed flock of McCowan's and chestnut-collared longspurs. Both would have been life birds for me, but I wasn't able to get a good look at the chestnut-collared, so I will have to be content with one new bird today.

While we were trying to get good views of the longspurs, a photographer from the Vernon Daily Record came by. Look for a photo of some of the group on the front page of the paper. I just pulled it up on line--since I stayed away from the photographer, I'm telling you about the short little article.

Tomorrow is this group's last day. Due to a lack of time, we'll have to skip Lucy Park. We're going to bird Lake Wichita and then head out to Lake Arrowhead to find the tundra swans before lunch so the members can get back to Houston at a decent hour.

Good birding!

A Great Day Birding--Even if a Lifer Slipped Through My Fingers

Members of the Houston Audubon Society with me and Vernon birder, Brady Surber, at Copper Breaks State Park.

Today was the first day birding with the Houston Audubon Society. Brady Surber from Vernon took us to some of his favorite birding spots while we tried to find some of the group's target species. We found a couple of the target birds, but we also had a great day with a lot of other good birds.

We left Wichita Falls in the dark and headed out for the Vernon area in Wilbarger county. Brady took us to a location known for good sparrows and the group was happy to see Harris's sparrows, which apparently are less common near Houston than they are here. Some also got a good view of American tree sparrows, which was one of their target species. We had a pretty good day for raptors to include a ferruginous hawk and prairie falcon, two of the target birds we were looking for. We also had a nice Harlan's red tailed hawk. A local rancher allowed us to bird his land as well where we picked up some brewer's blackbirds and lark buntings (a life bird for one of the group.) He has a nice body of water where we were very happy to see a canvasback and some red head ducks.

After lunch we headed to Copper Breaks State Park. There the group was excited to see a rufous crowned sparrow. I missed a pyrrhuloxia, which would have been a life bird for me. Several other people did get to see it, however.

This isn't a total accounting of the birds we saw today, but since we're getting up to do it all again tomorrow, I'm hitting the sack. I'll get around to a weekend list in a few days.

Good birding!

Buffalo Creek Reservoir

I went out to Buffalo Creek Reservoir yesterday to do a little advance scouting for the Houston Audubon Society. You just don't realize how noisy daily life is until you are out where there just aren't that many people. It was so quiet that the sounds of the double-crested cormorants flying overhead were very distinctive as were the quiet calls they sent to one another in flight. I had never heard those sounds before even though there are a lot of cormorants at Lake Wichita. The quiet also made it easier to find the sparrows in the grasses.

You also meet interesting people. I chatted for awhile with two sisters who were looking for a haunted bridge rumored to be in that area. I haven't heard the story, so I wasn't able to help them with directions, but I did recall hearing about someone in town who just started a business connected to local murders, so I gave them that contact information.

It was a relaxing afternoon, which led to me staying longer than I intended. I can't say I had a great outcome on my birding either--hope we do better with the out-of-towners. That's the thing with birding--some days you hit the jackpot and others you get skunked. I did get some nice views of American pipits on the Harmony Rd side of the reservoir though.

But as I always say, a bad day birding is still better than most anything else.

Good birding!

Nirvana!

Some members of the Houston Audubon Society are coming up today to spend three days birding this area. I am going to spend the days with them. Another birder from the Vernon area is going to show us some birding spots in his area Friday and again on Saturday morning, and then I am showing the group around Wichita County and maybe Clay County on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning before they head back to Houston.

Three days of birding--life doesn't get better than this.

Good birding!

Do you remember a recent post concerning how non-birders sometimes see birders? A friend sent me a link to the Two-fisted Bird Watcher site, and I really like it. I am adding his blog to this blog roll. If you like reading about birds with a humorous and philosophical take on the hobby, consider taking a look.

Good birding!

Field Sparrows at My Feeder

Field sparrow photo from National Park Service, Wikimedia Commons

At last week's North Texas Bird and Wildlife Club meeting we were talking about the birds we haven't seen this year (or have seen in fewer numbers), and I lamented that I hadn't had any field sparrows at my feeders so far. They tend to show up late in the winter, but I was getting a little worried.

Well, Thursday I saw my first and over the weekend had two at my feeders that cooperated with the Project Feederwatch count. Although field sparrows are one of the more drab species of sparrows, I like them because they are so delicate looking. They are smaller than the other feeder sparrows, and their pink legs and pale bill help identify them. Although some range maps show field sparrows as a year around resident of this area, I have only seen them in the winter. This is consistent with what the local North Texs Bird and Wildlife Club checklist shows: common from mid-December to early April and a few isolated sitings April - June.

I hope you are lucky enough to have some of these little guys show at your feeders this winter.

Good birding!