New Property Bird - #190

I took a quick four-wheeler ride to both of the ponds today just to see if any ducks were on the water. There were none at the new pond, so I went to the old one. There were no ducks on our side, but I walked to the dam and just inside our property line, a Green-winged Teal flew out from under one of the trees. He makes property bird #190 for me.

So far for 2008, I've added ten new property birds. Getting ten more will be tough. I'm looking forward to trying!

Property Bird #189!!!

Today as I was working in my garage, I looked out in the yard and saw the familiar silhouette and walk of two American Pipits. I have wondered why I had never seen them in my yard, since they seem to like short grassy areas. I would see them at the Cedar Hill Park on the north shore of Lake Charlotte every year. So, I finally got American Pipits for my property list.

Another surprise was looking out at my feeders and seeing a yellow parakeet sitting on the fence behind them. He stayed there for a few minutes and flew off just before I was able to get the camera to take a picture. Maybe he'll be back.

The House Sparrows are increasing in numbers very quickly. I may need to get my trap out again soon.

On Sunday, I looked up and saw 20+ Tree Swallows flying overhead. It's kind of surprising to see swallows here in the winter, but Tree Swallows stay and I see them every winter.

More Sandhill Cranes

Sandhill Cranes flew over the property again today. I heard a total of three flocks. One flock was so high that I couldn't see them. The other two were in range and had 20 to 25 birds in each flock. I wonder if the dry summer is making the cranes go further east than they have in the past. Something is different since I have never seen Sandhill Cranes from the property before this year.

I went down to the pond yesterday morning in the snow and flushed a couple of Wood Ducks. I've been trying to get some cattails to grow around the edge, but the cows keep eating them. I am sure there are ducks down there more often than I see them, but I just don't see them very often. I'm going to build a nest box for the Wood Ducks and have them up this winter. Hopefully they'll use them and I'll see them around a little more.

I've got several American Goldfinches at my feeders. I didn't put any thistle out this year, but they're coming to my oil sunflower in good numbers. It's fun to see them and hear them call to each other.

Year Property Bird #140

When I got home from work, several sparrows were hopping around my ground feeder where I have millet out for them. I grabbed my binoculars and found a Dark-eyed Junco (year property bird #140) among the Chipping Sparrows and House Sparrows. I remember growing up and seeing Dark-eyed Juncos at my feeder regularly, and sometimes abundantly. I just don't see that many of them now. Maybe it's a result of warmer temperatures. Maybe they just don't have to come down as far south any longer. I'll enjoy the few I get when I see them.

When I started out the year, I wanted to beat my 2004 number of species seen on my property. That was 129. I didn't think I could beat it by eleven. I figured it would be late December and I'd be scouring the woods to get #130! There is still a month left to add to my total. What's really cool is that I've seen all but 48 species this year that I've seen in the five years we've lived here! It's been a good year for birding.

Property Bird #188!!!

On Monday, November 17, all of us were outside working in the yard a little at the house. I took my last days of vacation this week. I heard a really strange bird call, which sounded like it was coming from the pasture. The call was familiar, but I couldn't place it. I was looking intently out there trying to find what was making that call. I heard it again and realized it was coming from above. There were 20-25 birds flying in a V-formation. I ran inside to get my binoculars thinking they were some sort of weird sounding geese. As soon as I stepped inside, it hit me what they were based on the sound - Sandhill Cranes! I ran back out with my binoculars and got some great looks at them. I looked and looked for a big white crane to be flying with them, but no luck there! Over the next 30 minutes, three more flocks about the same size flew over. I came inside and entered the sighting into my Birder's Diary and Petey the Parrot did his little celebration and said, "Rawk! This is the first sighting of a Sandhill Crane in property list for Paul!" When Petey does that little celebration, I know I've got a new property bird. I was very excited about it. Sandhill Crane will be #188 on my list now. Just 12 more and I can get to 200. That's going to be tough to do. I'll have to see some rarities to get to that number. Either that or have several gulls, terns or sandpipers to find my new pond.

Other than that, not much new has been going on around the property. I have pretty much the same birds at my feeders. I'm not seeing many Chipping Sparrows yet. Hopefully they'll show up next month. I am excited to have a pair of Carolina Wrens coming regularly to my suet log. I see Downy Woodpeckers and Red-bellied Woodpeckers in the yard pretty regularly, but they haven't found the suet yet. I keep hoping to look out and see them on the feeder. Cardinals have pretty much been non-existent at the feeders recently (although there are a male and female on the on the feeder now.) They must be finding enough food in the wild to satisfy them. But, the Eurasian Collared-Doves, Carolina Chickadees, Blue Jays, House Sparrows and Carolina Wrens are usually present at the feeders at most times during the day. I'm seeing more Eastern Phoebes this year than I remember in years past. Seems like they are everywhere! The Yellow-rumped Warblers love my birdbath with the drip. They are on it quite a bit. So, it's fun to see what's around this time of year.

Year Property Bird #138

On Sunday I was outside for most of the afternoon and saw my first flock of geese fly over. Most of them were Snow Geese, but I got my binoculars out and found a few Ross' Geese flying with the flock as well. The Ross' Goose made 138 property birds for the year. The Yellow-rumped Warblers are thick in the hackberry tree behind the house. I've also seen several Eastern Phoebes around. A Northern Flicker is in the trees to the west of our house quite a bit. I haven't had much of an opportunity to get out birding on the property. I'll be out quite a bit in the coming weeks, but unfortunately I'll have a chainsaw and be working to clear the fence line of the trees and limbs that were blown down on it during the hurricane. Maybe I'll get a chance to do a little birding while I take a break from work.

I'll be in Bandera this weekend hopefully seeing some western birds I haven't seen this year. I probably won't see many that I haven't seen since I was in Leakey earlier in the summer. But, maybe I'll get some winter sparrows that I didn't see then.

Another New Property Bird for the Year

Chipping Sparrow is year property bird #137 for me. As I got back from walking in the woods, two of them were flitting around in the trees behind my feeders. Later I saw them eating millet from my ground feeder. For some reason I never recorded them in the winter of this year when I saw them. But, they're on the list now.

There was nothing really new to report from the woods. It was a brief walk. I was only out about 30 minutes. I got a couple of really good looks at a Northern Flicker. That was really nice. There were probably 30 Turkey Vultures and Black Vultures eating what was left of the carcass of a wild hog that I shot yesterday. It will be interesting to see how much they cleaned up.

I know that this blog is usually for birds, but I just had to show off this picture of a monarch butterfly I took at the Houston Zoo on Thursday. He was flitting from flower to flower pretty quickly, and I just snapped this picture as soon as I saw him in the view finder. I was impressed with how it turned out.

New Property Bird!

This evening I walked outside and saw a sparrow at my ground feeder. I grabbed my binoculars expecting it to be my FOS Chipping Sparrow. What a surprise to see a juvenile White-crowned Sparrow eating the millet! That makes property bird #187 for me, is #138 on my property year. I have wondered why I don't see at least a few White-crowned Sparrows around the property. I've got good habitat for them. Maybe I'll start seeing them more often.

I also saw my FOS Yellow-rumped Warbler this evening.

Birds I've Missed This Year

I ran a report on my Birder's Diary and found that I haven't seen 51 species on my property this year. A few of them I wouldn't expect to see every year: Black-throated Blue Warbler, White-tailed Hawk, Black-chinned Hummingbird and Harris' Sparrow. However, I didn't see some that I haven't missed in a year since we've lived here: Wood Thrush, Worm-eating Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, Louisiana Waterthrush, Eastern Screech Owl and Yellow-throated Vireo. There are quite a few that I missed when the year started that I have a good chance to get before the year is out: Greater White-fronted Goose, Ross' Goose, Canada Goose, Anhinga, Osprey, American Kestrel, Brown Creeper, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Chipping Sparrow, Song Sparrow and Eastern Meadowlark. I think I can get my year list to 140 before the year is out without much problem. It will be fun trying!

Lazy Day Watching The Feeders

Today has been pretty active around my feeders. I have been watching on and off since early this morning. I have safflower in my hopper feeder, on my tray and in my tube feeder because of the grackles and blackbirds. I have oil sunflower in my mesh feeder and in my ball feeder. Then I have millet on the ground and in my ground tray feeder. I've also got a suet log with suet in it. The cardinals, Carolina Chickadees and Eurasian Collared Doves have been hitting the safflower this morning. The chickadees have also been on the oil sunflower. House Sparrows have been on the millet on the ground. So far I haven't seen any winter sparrows. The Carolina Wrens have been on the suet log quite a bit. I'm hoping to attract a woodpecker or sapsucker this winter. I'm probably not going to put any thistle out this year because it's so expensive. I'll probably just enjoy the goldfinches at my oil sunflower. They'll find it. I've enjoyed being able to just sit and watch the birds around my feeders this morning!

Another Property Bird

It's been a while since I've blogged and quite a bit has happened since then. On Oct. 17, I stepped outside our west door and saw a bird on one of the power lines. I grabbed my binoculars and looked at the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher for a few minutes until a mockingbird came and chased him off. That made Property Bird #135.

I went on a retreat with the jr. high kids from church to the Gulf Coast Christian Youth Camp in Columbus. I woke up early on Saturday and walked down the road to see what I could see. I had a great look at a White-crowned Sparrow. Also, I saw a Bewick's Wren and House Wren. Toward the end of the road, several Song Sparrows flew up and landed on the fence. It was great to see quite a few of the winter residents there.

October 10

This morning was just too nice not to go birding! It was cool, low humidity and fall migration is in full swing! Swallows were flying overhead migrating south. Mostly Barn and Northern Rough-winged were the ones I saw. The winter migrants were more plentiful in the woods. I added a couple new fall migrants to my list. Within about two minutes of each other, I saw a Northern Parula and a Magnolia Warbler. Both of them were in fall plumage. Indigo Buntings are still in good numbers. I had one female/juvenile Painted Bunting hop around in the branches of a fallen tree. The hummingbirds are virtually gone. There are one or two at a time now. I saw Brown-headed Cowbirds at my feeders for the first time since spring.

Birds Seen Oct. 10 (28 species): Red-shouldered Hawk, Eurasian Collared Dove, White-winged Dove, Chimney Swift, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Eastern Phoebe, White-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Carolina Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, Northern Parula, Magnolia Warbler, Indigo Bunting, Painted Bunting, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, House Sparrow

A Fun Morning

This morning was fun! I stepped out of the house ready to head to work and noticed a flurry of activity in the hackberry tree behind the house. There were several small birds. I went inside and grabbed my binoculars. There were Carolina Chickadees, Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Indigo Buntings all flitting around in the tree. At the top was a Northern Mockingbird and a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak sitting next to him! A couple of Killdeer called incessently as they flew overhead. A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker flew in the tree and started pecking at the bark. A minute later, a Red-bellied Woodpecker flew to one of the branches, made his way out to the end and plucked the berries off the branches. All this time, the "normal" birds were at the feeders: Northern Cardinals, Blue Jays, Eurasian Collared Doves, House Sparrows. It was a lot of fun watching them. I was a little late getting to the office because of it, but it was worth it!

Swallow Migration

Every year during October, swallows of all kinds migrate right over my yard, flying from northeast to southwest. I can sit for a few minutes and literally see hundreds of them fly over my yard and the pasture. It's amazing to see how many of them there are! On Sunday afternoon, I stood outside for about twenty minutes just to see them. The vast majority of the swallows flying by were Northern Rough-winged, but several Barn were in the mix as well. Last year every swallow that migrates through this area came through at some point. It was just one day when about all I saw were Bank Swallows. The Tree Swallows come through a little later than the rest. It is always fun to look out my window and see the swallows heading south for the winter.

One More Winter Resident

Yesterday I looked out our kitchen window and saw the first Eastern Phoebe of the year sitting on the fence. They love our fences out here to watch for food in the winter.

Brown Thrashers are everywhere! I hear them calling all over. The abundance of tallow tree berries is attracting them. Sigh. That just means there will be more tallow trees next spring . . .

The hummingbirds have made a bit of a resurgence at my feeders. Yesterday there were 20 - 30 around my feeders. I was ready to take down several feeders until yesterday. Maybe their migration isn't as close to being done as I thought.

Seeing A Lot In Fall Migration

Today was a pretty good day in the woods. There are several winter residents showing up already. According to the Upper Texas Coast checklist, they are showing up right on time. I saw Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Brown Thrasher, Northern Flicker, Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Northern Harrier. I was very glad to see them. It's always good to see those birds coming in for the first time and know they'll be with us through the winter.

Some fall migrants were passing through as well. Orchard Oriole, Painted Bunting, Indigo Bunting and Nashville Warbler were in the woods. The Painted Bunting was a female or juvenile male that lit about 15 feet from me and gave me some great looks! Indigo Buntings were everywhere in the thick brush.

I'm still seeing a few hummingbirds. There were probably 10 to 15 last night around the feeders. They'll stick around for the next couple of weeks.

Birds Seen 10/4/08 (31 Species): Turkey Vulture, Northern Harrier, Cooper's Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Eurasian Collared Dove, Great Horned Owl, Chimney Swift, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, White-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, Nashville Warbler, Northern Cardinal, Indigo Bunting, Painted Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Orchard Oriole

Species Seen as of 10/4/08: 134

The hummingbird numbers took a dramatic turn yesterday. For a week or so, anywhere from 50 to 100 hummingbirds were around my feeders. Yesterday that number was down to about 20 or 25. This morning there were fewer than 20. It's always a little sad for me to see the hummingbirds go away. I love watching them at my feeders. Here's a video of what they looked like on the morning of Sept. 20. It's pretty low light because is was just before 7:00 am, shot through the glass on our back door and into the sun. But, it was a spectacular sight!

One of the first signs of cool weather showed up in my yard in the form of about 200 Common Grackles feeding in my yard. I was always told that when the grackles begin flocking, cooler weather is close behind. For those who still don't have power, I really hope that's true for them! I'm looking forward to cooler weather and the winter migrants coming into the area. There are several winter migrants that I need to add to my year list.

I had another White-winged Dove in my yard on Sunday. I'm seeing them more regularly now. I know from hearing from others about them that one day I'll wish they were all gone from my yard, but for now it's kind of cool to see a bird that isn't usually there.

I am still at 132 for the year on my property list. As of September 22, 2004, I was at 120. I will have a harder time birding on the property. It is next to impossible to walk in several areas in the woods because of Hurricane Ike. There are trees and limbs down everywhere. We don't have thick woods anymore. Maybe it will look different when the trees leaf out again and their foliage is full again. But from what I saw when I walked in the woods on Saturday, it is thinned out considerably. I have decided that I'm going to use the winter to cut a trail to all my favorite places on the property that way I can walk all the way around without ever having to leave the trees. Hopefully I can have it done before spring migration gets here.

Property List Goal Surpassed!

Hurricane Ike brought some unwelcome problems to our lives. Cleaning up limbs, trees and shingles has dominated most of my time over the past week. I'm still not done. As bad as it was for us, it definitely was worse for others. However, the cooler weather and lower humidity after Ike was a welcome relief. I was forced to be outside more over the past week and got to do quite a bit more birdwatching than I would have done otherwise. Because of that, this week I surpassed my 2004 number of species seen on the property. In 2004, I saw 129 species. I began 2008 with the goal of seeing more species than I did in 2004. I added the following birds over the past week to my 2008 list:

• Ring-billed Gull on 9/13
• Herring Gull on 9/16
• Chuck-will's-widow on 9/18
• Olive-sided Flycatcher on 9/19
• Baltimore Oriole on 9/19

That brings my total to 132 species on the property in 2008. There are still several species I didn't see on the property this year, so the total definitely has potential to go higher. I guess my goal now is to get to 140 species by the end of the year.

The hummingbirds have really come in large numbers now. The past three nights have seen 70 to 80 hummingbirds around my feeders in the evening. I have to make nectar everyday to fill the feeders. It will be much easier now that the power is back on and I can get water from the faucet.

Speaking of hummingbirds, I had a very interesting experience. I was sitting in my living room one morning drinking my coffee watching the hummingbirds at the feeders. All the sudden, a large bird swooped in and the hummingbirds scattered. The larger bird flew to a tree behind the feeders. I grabbed my binoculars and it was a Loggerhead Shrike with a hummingbird in its beak! It shook the hummingbird a few times and then flew off toward my neighbor's yard. I lost it then. Last year a shrike tried to catch the hummingbirds with no luck (that I saw anyway) but this one definitely had one. While I hated to lose one of my hummingbirds, it was neat to see the display!

Every night I've heard a Barn Owl screeching. It's amazing what you hear when you have to sleep with the windows open. Now that the heat and humidity are returning, I'll take the air conditioning!

Hurricane Ike and Hummingbirds

With Hurricane Ike bearing down on us, I've taken down all my bird feeders. The birds still come checking for food. I've taken down all my hummingbird feeders except for two. I'll take those down tonight before the winds get too strong. The hummingbirds are swarming those feeders. There are probably 15 to 20 of them out there right now. It's fun to watch them. I wonder if they have any idea of what's about to hit them tonight and in the morning. I'll watch the winds and put the feeders back up as soon as I feel it is weak enough where it won't knock them off. After Hurricane Rita, the hummingbirds absolutely swarmed my feeders. But, Rita hit to the east of us giving us north winds, so it will be interesting to see how a hurricane hitting to the west of us bringing south winds affects them. Hopefully we'll be able to find out Saturday afternoon.

One Step Closer

I'm one bird closer to beating my 2004 property list of 129. It's not because I saw a new bird recently either. I created a checklist for the property and ran a report of the birds I haven't seen this year. One of the birds that came up was Eastern Kingbird. I went back in my blogs and saw one in the spring - and have the pictures to prove it. So, I'm at 127 now with four months to go. I keep watching for Baltimore Orioles in the trees, but no luck so far.

If you haven't seen it already, check out my hummingbird video I put on YouTube. You can access it here. For some reason when I made the original file, the sound messed up and I didn't realize it until I had already uploaded it to YouTube. It's still pretty cool to watch.

Will They Eat It All?

When I worked at Wild Birds Unlimited, we told people repeatedly that birds wouldn't eat many of the seeds in the commercial bags of seed. We told them that they wouldn't eat seeds like milo, wheat, oats and others. We didn't have those seeds in our mixes. I have several Eurasian Collared-Doves around. They are large birds. I figured there was nothing they wouldn't eat. So, I bought a bag of mixed seeds from Wal-Mart and started putting it out. The ingredients are oil sunflower seed, millet, corn, milo and wheat. The Eurasian Collared-Doves are around the feeders most of the time. I've even had White-winged Doves there, thinking they would eat just about anything too. Well, about 3/4 of the way through the bag, the advice we gave at WBU was absolutely correct. Milo and wheat are covering the bottom of my tray feeder and my ground feeder. I got my binoculars out this morning and watched the doves eating and saw them picking through the milo and wheat trying to find some of the other seeds. I do have quite a bit of milo sprouting around my feeders giving it a nice green look! No doubt the rats and mice are enjoying the milo at night. Maybe the screech-owls and snakes are enjoying the rats and mice. So, no more mixed seed from Wal-Mart unless it doesn't contain milo and wheat. It's a waste of money.

Five Years

Today marks five years since we moved back to Cove. I was pretty excited to move back and be able to go birding on our property here. We moved down on Sept. 1, unpacked things and returned the U-Haul on Sept. 2 and then I finally went birding on Sept. 3. I saw my first property warbler that day - a male Canada Warbler still in full breeding plumage. I saw 22 birds that day. I was pretty excited and looked forward with great anticipation to the hummingbirds and spring migration. In the five years we've been here, I've seen 186 species of birds on the property. Here are some of the highlights over the past five years of birding on my property.

The Ruby-throated Hummingbirds swarm my feeders each fall. They literally look like bees around a hive at the feeders. I went through 55 lbs. of sugar in 2004 when I had 75 to 100 birds around my feeders every morning. I was filling my feeders everyday, including my 96 oz. Perky Pet feeder.

April 25, 2007 will always be special to me because I saw a male Black-throated Blue Warbler on the property mixed in with a multi-species warbler flock. That was one bird that I had always looked at in my books and wanted to see. I always assumed I'd have to go to the Atlantic flyway to see one. But, on that day, one perched in the top of a 25 ft. tallow tree and gave me some great looks at him.

The next day was very exciting to me as well. In the springs of 2004, 2005 and 2006, I didn't see any Kentucky Warblers. I couldn't figure it out because they nest here and we have great habitat for them to nest. Wondering what could top seeing the Black-throated Blue Warbler the day before, I went out birding. I was walking along the gully and saw some movement on the ground across the gully and there was a male Kentucky Warbler. As with most birds, I saw Kentucky Warblers everywhere after that! I learned their song and have heard them singing on territory in the past two springs.

When we moved in, I put up two Eastern Bluebird boxes with the hopes that a pair would pick one and nest in it. In 2006, a pair built a nest in one, but was usurped by a House Sparrow. They nested in one of my Purple Martin gourds. The day the chicks hatched a House Sparrow threw them out of the nest and took it over. My trap followed close behind and that House Sparrow is no longer with us. In 2007, there was another nesting attempt in the box in my aunt's yard and this time it was successful. They had one brood in 2007 and two in 2008. I am rewarded by seeing them fly into my yard to feed. The juveniles are all over the place!

Spring migration is a highlight each year. As of 2008, I have seen 30 species of warblers on the property. It's incredible to see the activity here. By comparison, I have seen only 20 species of warblers at High Island since we've been back. Granted, I spend a lot more time birding on my property.

The number of birds that I have verified that nest here is pretty impressive. Hooded Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Great Crested Flycatcher, Red-eyed Vireo, Summer Tanager, Northern Parula, Painted Bunting, along with all the resident birds. It's great walking in the woods in late May and June and hear all of them singing on territory.

I'm looking forward to the next five years here. Hopefully I can get the other 14 species I need to get to that 200 number. It's going to be tough and probably require me to see some rarities, but I'll keep my eyes open.

This is a short video of the dominant female Ruby-throated Hummingbird at the feeder on the west side of my house. She has just returned from chasing a male RTHu and leaves in just a few more seconds to chase another bird. It was hot outside and she's panting with her beak open.

Hummingbirds Coming In

The hummingbird numbers are picking up steadily around my feeders. I counted five at a time a few minutes ago. We have a pretty steady northeast wind. It's probably blowing between 5 and 10 mph. It will be interesting to see if Gustav blows hummers our way. I grabbed the camera and got this shot of the dominant male on the feeders in our backyard.

Some notes on a hot summer day

This week, several of the juvenile Eastern Bluebirds were frequenting my birdbath. I grabbed the camera and took a couple of pictures through the glass of my porch door at about 35 ft. They aren't the clearest pictures, but you can see this young male getting his adult plumage. Check out the downy feathers still on him.

The cardinals, Blue Jays and Eurasian Collared-Doves had a great breeding year. The adults are bringing the juveniles to my feeders pretty regularly. It's fun to watch them. The testosterone levels in the cardinals must be dropping because the males are at least tolerant of each other at the feeders. I hear a Downy Woodpecker pretty regularly in the backyard, but have yet to see him at my feeders. When it gets cooler I'll start putting suet out again and see if he comes to that. I really hope the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker comes back to my suet this year.

I didn't go birding this weekend in the woods. It's still just a little early for fall migrants and it's really hot. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I'll start birding regularly.

The hummingbirds are slowly increasing their numbers. It's becoming harder and harder for the dominant bird at my feeders to keep all the others off. Yesterday I saw her chase one bird off and three came in to get a drink. She successfully got all three of them away and maintained her dominance. She's back this morning. If Gustav moves into Louisiana like they are forecasting, that could be good for my hummingbird numbers. We'll get a north wind out of it and that has encouraged them to move south. After Katrina moved into LA three years ago, my hummingbird numbers exploded within a couple of days. Guess I should get the rest of my feeders ready to go!

White-winged Dove at My Feeder

I got home from work today and found three White-winged Doves at my feeders. Here's a picture of one of them.

I've had one White-winged Dove at my feeders last year. I've only seen one at a time, though. These are juveniles, as was the one last year. I've never seen an adult here. I suppose it's just a matter of time. It's amazing to me how much larger the Eurasian Collared-Doves are than the White-winged Doves.

Summertime Birding & Spring Report

I went out this morning and birded in the woods for the first time since June. With all the rain we've had over the past few days, there was a lot of standing water and the humidity is very high. The birds were more active than I anticipated. There were several of the spring migrants that hung around to breed in the area. I saw what I think is a family of five Great Crested Flycatchers hanging out together. I saw Red-eyed Vireos and Eastern Wood-Pewees feeding. Several juvenile Red-bellied Woodpeckers explored the trees in search of a meal. A Black-and-white Warbler mixed in with a flock of Carolina Chickadees. It was nice to get out and go birding this morning!

The hummingbirds aren't increasing much at the feeders. I'll see four to five at a time trying to get to them, but so far one dominant bird has done a pretty good job of holding the others at bay. Hopefully it won't be long before they show up in greater numbers.

Birds seen 8/22/08 (21 species): Black Vulture, Red-shouldered Hawk, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Great Crested Flycatcher, Red-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Eastern Bluebird, Black-and-white Warbler, Northern Cardinal, House Sparrow

Species Seen as of 8/22/08: 126
Species Seen as of 8/22/04: 113

I ran a report on my spring sightings and these are the migrants I saw this year on my property:

Cuckoo (1): Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Nighthawk (1): Common Nighthawk
Swift (1): Chimney Swift
Hummingbird (1): Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Flycatcher (4): Eastern Wood-Pewee, Acadian Flycatcher, Least Flycatcher, Great Crested Flycatcher
Vireo (3): Blue-headed Vireo, Philadelphia Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo
Swallow (6): Purple Martin, Tree Swallow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Bank Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Barn Swallow
Thrush (3): Veery, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Swainson's Thrush
Warbler (21): Blue-winged Warbler, Golden-winged Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Northern Parula, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, Cerulean Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, American Redstart, Ovenbird, Kentucky Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Hooded Warbler, Canada Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat
Tanager (1): Summer Tanager
Grosbeak (1): Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Bunting (2): Indigo Bunting, Painted Bunting

Hummingbirds Increasing

Hummingbirds are definitely on the increase! I saw at least five around my house this afternoon and one visited my feeder at my office today. I hadn't seen one at that feeder before. I've got three feeders up at my house. It won't be long before they're really thick around them. I've heard reports from North Texas that they are on the move south. I love this time of year! Hummingbirds are migrating south. Cooler weather is just around the corner. My life slows down a bit. I am going to get back to my Friday morning bird walks around my property. Maybe I'll see some of those birds that I missed this spring.

Raptors!

I've seen several different raptors around these days. Along I-10 between FM 3180 and Hwy. 146, I regularly see Swainson's Hawk and Red-tailed Hawk. I occasionally see a Crested Caracara flying over. Around the house I see Red-shouldered Hawks that live around here. It shouldn't be too long before the Broad-winged Hawks begin to migrate south.

I saw three Ruby-throated Hummingbirds this morning at the house. I am going to put up my feeder pole in the morning and put up a couple of feeders. It will start to pick up really soon!

First Hummingbird of the Fall

This morning I looked out the window where I have my hummingbird feeder hanging and saw an adult male sitting on the fence about 15 ft. away from it. He came to the feeder and then took off. A few minutes later I looked out and saw what appeared to be a juvenile male sitting on the feeder. So, two individual hummers in a matter of minutes. Maybe it's getting time to set up my other feeders for all of the hummers I get in the fall.

Other interesting things going on around here include having up to twelve cardinals at my feeders at one time. There are several juveniles in that group. The males seem to have a bit of a testosterone surge still in them because any two adult males will have some kind of confrontation. The Eurasian Collared-doves seem to have had a successful breeding season. There are as many as eight of them around my feeders at a time. The bluebirds show up pretty regularly. I saw four of the juvenile bluebirds along with the male feeding from the fence in my yard yesterday. The swallows are migrating. I see them flying southwest most of the time. I've seen Barn, Tree and Cliff so far. Looks like I need to start getting out on Friday mornings for some birding since fall migration is up on us.

In case you're wondering how my Property Big Year is going, I'm at 126 for 2008. That's still 13 ahead of where I was this time in 2004, so I should have no trouble breaking that number. There are several birds that I missed in spring migration that I might get in the fall. I'll be posting my sightings from when I go out. I will probably have to wait until August 22 to start since I've got things going on today and next Friday.

I'm also going to expand the scope of what I write about on this blog. I'm going to include birds I see everywhere, not just on my property. I don't do a lot of birding in other places, but I get a fair amount in, even in the summer when I'm so busy. Hopefully with me blogging about all my bird sightings, I will update things a little more often.

More Tropical Storm Birds

There were a couple of other interesting bird sightings during the tropical storm on Tuesday. After the "eye" had passed over us, I went outside to check on a couple of things and to put some more seed out for the birds that were showing up in large numbers. I had ten cardinals, six Eurasian-collared Doves and four Blue Jays. The Carolina Chickadees were trying to figure out where their feeders went and never got the idea to head to the ground to pick up a seed. I put the feeders back out pretty quickly once I saw that. As I was putting the feeders back out, a flock of about 50 Tree Swallows flew over. They were flying against the wind so the entire flock was doing a zig-zag pattern as they flew. They flew right over my head, so I got great looks at them. I've seen a flock like that once, but it was in January several years ago. The other interesting sighting was the hundreds of Purple Martins that were soaring overhead. It sounded like I was standing next to a large colony with all of them calling. I tried counting at one point, but couldn't. I would estimate there were 150 to 250 martins at a time flying around.

I sure wish I could have gone down to Galveston to see if any pelagics had been pushed onshore by Edouard's winds. I guess I'll have to look at Texbirds and live vicariously through those who had the chance.

Tropical Storm Feeder Birds

Even with Tropical Storm Edouard, the birds were coming around the feeder. Cardinals were out there at first light this morning. I've heard chickadees and Blue Jays calling already.t I've recorded a 52.1 mph wind gust on my weather station. I took all my feeders down, but scattered sunflower seeds on the ground feeder for the birds. They don't seem too concerned about it. There are several White Ibis and a Little Blue Heron in the pasture behind the house taking advantage of the rain-soaked ground. The center of circulation has yet to pass us, so we'll see if we get more gusty winds and how the birds handle that. Just rain and a little wind so far, although the radar shows a little heavier stuff coming in soon.

Water on a Hot Summer Day

It's very dry around here right now. We received about 4 inches of rain from Hurricane Dolly, but it soaked up and didn't sit on top of the ground. Because of how dry it is, my birdbath is a great source of water for the birds. I've got a dripper rigged up on it. This morning when I looked out, there were five cardinals, two bluebirds, two Carolina Chickadees, one mockingbird and two Blue Jays sharing the water. The chickadees were clinging to the dripper hose and taking drinks from the water as it dripped out. It's fun to look out and see the birds taking drinks and bathing in the water.

Juvenile Bluebird

Yesterday I walked outside and one of the juvenile bluebirds was sitting on the kids' clubhouse. I ran inside and grabbed the camera. He sat there long enough for me to get a couple of shots of him. This was the best one. It's fun to watch the juvenile bluebirds come to my birdbath. There were three or four of the juveniles out there. This was the only one that stayed around to be photographed. Pretty often I'll see the adults come to the water as well. I love living where we get bluebirds!

Slow Summer Days

I've been outside quite a bit the past few days that I've had off and not much is moving around these days. The White Ibis still fly over with great regularity. I just wonder if they're having a population explosion because I don't recall ever seeing this many of them, except in the past couple of years. There are juveniles in the flocks now. A Downy Woodpecker is in our yard quite a bit. I've never seen them with regularity in the yard, so that's kind of fun. The young bluebirds are still hanging out in the yard. It seems that they are getting the hang of foraging and taking care of themselves. I see the male around pretty regularly. One of the most exciting things that happened is a Yellow-billed Cuckoo showed up in the trees to the west of our house on Saturday. I was sitting at our dining room table and saw him fly in and perch on a power line. There was no doubt what he was. I grabbed my binoculars just to get a good look at him.

I cleaned my birdbath and put some bricks in it that make the water depth about 1/2 inch. That should be better for the birds than the two rocks I had in there before which were kind of slick and didn't give the birds a good place to stand in the water. I'm really hoping the fall migrants find it and use it. The Baltimore Orioles used it quite a bit last year. Fall migration will be on us before we know it. I'm looking forward to it. I'm still three short of tying my 2004 number. I should be able to get it pretty easily. I'll be able to pick up a couple of the warblers that I didn't get in the spring as well as Baltimore Orioles. I didn't get one last year, but in years previous I have gotten an Olive-sided Flycatcher.

Also, it won't be long until the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds come through on their southward migration. It's usually the end of August that they start getting really thick around my feeders. I'll put one feeder out in a couple of weeks to see if any of them are hanging around here early. In case you haven't seen it, here is a video I took in 2006 of the hummingbirds at my feeders.

Fledged

The bluebirds fledged today. I checked the box at 4:30 and they were gone. They couldn't have been gone long. There was still a very fresh dropping on the nest. So, out of two broods, we had six bluebird chicks fledge. Hopefully this is a trend that will continue. I'm going to move the box in my yard to another spot in hopes of getting two pair nesting next year. All that the box in my yard has done is house red wasps. It's a lot of fun to see the bluebirds hunting in my yard. The male and female spend quite a bit of time sitting on the fence watching the ground for insects. I've seen the young birds at my birdbath. It will be fun to watch them mature and learn how to do things on their own over the next few months.

First Day Of Summer

I decided to celebrate the first day of summer by mowing. Real fun! But, it needed to be done. I was just about to finish up when I looked up and a Swallow-tailed Kite flew by. He was low, just over the treetops. I saw him for about five seconds and he disappeared. Then he came back and flew closer to me just over the treetops. He gave me several seconds of great looks at him this time. What a beautiful bird!

There isn't much to report. I haven't had time to go birding on the property. The baby bluebirds continue to grow. I will post some pictures soon. They are 13 days old today. They should fledge today or tomorrow. If they all make it, we'll have six new bluebirds in the world out of that box. I still see the young from the first brood flying around occasionally.

New Property Bird

Yesterday I was outside working on a frame for a movie screen to take to camp. My aunt came over and began to describe a couple of birds that she saw while on her walk that morning. The only thing that came to my mind was Monk Parakeets. While we were talking about it, two Monk Parakeets flew along the road heading west, making property bird #186. I suspect we'll see a lot more of them in the days and years to come. They can join the House Sparrows, European Starlings and Eurasian Collared Doves as birds that aren't supposed to be on our property. Sigh. When will people ever learn that it's not a good idea to mess with nature?

Other than that, the baby bluebirds from brood #1 are doing well. They hang out in our yard quite a bit. They are learning to hunt pretty well. I watch them catch insects by themselves. I don't see them around the male that much anymore, so they're getting more independent all the time. A Roseate Spoonbill flew over yesterday. He was the first of his species that I've seen from the property this year.

I'm slowly getting to my goal of seeing more than the 129 species I saw in 2004. It's summertime now and that typically means slow birding days ahead of me. But, fall migration will be here before I know it.

'08 Birds as of May 29: 126
'04 Birds as of May 29: 105

Dog Days of Summer

There hasn't been much to report from the property lately. Some of the most exciting things has been watching the male bluebird lead the three young ones around to teach them how to hunt. They sit on our fence pretty regularly and watch the ground below. All three of them seem to be doing really well. The second nesting is well underway. We've got five eggs again. We hope all five hatch. They should hatch sometime between June 5 and June 7. Amberlyn predicts the 6th and I predict the 7th.

White Ibis still continue to fly over in large numbers. Seems that everytime I'm outside there are several flocks that fly over.

I hope to get out for a little bit on Friday or Saturday to see if I can find that Painted Bunting that was singing. That would be pretty cool to know they're nesting on the property.

I head out to camp on June 1 where I'll be surrounded by Golden-cheeked Warblers, Bewick's Wrens, Ladder-backed Woodpeckers and Zone-tailed Hawks. It'll be pretty cool!

Just Sitting Around

Today was sort of a Big Sit for me. One of the teens from church came over and we sat in one spot hoping the hogs would come up for the corn I've been throwing out for them. We didn't see any hogs, but there were more birds that I expected. I got a couple of new property birds for the year. A Blackpoll Warbler looked for food in the top of a water oak. He was joined by several American Redstarts, Black-throated Green Warblers and a couple of Magnolia Warblers. An Eastern Wood Pewee entertained me by showing off his flycatching skills. I saw a large, black bird fly over and he called. I quickly identified him as a Fish Crow which was the first of those for the year. One thing that really excited me today was a male Painted Bunting singing his territorial song. I've always wondered why I didn't hear Painted Buntings singing on the property since we've got great habitat for them. Looks like we've got at least one nesting now!

Birds Seen 5/17/08 (33 species): Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Cattle Egret, White Ibis, Red-shouldered Hawk, Killdeer, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Common Nighthawk, Chimney Swift, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Eastern Wood-Pewee, White-eyed Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, Fish Crow, Purple Martin, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Eastern Bluebird, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Black-throated Green Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, American Redstart, Northern Cardinal, Painted Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird

'08 Birds Seen as of 5/17: 124
'04 Birds Seen as of 5/17: 105

Oh Canada!

Spring migration is winding down, but it's not over yet. With the cool front passing through yesterday and 10-15 mph north winds all night and this morning, some of the late migrants were grounded today. All of the migrants that nest here were singing including Northern Parula, Hooded Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Eastern Wood Pewee and Acadian Flycatcher. Several migrant warblers were flitting around in the trees fueling up for their journey north when southerly winds return. There were Magnolia, Chestnut-sided, American Redstart and the first Canada Warbler I've seen on the property this year. Yellow-billed Cuckoos finally have shown up and were calling in several places.

I was trying to find a little bird in some pretty thick tangles of tri-foliate orange and yaupon holly trees. I could see a little ways back in this particular spot. I could see a little dip in the ground. As I was looking for the little bird, a Green Heron hopped up out of the little dip. He's the first one of his species I have seen this year on the property.

When I came back in, I went to check the bluebird box. The female seemed a little apprehensive with me going toward it. They have begun constructing a new nest. This nest has a lot of pine needles in it. I would guess they are halfway through with their construction. We'll probably see eggs in the next seven to ten days.

Birds seen on May 16 (35 species): Little Blue Heron, Cattle Egret, Green Heron, White Ibis, Red-shouldered Hawk, Killdeer, Laughing Gull, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Acadian Flycatcher, White-eyed Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, Purple Martin, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Eastern Bluebird, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Northern Parula, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, American Redstart, Kentucky Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Canada Warbler, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, House Sparrow

'08 Property Birds as of May 16: 122
'04 Property Birds as of May 16: 105

#119 For The Year

We've got some deer corn to bait the feral hogs on the property. The weevils have decided they like it a lot, so I'm putting quite a bit of it out to keep the weevils from spreading. While walking down to the spot where I put the corn, a Least Flycatcher was singing from an exposed branch. He would sing for just a few seconds and then fly. We got to watch him show off his flycatching skills a couple of times.

In other wildlife news, there are thousands of tiny tadpoles lining the edge of the pond. I wish I knew what kind of frogs they are going to become. With the Little Blue Heron and Spotted Sandpiper that hang out down there, many of them will probably become lunch as they get a little bigger.

'08 Property Birds as of May 13: 119
'04 Property Birds as of May 13: 105

Just A Few Notes from May 10

This morning there weren't many birds moving. I'm thinking spring migration is winding down to the end. I still haven't seen or heard a Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Hopefully they'll start singing soon!

Probably the most interesting bird I saw today was while I was looking out of the bathroom window waiting for the shower to warm up! Four Mississippi Kites were flying around over the woods. One had something in his talons and was eating it on the wing. That was pretty neat. I kept trying to turn one of them into a Swallow-tailed Kite, but couldn't!

The SY male Purple Martin was back this morning with a female. He was singing and going to the house. She never landed on the house, although she had a couple of close fly-bys. I've known of martins to start nest as late as the last week of May, but that's not very common. We'll see . . .

Birds seen May 10 (30 Species): Great Egret, Little Blue Heron, Cattle Egret, White Ibis, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Mississippi Kite, Red-shouldered Hawk, Laughing Gull, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Barred Owl, Chimney Swift, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, White-eyed Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, Purple Martin, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Eastern Bluebird, Northern Mockingbird, Northern Parula, Magnolia Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Northern Cardinal

'08 Property Birds as of May 10: 118
'04 Property Birds as of May 10: 105

Spring Migration Slowing Down

Joshua and I walked in the woods yesterday evening to see if we could spot any new arrivals. Besides the mosquitoes buzzing around, it was pretty slow down there! I did add a Swainson's Thrush to the yearly property list. Nothing was moving in the treetops. I'll probably go down for a little while in the morning (armed with Deep Woods Off!) and see if anything more is moving.

I made a list of migrants that I haven't seen this spring that I should have seen: Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Yellow-throated Vireo, Wood Thrush, Yellow Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, Worm-eating Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, Canada Warbler, Scarlet Tanager, Blue Grosbeak, Dickcissel, Orchard Oriole and Baltimore Oriole. Others that I hoped to see but don't necessarily expect were Black-billed Cuckoo, Prothonotary Warbler and Swainson's Warbler. I have seen Canada Warblers in the fall, so I haven't given up on them. I usually see more Baltimore Orioles in the fall than I do in the spring. It's very surprising that I haven't seen or heard a Yellow-billed Cuckoo yet. They nest here and should be establishing territory. They were late coming in last year, so maybe they're late this year again. If I don't see one, this will be the first year that I haven't seen a Worm-eating Warbler, Scarlet Tanager or Blue Grosbeak on the property. And if I don't see a Blackpoll Warbler in the spring, I won't see one for the year since they migrate south along the Atlantic coast. I'll keep watching for the next couple of weeks, though. You never know when a late migrant will come through!

I checked the bluebird box on Wednesday and don't see any signs of nest building for a second brood yet. But, the chicks did just fledge a week ago, so I give them another week before they start turning their attention to another nesting.

Birds seen May 8 (27 species): Little Blue Heron, Cattle Egret, White Ibis, Red-shouldered Hawk, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Barred Owl, Chimney Swift, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Great Crested Flycatcher, White-eyed Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, Purple Martin, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Eastern Bluebird, Swainson's Thrush, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Northern Parula, Kentucky Warbler, Northern Cardinal, Indigo Bunting

'08 Birds Seen as of May 8: 118
'04 Birds Seen as of May 8: 105

Top 10 Birding Experiences

In the latest edition of Bird Watcher's Digest, one of the articles is about the author's top ten birds. I started thinking about my top ten birding experiences and thought it would be fun to write about them. With this being my 27th year of birdwatching, it was harder that I thought to narrow it down to ten. Several experiences that are memorable were close but didn't make the list. One I didn't include was seeing the Rose-breasted Grosbeak from my window at Mom's house when I was ten years old. I looked at him through my 7x35 binoculars and then started flipping through my field guide to see if I could find him. (If you know anything about field guides, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are near the end. It took a while.) I finally found him and began looking at other birds to see if I could identify them as well. That started it all . . . With that, here are my top ten birding experiences.

10. I was walking along a trail at Founder's Park in Arlington. It's just a little park that you wouldn't even know was there. I happened to live within walking distance of it, so I knew about it. I heard some rustling in the grass to the right of the trail. I walked over to investigate and saw a Red-bellied Woodpecker and a European Starling fighting. They would turn over on the ground, each gaining the upperhand (upperwing?) for a little bit before the other would flip around and get on top. At one point, the woodpecker got on top of the starling and pounded him four or five times in the chest with his beak. The starling screamed and the woodpecker flew to the top of a dead tree with a hole drilled in it. I understood the reason for the fight then. The starling was trying to take the woodpecker's nest from him. I looked at the woodpecker and he had blood on his bill. The starling flew to a branch about 8 ft. off the ground and started preening his chest feather. Blood was dripping out of his wounds. After about a minute on the branch, he started getting a little woozy and eventually dropped to the ground dead. It was kind of neat to see a woodpecker defeat a starling since the battles usually go the other way.

9. When I interviewed at the Wild Birds Unlimited in Dallas at the corner of Lovers Lane and Douglas Avenue, the owner informed me as I walked to my car, "We've got martins." I looked over to the PMC-24 house that was just covered with them. At that point, I wasn't very impressed with martins. I had never known anyone with a martin house, and they were just another springtime migrant for me to tick off my list. I was hired at WBU and Brad, the manager of the retail part of the store, solicited my help to take care of the martins including keeping records of the numbers of eggs and babies in the nests. We trapped sparrows and starlings and pulled their nests out everyday. Over the next couple of years, we put up a gourd rack with plastic Supergourds and increased the number of birds we had. By this time I was warehouse manager and was completely taking care of the martins. My love for them increased and I would arrive at work early just so I could sit and watch them. I began reading about them and learning their behaviors. They are fascinating birds and I'll always think of them martin colony at WBU as the first time I grew to love these birds.

8. One of the hardest birds to see is a Yellow Rail. They keep to the ground under plumes of salt grass in marshy areas. You come across mosquitoes, snakes and a host of other things that people normally try to avoid to find Yellow Rails. The first rail walk I participated in was led by David Sarkozi at Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge. A rail walk consists of about 20 people walking in a straight line across the marsh with two people holding a rope with several plastic bottle attached to it with rocks in them. The rail will fly ahead of the line and everyone hurries to form a circle around where it landed. Everyone takes one step at a time toward the center of the circle and eventually the rail will fly up and out of the circle. The first one our group found flew up and right at me. He was about to hit me in my chest when I kind of moved out of the way, put my hand up and guided him away from me. It was definitely the closest I've been to a Yellow Rail! That year, I saw all six North American rails.

7. I had taken my inflatable kayak to Lake Charlotte. It's a shallow lake lined with cypress trees north of Interstate 10 between FM 562 and the Trinity River. It's very peaceful there and the birding can be good. I headed west across the lake and found a Bald Eagle sitting in a dead cypress tree. I got about 100 yards from him and got some excellent looks at him through my binoculars. He leaned forward, seeming to focus on something in the water. He flew off the perch, in my general direction. I followed him with my binoculars and watched as he picked a fish off the surface of the water about 40 yards in front of me! The view I got through my binoculars was as good if not better than the cameras on TV, which was the only way I'd seen eagles fishing to that point.

6. I have a list of "nemesis birds." These are birds that I have chased and should have seen, but just didn't for whatever reason. Many times I would hear something along the lines of, "It was here yesterday, but no one has found it today." Well, the Snowy Owl had been one of those birds. They don't get as far south as Texas very often. One year two of them showed up in southern Oklahoma. I went with friends to see them and we couldn't locate them. We were living in Mansfield, just south of Fort Worth when one showed up in Abilene. I decided to chase him because he was being seen very regularly and we had great directions. So, Harry Conner and I loaded up in his car and headed to Abilene. The first spot we went to was deserted, but we noticed several cars parked on the other side of the highway with people standing outside them with spotting scopes. We figured that was our best chance, so we drove over there. One of the people pointed him out to us and I set up my scope. There he was! An adult in complete adult plumage. Most of the time the ones that show up that far south are juveniles and aren't the snowy white color, so my first Snowy Owl was very special.

5. Ever since I can remember, the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds at my grandparents' house (where we are living now) were thick as bees in the fall during their southward migration. We moved into that house in September 2003 and I immediately put up my feeders. I had been given a Perky Pet 96 oz. feeder and a Perky Pet 48 oz. feeder. I had a couple of other large feeders and there were a couple my grandmother left. I put up my pole system outside our dining room window and the hummingbirds showed up in great numbers. At times there were probably 100 to 150 birds swarming around the feeders at a time. I was replenishing the nectar (over 2 gallons) daily. It was absolutely incredible. They haven't been that thick around my feeders since.

4. For years, the Swallow-tailed Kite was a nemesis bird for me. I was told, "Just go to the Wal-Mart parking lot in Liberty and you'll see them flying around." Well, when I went to the Wal-Mart parking lot, the kites must have decided to move the exact opposite direction because I never saw them. One spring Harry and I came down for a little birdwatching and decided to go to the Armand Bayou Nature Center. We walked through the woods and were seeing a few things. At one point, under a little break in the canopy, I looked up and saw one! I yelled, "Swallow-tailed Kite!" and pointed. Harry thought I was joking, but he looked up just in time to see the kite fly out of sight. It was as if that was all I needed was to see the first one. I've seen one every year since.

3. This one happened in 1992. It was the last year I lived at home. I had a hummingbird feeder outside of my upstairs bedroom window. I had a stool that I sat on by the window to watch the birds. I was watching the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds buzzing around the feeder when a different one came in. I looked him up and identified him as a Buff-bellied Hummingbird. The range map showed them not getting north of the Rio Grande Valley much. I called Bill Ehlig to tell him and he encouraged me to get some pictures. I grabbed my camera and took several pictures. I sent them to David Dauphin who lived in Pinehurst at the time. He did some research and told me that was only the fifth documented record of a Buff-bellied Hummingbird in Chambers County. The hummingbird stayed for a couple of days at my feeder and then was gone. I saw David Dauphin a few days later at the Sterling Library where he told me that a couple of days after the hummingbird left my feeder, he had one at his feeder in his yard. I've always wondered if it was the same one.

2. A strong April cold front moved offshore in 2007. I knew the birding would be good in our woods. I was halfway tempted to drive to High Island, but decided to stay and see what showed up in our woods. The birds were everywhere! I got to one point along the eastern fenceline where I was simply surrounded by birds. I would look at one and immediately find another to look at. One landed at the top of a little tallow tree about 30 ft. in front of me and I quickly found him in my binoculars. It was a male Black-throated Blue Warbler. It was one of those moments where I knew what I was looking at, but didn't believe it. They are considered rare at the end of April on the Upper Texas Coast. I had looked at them hundreds of times in my books, but never thought I'd see one here. They normally migrate up the East Coast and not through the Central Flyway. If I remember correctly, that is the only bird I've seen on our property that was a lifer for me.

1. I was hired as the youth minister at the Freetown Road Church of Christ in Grand Prairie, TX in June of 1995. I quickly developed a relationship with Harry Conner, one of the teens in the group. He became interested in birdwatching, so I took him with me quite a bit. We normally went to locations in the DFW area. I had told him about High Island several times and he really wanted to go. So, I talked with his parents and we decided that if he kept his grades up his senior year (1996 - 1997) he could skip a Friday and Monday to go with me to High Island. Harry did his part and off we went the third weekend of April. When we got there, it was cold and rainy. The thought of a fallout didn't cross my mind. I was disappointed because of the bad weather. We went to Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge and stopped at The Willows. This is a little stand of willow trees around a little pond where people see lots of warblers and other migrants during the spring. The rain was blowing horizontal as we looked at some Bay-breasted Warblers in some tallow trees across the fence line. We drove to High Island where I met up with some people I had met on the AOL bird chat. Sheridan Coffey said, "This is an incredible day!" Everyone was huddled under the kiosk at Boy Scout Woods, but they all had binoculars to their eyes looking at things in the trees. I quickly realized how good the day would be. It was a spectacular fallout event. A fallout occurs when a strong front moves offshore and brings rain and strong north winds with it. Many of the birds that migrate through the Central Flyway (which passes right over the Upper Texas Coast) take off at nightfall from the Yucatan Peninsula, fly straight across the Gulf of Mexico and hit the Texas coast between 2:00 and 4:00 the next afternoon. When they hit the rain and north wind, they're too far across to turn back so they fight the north wind and rain and are absolutely exhausted when they hit the coast. They literally fall out of the sky to the first trees they see. That is what they did that day. There were birds everywhere. It was not a matter of finding a bird to look at - we had to decide which one to look at! Harry was relatively new at birdwatching and I think he got over 90 lifers on that trip. People still talk about the fallout of '97. In fact, I went to High Island on April 18 this year and heard some people talking about it. I told them I was there and they excitedly asked me what it was like. They hadn't even been there but heard it was incredible. Some of the long-time birders in the area say it was easily one of the top five fallouts ever, maybe even the best. It definitely goes down as my best birding memory.

A Couple of Hours on May 4

I had hoped the north winds last night would have kept some of the migrants down and they would leave tonight. That wasn't the case. The woods were pretty quiet today. I did pick up three new birds for the year on the property - Gray-cheeked Thrush, Common Nighthawk and, the most surprising, Bald Eagle. I saw the eagle twice. The first time he was low enough where I could make out the white tail against the blue sky without my binoculars. The second time, he was really high and I could just make out his features with my binoculars. The Checklist of the Upper Texas Coast lists Bald Eagles as rare this time of year. That was published in 1998, and the eagle population has increased since then. It was a very exciting sight for me! Another really fun thing today was watching two sets of Carolina Wren parents feeding their fledged young and a pair of White-eyed Vireos feeding their fledged young. The vireos sure weren't trying to keep their location secret! They were being very noisy and the young birds were begging loudly. I haven't seen any activity at the Spanish moss where I thought the Northern Parulas were nesting. Either they didn't nest there or she's sitting on eggs still. I'll keep watching it and see if there is any activity around it in the next week or so.

I discovered my list from Apr. 25 that I didn't input into my record keeping program. I wrote them down in a different book and forgot I put them there. Anyway, I entered them and realized that the Blue-winged Teal I saw was the first one for my property ever! Actually it was a flock of two drakes and two hens. They make property bird #185 for me. So, my yearly counts are actually higher than I thought.

Birds Seen 4/25 (26 species): Great Egret, Cattle Egret, White Ibis, Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagle, Red-shouldered Hawk, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Common Nighthawk, Chimney Swift, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Great Crested Flycatcher, White-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, Purple Martin, Carolina Chickadee, Carolina Wren, Eastern Bluebird, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Magnolia Warbler, Summer Tanager, Northern Cardinal, Indigo Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird

'08 Birds Seen as of 5/4: 117
'04 Birds Seen as of 5/4: 103

Success with bluebirds!

We checked the bluebird box on Thursday, May 1 and this is what we found. The three chicks had fledged. We had predicted that Thursday would be the day.

We went out the day before and they were fully feathered and looked like they were ready to go.

Hopefully they'll do well.

I cleaned out the nest today. I'll watch for nest building activity. Brood #2 should get started in a couple of weeks.

A Pleasant Surprise This Morning

I got out around 9:00 this morning not expecting to see much. A strong south wind blew all night, and I figured the warblers and other migrants would all be gone. Boy was I wrong! The first bird I saw was a Yellow-breasted Chat in the thickets of yaupon holly and southern bayberry. Later down in the woods, I saw my first Bay-breasted Warbler of the season. There were quite a few birds out today. If this north wind continues tomorrow, I'm going birding right after church for a couple of hours.

I saw eight species of warblers today: Blue-winged, Northern Parula, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Bay-breasted, American Redstart, Hooded and Yellow-breasted Chat. Other migrants included Red-eyed Vireo, Eastern Wood Pewee, Great Crested Flycatcher, Veery and Ruby-throated Hummingbird.

Birds seen today 5/3/08 (38 species): Little Blue Heron, Cattle Egret, White Ibis, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Red-shouldered Hawk, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Barred Owl, Chimney Swift ,Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Great Crested Flycatcher, White-eyed Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, Purple Martin, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Carolina Wren, Eastern Bluebird, Veery, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Blue-winged Warbler, Northern Parula, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, American Redstart, Hooded Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, Northern Cardinal, Indigo Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, House Sparrow

'08 Property Birds as of 5/3/08: 113

'04 Property Birds as of 5/3/04: 103

Cautiously Optimistic

This morning I watched an SY male Purple Martin performing the "Claiming-Reclaiming Display." In the Stokes Purple Martin Book, they describe that behavior as "accompanied by song and involves the male leaving a nest hole, flying in a large circle, and returning to the hole in a steep dive punctuated with fluttering wings as he lands. He then quickly enters the hole, turns around, and sings from this position. It is done most frequently when male martins are trying to attract females to their territories." (pg. 36) I can't describe how happy I would be if I could get martins. They would have a good home here.

One reason I'm cautiously optimistic is this is the first time I've seen an SY male martin doing anything around the house. In the past, I would hear martins around it, but they were always ASY males with females just coming to check it out. So, combine the fact that this is an SY male (SY males are the ones that almost always establish a new colony) and he's doing the claiming-reclaiming display, I'm cautiously optimistic. I'll keep you updated.

Back Online! Finally!

We finally have our computer back. I was able to input all my birding records for the year since I had backed them up. I had to add the birds I've seen over the past couple of weeks. Anyway, now I know where I stand in my property big year.

Birds Seen as of 5/29/08: 111
Birds Seen as of 5/29/04: 106

When I was inputting the birds I've seen over the past couple of weeks, I started thinking of all the birds I haven't seen this year: Worm-eating Warbler, Canada Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, Yellow-breasted Chat, Scarlet Tanager, Baltimore Oriole, Bay-breasted Warbler, Blue Grosbeak and all the thrushes. I was a little worried I would be behind quite a bit. I was pleasantly surprised to find I was ahead by six!

A little plug for backing up - If you don't, start today! If I hadn't had my records backed up, I would have lost everything. Now I've got them backed up in three places: on my hard drive, on my external hard drive and on my flash memory stick. I will back up everytime I enter new data in all three places.

Warblers! Warblers Everywhere!

I knew this morning was going to be good. The front passed yesterday with a pretty good line of rain. The north winds were blowing 10 - 15 mph. The blew all night, so I knew the migrants that came in yesterday afternoon would have spent the night here and would be feeding waiting for more favorable south winds to continue their journey north. I wasn't disappointed.

In about 2 hours of birding, I saw 16 species of warblers! Black-and-white, Black-throated Green, Blackburnian, Blue-winged, Cerulean, Chestnut-sided, Golden-winged, Hooded, Kentucky, Magnolia, Orange-crowned, Tennessee, American Redstart, Northern Parula, Common Yellowthroat and Ovenbird. The one that surprised me the most was the Golden-winged. I saw six individuals, which is more than I've seen probably in my whole life! At one point, I had a Black-throated Green, Magnolia and Chestnut-sided in a single binocular view! I don't know that I'd call this a fallout, but it was definitely busy! I wish I could go out this evening when the new wave of migrants comes in. Maybe I can get out for an hour in the morning if there is still a north wind.

Another thing that kind of surprised me today was the number of White Ibis I saw flying over. I saw flock after flock of 20+ birds fly over. Everytime I got a clear view of the sky, a flock would fly over. I don't think I've ever seen that many.

A note from 4/26: I saw a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak in the mulberry tree on the east side of the house. I haven't seen them at my feeders yet, but it was nice to see him there. Also a Tri-colored Heron flew over. He was the first one I've seen from the property all year.

Birds Seen 4/28 (47 species): Red-winged Blackbird, Eastern Bluebird, Indigo Bunting, Painted Bunting, Northern Cardinal, Gray Catbird, Carolina Chickadee, Eurasian Collared Dove, Mourning Dove, Cattle Egret, Red-shouldered Hawk, Little Blue Heron, White Ibis, Blue Jay, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Purple Martin, Ovenbird, Barred Owl, Northern Parula, Eastern Wood-Pewee, American Redstart, Spotted Sandpiper, Barn Swallow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Summer Tanager, Tufted Titmouse, Red-eyed Vireo, White-eyed Vireo, Turkey Vulture, Black-and-white Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Blue-winged Warbler, Cerulean Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Golden-winged Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Cedar Waxwing, Downy Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Carolina Wren, Common Yellowthroat

Monday Bluebird Update

Still just three hatchlings in the nest. If the other two eggs don't hatch today or tomorrow, they're probably infertile and will need to be removed from the nest. I'll give them a few days.

More Bluebirds Hatch

The kids and I checked the box this afternoon and two more of the eggs had hatched. I hope the other two hatch soon and aren't infertile. If they don't hatch by Tuesday, I'll consider removing them from the nest. Here is a picture of the three that have hatched. The one on the top left is the newest. The downy feathers were still wet.

The Swallow-tailed Kite made a brief appearance today. I grabbed the camera, but by the time I got outside, he was too far away to get a picture. He couldn't have stayed around for 10 minutes like he did on Friday! I'll have to have the camera ready for future appearances.

Saturday, April 12 - Hatching Day!!!

The bluebird eggs began hatching today! One egg hatched today. Now comes the tough job for the parents. Here's a picture of the newest bluebird. I put some Tanglefoot on the pole to keep the ants from getting to them. They should be pretty well protected with the Tanglefoot and the raccoon/snake baffle on the pole.

I was pretty excited about birding Saturday morning. A front moved through on Friday. Humidity was low. There were light north winds blowing. I was hoping some of the birds that might have headed north during the night decided to stay put until more favorable breezes began blowing. I wasn't disappointed. Swallows were everywhere! Barn, Bank, Cliff, Northern Rough-winged and Tree Swallows flew over in large numbers while I was down at the new pond. Vireos were out in good numbers too. Blue-headed, White-eyed and Red-eyed were singing quite a bit. Philadelphia were foraging in the trees. Warblers also made a good showing. Black-and-white were out in good numbers. A couple of Black-throated Green showed up in the tops of the trees. A Golden-winged was singing from the top of a tree. It took me about 15 minutes to finally locate him! The Northern Parula was singing at his tree. A male Hooded popped out of some tri-foliate orange trees and posed for me for a couple of minutes. Yellow-rumped are changing into their breeding plumage. Every year I have to stop and wonder what I'm looking at when I seem them changing. They really are pretty warblers in breeding plumage. A Summer Tanager became my friend while I was searching for the Black-throated Green Warbler. He got in some low branches and just watched me as I scanned the treetops and looked at him occasionally. He would sing a low song and just look at me. That was pretty cool. Maybe he was people watching. With the cooler temperatures and lower humidity, the mosquitoes weren't as bad, which was nice.

Twice I was scolded by adult birds because I got too close to their fledglings. Just as I entered the woods, a Carolina Wren began scolding me and I found two of their fledglings with the yellow still around the edge of their beak. Later in the woods, a Tufted Titmouse began scolding me and I quickly found the juveniles, also with yellow still around their beak. They look so cute with their short tails!

Here's a picture of an Eastern Kingbird that showed up in our front yard a week ago. I just got it off the camera yesterday.

Species seen on April 12 (47 species): Carolina Chickadee, Neotropic Cormorant, Eurasian Collared Dove, Mourning Dove, Cattle Egret, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Broad-winged Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Great Blue Heron, Little Blue Heron, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Blue Jay, Killdeer, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Purple Martin, Northern Parula, Spotted Sandpiper, House Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Bank Swallow, Barn Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Tree Swallow, Summer Tanager, Tufted Titmouse, Blue-headed Vireo, Philadelphia Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, White-eyed Vireo, Black Vulture, Black-and-white Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Golden-winged Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Pileated Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Carolina Wren

Thursday, April 10 and Friday, April 11

Thursday evening was pretty exciting for me. I got home from the office and went to change. I looked out of our bedroom window and saw hundreds of Mississippi Kites flying in a kettle. They flew around and finally went out of sight. I think it was the same group that showed up four more times. If it wasn't the same group, we had well over 300 Mississippi Kites migrate over our house on Thursday. That was a lot of fun to watch! I also saw my first Chimney Swift of the year.

I got out early on Friday morning. It was warm, humid and a decent south wind was blowing. The skies were threatening rain, although we got just a light shower during the day. One of the first things I noticed was the mosquito larvae had completed their cycle to become adults. They were really bad! Fortunately I had a can of Off! with me.

I wasn't expecting much with the south wind blowing. I did get a couple of new birds for the property year. I found a Black-and-white Warbler foraging in a tree. A Philadelphia Vireo was deeper in the woods. An Eastern Wood-Pewee was showing off his flycatching skills not too far away from the vireo. He would sit on a dead branch and fly off, catch and insect and fly back. One of the more exciting birds I saw flew over while I was mowing. I had just turned and started heading north and saw the Swallow-tailed Kite flying toward me. He was eating something on the wing. I couldn't tell what it was. He was flying maybe 100 ft. off the ground. After he finished eating, he started gaining altitude until he was probably 1/4 mile high and flew off to the north. He stayed around for about 10 minutes. That was a lot of fun to see him again this year.

I did get to witness some avian drama on Friday. I made my way over to the new pond to see what was going on with the Red-bellied Woodpecker nest that I watched them excavate. As I got closer, I saw the male woodpecker diving at the tree and calling. I thought that was a little uncharacteristic of him. As I got closer, I could see what he was so upset about. A 4' long rat snake was climbing the tree. The nest is probably 10' to 12' from the top of the tree. The snake climbed to the top, inspected an old nest hole, and turned around to head down the tree. I kept hoping he wouldn't find the woodpecker nest, but he found the hole, stuck his head in and then went in for a meal. I think there were just eggs in there at the time because I don't think they would have had time to lay their eggs and have them hatch yet. But, these woodpeckers will have to start over if they want to have a successful breeding season this year. It's a tough life being a bird.

Species seen on April 11 (37 species): Red-winged Blackbird, Eastern Bluebird, Indigo Bunting, Northern Cardinal, Carolina Chickadee, Eurasian Collared Dove, Mourning Dove, Cattle Egret, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Little Blue Heron, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, White Ibis, Blue Jay, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Mississippi Kite, Swallow-tailed Kite, Purple Martin, Northern Mockingbird, Northern Parula, Eastern Wood Pewee, White-throated Sparrow, Barn Swallow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Chimney Swift, Brown Thrasher, Tufted Titmouse, Philadelphia Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, White-eyed Vireo, Turkey Vulture, Black-and-white Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Cedar Waxwing, Downy Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Carolina Wren

Friday, April 4

Friday was fun. I was able to go birding with only minimal time constraints. The migrants were pretty sparse still. I have to keep reminding myself that it's only early April and the peak of migration is still two weeks away! For the remaining Fridays in April and the first couple weeks of May, I shouldn't have any time constraints, and I'll probably get to go out on Saturdays as well!

As far as the migrants go, Hooded Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Northern Parula, and Red-eyed Vireo were calling. I thought I heard a Great Crested Flycatcher, but never could locate him for a positive ID. I did see my first Ruby-throated Hummingbird of the year in the woods. An Upland Sandpiper called as it flew over. The Yellow-rumped Warblers are molting into their spring plumage. It's amazing the transformation that takes place. The drab, brown bird that we see all winter suddenly changes into a colorful bird that is fun to look at!

Speaking of Northern Parulas, I believe I have found the location of their nest. I have known they nest on our property, but never have been able to find a nest. I went out for an hour on Wednesday and observed a female going in and out of a clump of Spanish moss. She was doing the same thing on Friday. So, I'll watch for signs of them feeding young and set up a video camera to catch the action. Hopefully I can post a video of them on the blog.

On Sunday, I saw a Swainson's Hawk flying to the north of the house and got a good look at him. He is the first one I've seen for the year. Then this morning I was sitting in the living room before everyone got up and a Barn Owl flew somewhere near the house and screeched as he passed over.

Our computer is still down at the house. Apparently everyone except one guy from the Geek Squad at Best Buy called in sick today. Hopefully we can get it to them and get it fixed. So, I'm not sure where I am in comparison to 2004. I imagine it's pretty close still.

Birds Seen on April 4 (44 species): Cattle Egret, Little Blue Heron, White Ibis, Turkey Vulture, Red-shouldered Hawk, Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper, Upland Sandpiper, Mourning Dove, Eurasian Collared Dove, Great Horned Owl, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Blue-headed Vireo, White-eyed Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, Purple Martin, Tree Swallow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Bluebird, Hermit Thrush, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, Cedar Waxwing, Northern Parula, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Field Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Indigo Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, House Sparrow

A Little Spring Birding

When I got home from the office yesterday, no one was home, so I decided to walk in the woods for an hour or so. It was nice except for the extremely high humidity. The mosquitoes weren't bad at all, which was a nice surprise.

I did add a few new birds for the year. The migrants are definitely showing up. I got to the first tree that is covered in Spanish moss and a male and female Northern Parula were foraging together. A Yellow-throated Warbler was in the same tree. Indigo Buntings were calling and I finally saw a male and three females. Further south somewhere to the east of the new pond, a Red-eyed Vireo was calling from the tops of the trees. Barn Swallows and Northern Rough-winged Swallows flew overhead.

I'm not sure where I am for the year or where I am in comparison to 2004. Our computer has a corrupt file and we can't get it started. We'll get it fixed soon. I'll be able to update it then.

Birds Seen on April 2 (33 species): Cattle Egret, Black Vulture, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Spotted Sandpiper, Eurasian Collared Dove, Mourning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, White-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, Purple Martin, Tree Swallow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Bluebird, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, Northern Parula, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, White-throated Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Indigo Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, House Sparrow

Bluebird Update

The bluebirds have laid five eggs. The last one was laid on Sunday, March 30. I am putting the projected hatching date at April 12. The female is diligently incubating the eggs. I only see her out of the box when I go over to it to check on them. I'm trying not to disturb her too much.

I haven't been able to get out birding much. I had a doctor's appointment last Friday and wasn't able to get out. Then on Saturday I was busy all day. Hopefully I'll get out on Friday if the 50% chance of rain will hold off. I know there are Hooded Warblers, Black-and-white Warblers, Summer Tanagers, Kentucky Warblers, etc. down there just waiting for me to see them. It's killing me that I can't get down there. I may go birding even if it's raining lightly.

I'm really looking forward to the third weekend of April. One of my long-time birding buddies is coming down from Abilene to go birding on my property and at High Island over the weekend. It will be fun. The last time we were at High Island together was in 2002. In 1997, we just happened to be there on the weekend of a huge fallout. It was absolutely incredible! Well, good for us, not so good for the birds. For our sake, I'm hoping for the same kind of luck, but I hope the birds have an easier time of it!

The Cattle Egrets have made a return to the property. On Sunday I was outside when a large flock of them came in. They all landed around one of the calves and kind of spooked him! He started kicking and running from them. They didn't seem bothered by his actions much.