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
Friday, May 30, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
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!
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!
Saturday, May 17, 2008
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
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
Friday, May 16, 2008
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
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
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
#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
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
Saturday, May 10, 2008
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
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
Friday, May 9, 2008
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
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
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
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.
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.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
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
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
Saturday, May 3, 2008
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
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
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