Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge

We went to Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge this morning to see what was around there. It is very, very dry. Most of the ponds are dried up. There is still some water in the canals, but not much anywhere else. There are hardly any ducks out there. We saw one flock of Snow Geese. Mallards were the only ducks. There are several Pied-billed Grebes in the canals. Savannah Sparrows lined the sides of the road. At one point, I "pished" and drew out Song Sparrows and Common Yellowthroats. ("Pishing" is making a noise like telling someone to be quiet.)

What we found quite a bit of is debris left from Hurricane Ike. We noticed along FM 1985 going to the refuge that we would have been under 8' to 12' of water in several places. All the way into the refuge, we could see grass debris in the trees and on the fence. At the entrance to the refuge, the visitor center is an empty shell, and one of the brick walls had been ripped off and all the windows were gone. As we started around Shoveler Loop in the refuge, we saw lots of building debris. I was trying to figure out where it all came from and finally realized it must have come from houses in Gilchrist on the Bolivar Peninsula. There was quite a bit of it. It was really kind of weird to think that I was looking at debris that had five months ago been someone's house. There were all kinds of things - pillows, a baseball bat, a recliner and lots of boards. Even though I go to my office and see the results of hurricane damage, it's different looking at debris knowing that someone's house was literally ripped apart to create it. They are still cleaning things up in Chambers County and have a long way to go.

Sign of Spring

This evening, two male Northern Cardinals were vying for the attention of a female Northern Cardinal. With gusto. They were singing to her and chasing each other off.

After hardly seeing any robins all winter, they showed up today! I got home from the office and there were 40+ robins in my yard feeding. They're coming to my birdbath quite a bit, along with the Yellow-rumped Warblers.

The Carolina Chickadees have found my suet. They have come to my oil sunflower feeders pretty regularly, but they've found the suet now. I just wish the Red-bellied Woodpecker that comes to the trees around my feeders would find it.

I think my family and I are going to visit Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge tomorrow morning to see what ducks are out there. I haven't been out there yet this winter.

Eastern Bluebirds

This time of year is always a tough one for me. I know the joys that spring brings - migration, nesting birds, new life and growth. I also know that spring is followed by summer and all it brings - heat, humidity, hurricanes and mosquitoes. So, as winter begins to wind down, I always reluctantly look forward to spring. This morning, I had one of those times which makes me very excited about spring coming. A male and female Eastern Bluebird were showing courtship display and checking out the nest box about fifty feet from my bedroom window. For the past two years, we've had bluebirds nesting in a box in my aunt's yard, but I was never able to attract them to the box in my yard. I moved the box out of the line of sight of the box in my aunt's yard with the hopes that we would have two pairs of bluebirds nesting. So, with those two around my box, I'm looking forward to spring to see if that comes true.

Other than that, not a whole lot is going on around here. There are still lots of Yellow-rumped Warblers in the trees around. The Carolina Wren continues to come for my suet. All the "normal" birds - Northern Cardinals, Blue Jays, Carolina Chickadees, Eurasian Collared Doves and American Goldfinches - continue at the feeders. I was out early this morning to hear the beginning of the chorus of territorial calling that starts as spring approaches. I enjoy listening to that every morning.

Beginning The Year in Colorado

January 5 - 10 found me in Colorado Springs for the National Conferences on Youth Ministries. The conference lasted from Monday through Thursday. Kristen and I decided to take Friday as a day to do some birding and sightseeing around Colorado Springs. We started that morning at the Fountain Creek Nature Center in the southern part of Colorado Springs. It was COLD! A cold front had moved through and snow was quickly following it. They have a really nice visitor center with bird feeders right outside the window. There were Red-winged Blackbirds all over them. But, there were several American Goldfinches, Pine Siskins and Dark-eyed Juncos (both Slate-colored and Pink-sided) at the feeders. Kristen and I decided to brave the cold and walk one of the trails. Just as we started, I saw my lifer Black-capped Chickadee. I know I've been in places where Black-capped Chickadees occur, but for some reason I have never laid my eyes on one until this trip. That was pretty cool. There were also a couple of White-breasted Nuthatches on the trees. I haven't really seen those guys in quite a few years. There wasn't much on the trails. The winds had really picked up and the temperatures were dropping. We came to a little bridge over a small stream and an American Dipper flew out from under the bridge to some cattails. It's been since 1996 since I've seen a dipper. We came to a larger pond that had quite a bit of the water open (most of the ponds were frozen). There were some Hooded Mergansers on the water, but then I saw two larger Common Mergansers a little further out. Those were new for me as well. I also saw the southwestern subspecies of the Song Sparrow that I had never seen before. It just got too cold to stay out anymore, so we decided to get in the car and drive to Focus on the Family where we could do some sightseeing indoors! There were several Black-billed Magpies in the parking lot. This guy stayed still long enough for me to get a shot of him.


We left Focus on the Family and drove to visit the home of a gracious lady who offered for us to go birding at her home. Her home is enough to make anyone envious. It's nestled in the foothills of the Rockies surrounded by tall pine trees. My target birds were Pygmy Nuthatches. Unfortunately, the Pygmy Nuthatches didn't cooperate, so I missed them. But, I did get to add Mountain Chickadees to my list. I haven't seen them since 1997, so that was a treat to see them.

Overall, my birding in Colorado Springs was good. I added two life birds and saw several birds I haven't seen in over a decade. I need to get out west to go birding more often! But, I saw 29 species:

Canada Goose, Mallard, Green-winged Teal, Hooded Merganser, Common Merganser, Pied-billed Grebe, Great Blue Heron, American Coot, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared Dove, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker (red-shafted), Black-billed Magpie, Common Raven, Black-capped Chickadee, Mountain Chickadee, White-breasted Nuthatch, American Dipper, American Robin, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Red-winged Blackbird, House Finch, Pine Siskin, American Goldfinch, Lesser Goldfinch, House Sparrow

We go back to Colorado Springs in two years. I told Kristen I'm going to take the entire day to go birding at lots of different places. Even though I enjoyed the snow, I hope it isn't in two years so I can get up in the mountains and go birding some.

2008 in Review

I began 2008 with the personal challenge to beat my 2004 record of 129 species in a year on my property. I had made it a goal to spend Friday mornings birding, and then go as often as possible during spring migration. I kept to that as much as I could. During the summer it got difficult to do that with my schedule, and then after Hurricane Ike walking became very difficult in the woods because of all the trees and branches that are down. Here is 2008 in review:

Species seen: 142, which broke my 2004 record of 129

Highlights: Hearing Pine Warblers singing for the first time; have two successful broods of Eastern Bluebirds in my box; seeing the Bald Eagle fly over on May 4; having flocks of Sandhill Cranes fly over; seeing American Pipits on my lawn.

New Property Birds in 2008 (10 species!): Savannah Sparrow (1/1), Vesper Sparrow (2/1), Caspian Tern (2/8), Neotropic Cormorant (2/29), Blue-winged Teal (4/25), Monk Parakeet (5/29), White-crowned Sparrow (10/28), Sandhill Crane (11/17), American Pipit (12/17) and Green-winged Teal (12/22).

Warblers seen during spring migration (3/1 - 6/1): 22 species

Birds I missed in 2008: Canada Goose, Greater White-fronted Goose, Wood Thrush, Yellow Warbler, Worm-eating Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, Northern Waterthrush, Scarlet Tanager, Blue Grosbeak

My property list stands at 190. I will keep my eyes open for the other ten that I need to get to 200. It's great living on this property!

Spring migration will be here before I know it! Purple Martins will be here in a month or so. The average date I see Northern Parula is March 10. Hooded Warblers usually show up around the last week of March. I am really trying to keep my schedule open in April and May to be able to go birding as much as possible.