Birding on Jan. 26

I spent a couple of hours walking in the woods this morning and had a really nice time. It wasn't all that cold. There were quite a few birds moving around this morning as well. I saw a few new ones for the year. The first one I saw was a Gray Catbird in some yaupon and southern bayberry thickets. I was following a White-throated Sparrow when I came across him. I would have missed him completely if it hadn't been for that sparrow! I was walking along the gully and a Blue-headed Vireo was working a tree with a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. I finally saw a Downy Woodpecker. I used to see Downies all the time, but haven't seen them regularly over the past year or so. The Downy was chasing the first Yellow-bellied Sapsucker I have seen this year. There were Yellow-rumped Warblers all over the place this morning! I saw one Orange-crowned Warbler. The robins were thick down in the woods. They acted and sounded really nervous. I expected to see a Cooper's Hawk chasing them, but never did.

It is WET down in the woods. It's good that we've gotten this much rain from the standpoint of filling the new pond (it's probably 1/3 full), but it sure has made walking difficult in lots of places. I took the four-wheeler down on Friday and looked at the old pond and it is filled completely. Maybe we'll dry out a little bit.

I am going to plant some wildflowers on the slopes of the new pond. Bluebonnets should work well there since they like soil that is well drained. I think I'll go ahead and plant the bluebonnets next weekend and the rest of the wildflowers around the first week of March when we probably won't get another frost. That will look really nice down there!

Birds I saw this morning (21 species): Turkey Vulture, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, Blue-headed Vireo, Blue Jay, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, American Robin, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Cedar Waxwing, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, White-throated Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, American Goldfinch

'08 Property Birds as of Jan. 26: 39