Crested Caracara in Lakewood

This morning as I arrived at my office, I saw a large bird flying in the distance. I grabbed my 8x21 binoculars out of my glove box and found it. It was a Crested Caracara flying somewhere over the bay. He flew around for several minutes before disappearing behind the trees as he was moving south. I believe he's the first Crested Caracara I've seen in Harris County. It's amazing to think that ten to fifteen years ago, this sighting would have made the rare bird alert. Now, while not common, it's not all that surprising to see it. They, along with several other tropical species, have been moving northward and expanding their range from Mexico and the Rio Grande Valley.

Finally!

After five and a half years, a Red-bellied Woodpecker has finally found my feeders! I was beginning to think they would never come to my feeders, although they are regularly in the hackberry tree right behind them. They try to nest every year in the top of a telephone pole at the end of our driveway. This morning there was a male and female there checking out the hole that has been drilled. Unfortunately, there were also a couple of starlings eyeing the same hole. I hope the woodpeckers win that battle.

The male Red-bellied Woodpecker at
the top of the telephone pole in my yard.

A Purple Martin flew over this morning serenading me with his bubbling song. I've got my martin housing up, but I'm beginning to lose hope that I'll ever have martins nest in them. I know it's early in the season, but I'm not anticipating having them this year. But, I'll keep them up just in case!

The Carolina Wren that comes to my suet has been singing his heart out for the past few mornings. I woke up early this morning and listened to the chorus of birds in the pre-light hour. I haven't seen the Eastern Bluebirds that were checking out my nest box in a while. I see the pair that nested in my aunt's yard regularly over there.

We're about two weeks away from when I typically see my first Northern Parula on the property. About a week after that I'll start seeing Hooded Warblers. It's hard to believe spring is upon us again! It will be interesting this spring to see how the birds respond to the thinned woods because of Hurricane Ike. I know our woods took a hard hit. Maybe they'll be easier to see?

The Great Backyard Bird Count is this weekend. I spent three hours birding today, watching my feeders and walking in the woods to see what was out there. Overall I had a pretty good day for a warm, wet February day. For the GBBC, I record all the birds I see and the maximum number I see at one time. For instance, if I see 2 cardinals at 7:00, 4 cardinals at 8:00 and 3 cardinals at 9:00, the number of cardinals I report is 4 since that is the most I saw at one time. That system eliminates the possibility of counting one bird multiple times. I may start keeping records like that every time I go birding. There were a few nice surprises today. A Barred Owl flew into a tree and looked at me for a couple of minutes before flying off. While at the new pond, I heard an interesting bird call that I couldn't identify. I walked into to woods to find three Hermit Thrushes making the calls. As I walked further into the woods, two Great Horned Owls were sitting in a tall tree watching me. I saw them before I made them fly away. That was neat to look at them. If I had only had my camera . . . An interesting observation is I saw no American Goldfinches. The woods should be full of them.

I'm not sure why (climate change? hurricane?) but several of the oak trees still have green leaves on them. Mostly willow oaks and water oaks have them, but there were even a few post oaks that still had leaves. I just wonder why that happened. It's interesting that trees considered to be deciduous (trees that lose their leaves in the winter) have not this year. On many trees that lost their leaves, I noticed buds coming in. Spring is coming.

Birds Seen 2/13/09 and numbers (31 species): Eurasian Collared Dove (4), Mourning Dove (1), Great Horned Owl (2), Barred Owl (1), Red-bellied Woodpecker (2), Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (1), Downy Woodpecker (1), Northern Flicker (1), Pileated Woodpecker (2), Eastern Phoebe (1), White-eyed Vireo (2), Blue Jay (2), American Crow (3), Purple Martin (1), Carolina Chickadee (2), Tufted Titmouse (3), Carolina Wren (1), Ruby-crowned Kinglet (3), Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (3), Eastern Bluebird (2), Hermit Thrush (3), American Robin (22), Gray Catbird (1), Northern Mockingbird (1), European Starling (5), Yellow-rumped Warbler (37), White-throated Sparrow (2), Northern Cardinal (2), Red-winged Blackbird (10), Brewer's Blackbird (45), House Sparrow (5)

Little Time For Birding

Today was a pretty nice day around the property. I didn't get a lot of time to go birding, but I was out in the woods doing some clearing on the fence line. I saw a Red-tailed Hawk for the first time in a long time. Robins were everywhere. I heard Purple Martins today for the first time this year, although I never actually saw one. Yellow-rumped Warblers were abundant today. Nothing spectacular, but a good day overall.

While down at the pond, a Great Horned Owl called repeatedly. When I got home, I lit a fire in the chiminea at the house and a Barn Owl flew past several times, screeching to make his presence known. After four or five passes, he lit on the kids' clubhouse and sat there for a few minutes. It looked like he was watching my bird feeders for rodents coming to snack on the seed.

Birds Seen 2/7/09 (21 species): Turkey Vulture, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Killdeer, Great Horned Owl, Barn Owl, Northern Flicker, American Crow, Purple Martin, Carolina Chickadee, Carolina Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush, American Robin, Northern Mockingbird, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Brewer's Blackbird, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow

Feeder Birds Today

This morning there were 25+ American Goldfinches on my oil sunflower feeders. A couple of cardinals showed up to snack on the safflower. Until all the Brewer's Blackbirds and Red-winged Blackbirds showed up. After they got their fill of millet, cracked corn and whatever else they could find, they left and the other birds returned. When the goldfinches came back, they were accompanied by a female House Finch. I haven't seen a House Finch at my feeders since May 22, 2007. I keep thinking they'll expand into this area, but so far I haven't seen any signs of that happening. I know lots of people don't like House Finches, but I really like them.

I haven't seen a Purple Martin yet, but they're coming back. If you haven't, check out the Purple Martin Conservation Association website and click on "Martins Are Back" to the right. When the map opens, you can see all the areas where martins have been reported. Also, you can click on the individual states to see who has reported martins and from which specific city. I think I'll get out and put my martin housing up and see if we have any takers this year. It's a beautiful day to do that!

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.