More Winter Birds

I spent 3 hours birding the neighborhood in the quiet fog this morning. I enjoyed seeing some bright red Virginia Creeper on a few trees, one of our only examples of fall color so far. I covered some of the streets between my house and the T&C Playing Fields, and birded Lake Creek Trail between the footbridge and the parking lot at Braes Valley. At the corner of Chester Forest and Stillforest I found this first-year Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. (The light was low so the picture is not very good.) The bird let me get quite close and I could see that it was working on a row of existing sapsucker holes in the tree trunk. Sapsuckers create rows of holes like this and drink the sap that oozes out. (They also eat insects.) Once you know what they look like it's amazing how many sapsucker holes you can find on trees. Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers are newly returned winter residents here.

Our newly returned Ruby-crowned Kinglets were numerous this morning. I found one mixed species foraging flock on Stillforest that had 15-20 of these birds in it. And for the first time this fall Yellow-rumped Warblers were easy to find and see. I saw 12 this morning, mostly by the creek where I watched some of them eating Poison Ivy berries. I got this picture of one bird near Holbrook Trail.

While I was walking back home on Broadmeade, 2 American Goldfinches flew over me making their soft distinctive call. These were the first I've seen this season.

NASWC Bird Walk

I wasn't sure if anyone would show up the morning after Halloween, but 7 of us participated in the November NASWC Bird Walk this morning. We enjoyed clear and cool conditions and found 37 species of birds. Here are some highlights:

• At 7:00 AM mist was over the Parmer Village drainage pond, partially obscuring 3 American Coots and 4 Pied-billed Grebes. The picture above shows one of the grebes in the mist.
• By the last dam we got great looks at a Blue-headed Vireo, one of the more colorful winter-resident songbirds that has recently returned. Some of us also saw an Indigo Bunting, which is on its way south. It's a bit late to see them.
• Also by the last dam this Double-crested Cormorant was perched on a dead tree over the water. These large duck-like winter-resident birds swim under water and catch fish.
  
  
  
• A few of us took a close look at a clear shallow area of the creek and we found it loaded with tiny life. I was surprised by this snail crawling upside down on the surface tension of the water!
  
  
• Further upstream we got good looks at 2 Nashville Warblers, 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and 1 Orange-crowned Warbler.
• Throughout the morning we got brief looks at several species of native sparrows which are newly returned winter residents of our neighborhood. They included Vesper Sparrows, Lincoln's Sparrows, Song Sparrows, 1 Savannah Sparrow, and 1 Chipping Sparrow. I got this picture of one of the Song Sparrows.
  
  
  

Cormorant

I spent the entire morning birding the neighborhood and it was a great morning to be outside. The temperature started in the low 50s and rose to about 70 while I was out, and conditions were clear and mostly still. I got this picture of a Magnolia Tree bloom in the bright early morning light on Tottenham Court.

The birding was a bit slower than last weekend, but winter-resident birds are still arriving. This morning I saw these 3 species for the first time since last winter:

• I found a single Wilson's Snipe on the creek near the end of Meadowheath. These odd-looking and odd-sounding birds can commonly be found on our creek during the winter, hiding in the vegetation near the water.
• I saw and heard a White-throated Sparrow in the woods near the last dam on the creek. These native sparrows winter in our neighborhood in patches of dense woods in the low undergrowth.
• Late in the morning on Woodmere I ran into a small mixed-species foraging flock in the trees that included a Blue-headed Vireo.

Near the last dam on the creek I got these 2 pictures of a Double-crested Cormorant perched on a dead tree. It saw me and flew off, and you can see it crouching to jump into the air in the second picture. These are common water birds in Texas in the winter, especially on the coast where many people call them "Water turkeys". Cormorants are similar to diving ducks and swim underwater to catch fish. But they do not have the wax gland that ducks have to keep their feathers dry, so they periodically have to perch and let their feathers dry out.

Influx of Winter Birds

I spent over 4 hours birding the neighborhood this morning and it was wonderful. For the past few weeks I've either been out of town or I've been involved in group birding activities. So I've been aching to just get out by myself and bird my own familiar turf. I didn't have to worry about maintaining schedules or giving driving directions or showing other people the birds that I spotted. This morning I treated myself to the basics. I just looked and listened for birds and forgot about the clock.

I was pleased to find 50 species of birds this morning, including a few south-bound migrants. And was was most exciting was finding the first substantial numbers of winter-resident species. Right on Broadmeade I found 2 large mixed-species foraging flocks of songbirds in the trees that included many of our winter resident Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Orange-crowned Warblers, and a few of the south-bound Nashville Warblers and a single Black-throated Green Warbler. The Ruby-crowned Kinglets were all over the place, and here's one I found by the footbridge on Lake Creek Trail.

In our neighborhood, most native sparrows are only here in the winter. (Our year-round resident House Sparrows were introduced here from the old world many years ago.) I was pleased to find a few Lincoln's Sparrows, Vesper Sparrows, and one Savannah Sparrow along the creek. I also saw a few meadowlarks long our hike and bike trail. One of them flushed and flew up onto a Rattlebush plant and allowed me to get this photo. (I cannot tell if this bird is an Eastern or Western Meadowlark. The easiest way is by their song, and all the meadowlarks I saw this morning were quiet.)

I found 5 species of woodpeckers this morning, which is the most I've ever seen in one outing in our neighborhood. 3 of these were year-round residents -- Downy, Red-bellied, and Ladder-backed. But the other 2 were newly arrived winter residents. I counted 6 Northern Flickers and got this picture of one along the creek.

And I was excited to find just 1 first-year Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in the woods by the last dam on the creek. Here's a picture I got of it.

I had pretty good luck seeing hawks too. I found 2 American Kestrels (a winter resident species), 2 Swainson's Hawks (on their way south), and heard 1 Broad-winged Hawk (probably on its way south too). What a morning!