Changes along the Trail

While I was birding Saturday morning I was surprised and disappointed to find that the big dead tree at the end of Meadowheath near the new foot bridge had been taken down. Dead trees can be important resources to birds for foraging and nesting cavities. Also dead trees make high, open perches that are much safer than power line poles or cell phone towers. Off the top of my head, here's a list of birds I've seen on this tree. (The picture links to a page with several other pictures I've taken of this tree over the years.)

• Red-tailed Hawk
• Red-shouldered Hawk
• American Kestrel
• Osprey
• Turkey Vulture
• Northern Flicker
• Red-bellied Woodpecker
• Downy Woodpecker
• Blue Jay
• American Crow
  
• American Robin
• Northern Mockingbird
  
• Red-winged Blackbird
• Common Grackle
• Great-tailed Grackle
• European Starling
• Baltimore Oriole
• House Finch

The creek had also been mowed. Last year I tried to find out how often the county mows the creek and I never did. My guess is every 2 years. Without the tall grass and reeds, Red-winged Blackbirds will probably be much less common this winter.

At the last dam on Lake Creek about a quarter mile east of the T&C playing fields, the people constructing the hike-and-bike trail have partially diverted the creek from flowing through the dense greenbelt on the east side. Water is now mostly flowing in the main creek bed. This usually only happens after heavy rains. I don't know if this is permanent or not, of if it's good or bad. But the creek is beautiful where it flows through the dense greenbelt. Even though it's only accessibly by wading, I'd hate to see it dry up.

Cooper's Hawk, Goldfinches, and Sparrows

I took advantage of the beautiful cool mornings and birded the neighborhood both days this weekend. Saturday I was standing on the flood plain property in the tall grass near the end of Braeburn Glen when this Cooper's Hawk flew over. It landed in the top of a Cottonwood Tree right by me and I got this photo. It's a first-year bird just getting its adult plumage. Its back and cap will get a little bit darker, the reddish barring on the breast will get a little fuller, and its eyes will turn red. (They're just orange now.)

A little further north I found this pair of Lesser Goldfinches feeding on sunflower seeds. They let me get pretty close and I got this picture. The males have a striking black and yellow half-and-half pattern. The females can be tricky to tell apart from winter American Goldfinches. But one clue is that Lesser's are slightly yellow under the tail. Americans are all white under the tail.

What a difference a week makes! I had several first-of-season sightings of winter resident birds this weekend:

• Wilson's Snipe
• Yellow-rumped Warbler
• Chipping Sparrow
• Savannah Sparrow
  
• Song Sparrow
• Lincoln's Sparrow
• Spotted Towhee (just a glimpse)

It's fun to see native sparrows again. The common sparrows in the neighborhood are House Sparrows, an introduced old-world species. They live here all year long. But the sparrows I listed above are native species that only live here in the winter. They usually stick to low dense brush and tall grasses, so they're more challenging to find and see. But I think seeing their handsome and intricately cryptic plumages makes up for the extra effort.

Red-shouldered Hawk

On Sunday a neighbor on Sherbourne sent me this picture of a Red-shouldered Hawk he took in his backyard. I see both Red-shouldered and Red-tailed hawks in the neighborhood. Red-shouldered Hawks like to stay in the woods or edges of woods. They wait on a perch like this one and watch for prey to catch. That's why you find them in among the houses. Red-tailed Hawks like more open spaces and hunt more from the wing or from higher perches. So I usually see them by the T&C playing fields or just flying over other parts of the neighborhood. Both kinds of hawks live here all year long. During the winter we also get Cooper's Hawks and Sharp-shinned Hawks in the trees among the houses. And American Kestrels by the playing fields.

Osprey

I spent about 3 hours birding the neighborhood this morning and saw some of the best birds right in my yard. The trees by the garage had the largest mixed species foraging flock I saw all morning. It included year-round residents Black-crested Titmice and Carolina Chickadees, winter residents Oranged-crowned Warbler and Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and fall migrants Nashville Warbler and Black-throated Green Warbler.

Things were pretty slow the rest of the morning. I was afraid it was going to be one of those mornings when I walk 4 or 5 miles and don't find any birds more interesting than the birds right outside my house. But I found this Osprey by the last dam on Lake Creek downstream from the T&C playing fields. I first saw it near Parmer but it flew upstream until it was right over my head. It circled a few times (probably looking for fish in the dammed water there) and then continued upstream. Earlier I saw a bass that was at least 15 inches long in the creek, so hopefully the Osprey will have some luck!

Osprey are large hawks that eat fish. They are common on the coast this time of year, and I often see them on the Colorado River when doing bird surveys at Hornsby Bend. But this is the first one I've seen this fall in our neighborhood. This last pictures shows how you can recognize an Osprey from a distance. They often hold their wings in a shallow "M" shape. Other hawks usually hold their wings flatter, or in a shallow "V" shape up from the body. The Osprey's "M" shape is similar to the slightly bowed wing shapes of many water birds like gulls and terns.
On my way back home I found a single American Pipit in the creek bed, another first-of-season sighting of a winter resident bird species.

Footbridge In Place

This morning I saw a big crane truck drive down Broadmeade. I wondered if it was here to place our new hike-and-bike trail footbridge across the tributary creek at the end of Meadowheath. So when I left for work I drove to the T&C playing fields parking lot there. Sure enough, the crane was already extended and being attached to the footbridge. I checked again after work and took this picture. The bridge is in place!

Footbridge, Fall birds, and a Big Snake

I haven't properly birded the neighborhood in nearly 2 weeks. (I was in Port Aransas last weekend where the weather was hot and the birding was slow.) So this morning when I finally got down to the T&C playing fields parking lot at the end of Meadowheath, I was pleased to see some progress made on the hike and bike trail footbridge placed there in early September. This picture I took from the flood plain property shows where it will span the smaller tributary creek. Also the area for the parking lot at the end of Braes Valley St. has been cleared.

It took me nearly 90 minutes to get from my house to the flood plain property this morning because the birding on Stillforest was great! I ran into 3 different mixed flocks of songbirds foraging in the treetops. Many winter-resident species are returning. Highlights were:

• 1 Blue-headed Vireo
• Ruby-crowned Kinglets
  
• 1 Gray Catbird
• Orange-crowned Warblers (the first I've seen in the neighborhood this fall)
• Nashville Warblers
• Black-throated Green Warblers
• 1 Black-and-white Warbler

On the flood plain property and across Lake Creek I also found:

• 1 Ladder-backed Woodpecker (rare in the neighborhood)
  
• 1 Northern Flicker (the first I've seen in the neighborhood this fall)
• 1 Wilson's Warbler

Across Lake Creek at the northwest edge of the playing fields I got a small scare as I literally stepped over this huge snake! It's a Texas Rat Snake (Elaphe obsoleta lindheimerii) and I estimated it was almost 5 feet long. It was surprisingly calm and still. It hardly moved as I stepped over it and then took these pictures. These non-venomous snakes eat all kinds of small animals like rats, mice, frogs, and small birds. What a striking pattern it has!