Birding on Broadmeade Walk

This morning at 8:00 16 people joined me on the Parmer Village end of Lake Creek Trail for the monthly group bird walk. It was clear and sunny, and it was just a little bit cooler. Many fall migrant birds have been moving through the area lately and just a few winter residents have been appearing, so I was excited to see what we could find.

We spent some time in the tall grass by the creek bed and watched a few Yellow Warblers and Wilson's Warblers in the willow trees and ash trees around us. Two highlights were a fly-over American Kestrel, my first observation of this winter-resident falcon, and a first-year Blue Grosbeak that was almost cinnamon brown that spent some time at the top of an ash tree for us. Here's the grosbeak:



Making our way upstream we found a few more Wilson's Warblers and heard a couple Common Yellowthroats in the creek bed. When we made it up to the last dam, we spent some time there and got to see two Belted Kingfishers, both a male and female. Here's a distant photo of the female:





We also spotted this praying mantis waiting for prey underneath a Maximillian Sunflower. While we watched it tried to grab an American Bumblebee but failed.



In patches of dense brush and the strip of riparian woods near the dam various folks on the walk got brief looks at Gray Catbird, Nashville Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, Orange-crowned Warbler, and a female Downy Woodpecker. We made it all the way to the first low water crossing in the Town and Country playing fields where a Warbling Vireo was briefly spotted.

On our way back to the meeting spot we saw this large Texas Spiny Lizard hiding at the base of a winged elm tree:



We ended up finding 42 species of birds. Here's our complete eBird list.

And here are a few more photos on Flickr.