Bird’s Eye View
There are so many to chose from, but this Pyrrhuloxia wins!
Day 16: February 26
The day starts with rain, but good for a moving day. After getting some supplies, we drove for 65 miles to Falcon State Park. Not much to report on except for upcoming elections at the local level and for the March Primaries for the House of Representatives. The “glamour'” signs were plentiful and we both noted the expense of this. Lots of things could be done for the community with that advertising budget.
We got Site 128 ($16 E/W), set up, put out some birdseed and watched the birds arrive in our yard:
Though this park is a great one for birds, it’s claim to fame is fishing, so the birding campers do all the feeding:
This was a great start to our stay (and it did warm up to the 70’s). We had twelve different birds come through the site, along with a Javelina:
Day 17: February 27
It was a misty, even rainy, morning but I still decided to do the guided Bird Walk with Sherry, the leader, and five others. It was an amazing day for birdwatching, but not for bird pictures; however, we saw 27 different birds! And the company and teaching was excellent.
Back at our yard, David got his own collection, including a Greater Roadrunner:
After lunch, we took a six-mile bike ride (and yes, there were way fewer birds) and spotted these Juvenile and Adult male Vermilion Flycatchers (the colours are quite different):
and these hawks (still working on a definitive ID But likely Harris`s), vying for a perch:
and these (Eastern or Western, hard to decide) Meadowlarks:
Back at the campsite, we noticed that, despite our belief it was Red-winged Blackbirds or Javelinas which cleaned all the seed from the ground, it was actually hundreds of red ants, each carrying a seed or piece of corn to a giant hole where another set of ants came to fetch them. Amazing:
Day 18: February 28
We got up early and went to Salineno, the well-run Birding Area a few miles away. We stopped for the usual picture of me, a Huisache (so fragrant) and the Rio Grande (with Mexico over my shoulder):
Our walk along the river (drug “mules” have been seen carrying their packages in the area) yielded a tree filled with White-winged Doves and a Swamp Sparrow (we think):
At the feeding area, we were reacquainted with Merle and Lois and their new rescue, Shamey, and enjoyed viewing 18 different birds (this is our Peanut Butter and Cornmeal and Lard collection):
including this Eastern Screech-Owl:
and the prized Audubon’s Oriole:
It was a perfect visit to this special spot. Oh, and remember those election signs from yesterday: this one today really caught my eye: he`s either pointing at the tractors, the cemetery or the great beyond:
We spent the rest of the afternoon in our own yard, saw a few birds, including this Verdin):
and a few butterflies (they liked the oranges):
All told, we have sighted 53 birds during our three night stay at Falcon State Park, many viewed from my chair!
No comments:
Post a Comment