On Monday, we had a new species show up in our backyard. It was a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. Unfortunately, it was just passing through and hasn't been seen again.
A Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Coincidentally, when we spent two hours at Sheldon Lake Environmental Center last week, six of the eight birds that we saw were Blue-gray Gnatcatchers.
Note:
This takes our yard list to 42. That's bird species seen in our yards since we moved to Cypress in January 2005. Of course, the number would be a lot higher if we counted birds that overfly our property!
Aren't the little gnatcatchers wonderful? Over the years, I've had them, on rare occasions, in my yard during spring migration (including this year), but never have I seen one during fall migration. Since you have observed them in the area, I'm certainly going to be on the lookout.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I'm a lot more liberal in my interpretation of "yard bird." If it flies in my air space, it definitely goes on the list. I've even counted birds that were singing in my neighbor's yard but that I could hear in my yard, figuring that if they are that close, they'll wind up in my yard even if I don't happen to observe them there!
To be honest, one reason why I don't count flyover birds as yardbirds is that I didn't list them in our first year in Cypress and now I can't remember what I saw.
ReplyDeleteI don't count birds I hear nearby, partly because I'm really bad at identifying calls and songs!