Good Views of Birds at CyFair

My only New Year's Resolution for 2008 was to get to know my local birding sites better. Well, I've certainly done this with regard to the CyFair campus. This year I've managed to spend a few minutes almost every day birding the part of the campus nearest to my office, and this has paid off in that I've seen many more species there this year than in other years. I've also gained a much better idea of which birds are likely to be where, and when.

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This morning I arrived early so that I could fit in twenty minutes of birding before work. I started by scanning the soccer fields, which are often busy with birds in the morning and can be very good for sparrows. Today there were no sparrows but the usual groups of Killdeer and European Starlings were accompanied by a flock of about twenty American Pipits.

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Then I moved to the back of the MOD-1 building. I've frequently heard House Wrens back there but haven't actually seen one since February and have never managed to get a photo. This time I was a little more patient and a little more lucky. I had to wait only a few minutes before one popped up and serenaded (or was it scolded?) me from the building's exit steps.

House Wren

Starting back to the office, I was even luckier. I noticed a Turkey Vulture heading straight for me and only perhaps 30 feet in the air. When it got nearer, I realized it wasn't a TV at all but an adult Bald Eagle. I was so gobsmacked (as we say in Britain) at getting such a close-up view of this iconic bird that I'd let it fly right over my head and off to the north before I remembered that I was carrying my camera!