Spring Creek Park

.Yesterday morning I drove up to Tomball to spend an hour or so birding in Spring Creek Park. I was hoping to add to my year list three birds that have recently been seen in the park: Red-headed Woodpeckers, White-breasted Nuthatch and Brown-headed Nuthatch. As it turned out, I didn't manage to see any of these three species but I still had an enjoyable time.

The most common birds were American Robins, most of which were foraging the grassy areas.

Resisting the urge to head north, a few American Goldfinch were hanging out in the trees next to the resident Eastern Bluebirds.

I spent a lot of time watching a pair of yellow-shafted Northern Flickers.

To my surprise, the Flickers were spending nearly all their time on the ground, which is not a behavior I associate with woodpeckers.

It took me a while to realize that they were feasting on ants.

As I was leaving, I managed to get a quick photo of a Spicebush Swallowtail, one of my favorite butterflies.

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