Apart from migrants and Purple Martins, last week was fairly quiet for birds on the campus.
One pair of Western Kingbirds is hanging out around the tennis courts but I haven't yet seen any sign of their nesting in the roof of the basketball court.
Nearby a Killdeer is sitting on its eggs while a partner hovers anxiously around. Both parents are always ready to start playing the broken-wing trick if anyone ventures close to the nest.
A Yellow-crowned Night Heron has taken to sunning itself on the streetlights north of the nature trail.
Our Loggerhead Shrikes prefer to sit on fence posts.
Now that it's nesting season, our Red-tailed Hawks are having a hard time. Whenever they fly over the campus they are attacked and driven off by Northern Mockingbirds. A Crested Caracara which flew over received similar treatment from a Loggerhead Shrike.
By the Way
Usually by this time of the year I've already done a couple of short out-of-state trips but I haven't been out of Texas so far this year. However, when you read this, I'll be in California, where I'm visiting a school in San Francisco. I've arranged my arrival so that I'll have time to do a little birding in the city on Thursday afternoon. Then I've rented a car for Saturday and will drive across the bay to check out some of my old birding haunts. With any luck, I should get to see quite a few different birds while I'm away!
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