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The first of our two full days in the Uvalde area dawned bright and sunny, so we drove up to Neal's Lodges in Concan. We had high hopes because the Lodges' website mentioned that they had put up even more feeders than usual this year. Well, when we got there we found that they had indeed put up lots of feeders - but they hadn't actually filled any of them!
The feeding station near Cabin 56 had only a few common birds, such as Carolina Chickaddes and House Finches.
However, further up the trail we came across a pair of Bewick's Wrens outfitting a birdhouse.
Several Golden-fronted Woodpeckers were busy nearby.
We walked down by the river and watched Lesser Goldfinch and Black-crested Titmice (below) visiting a fully-stocked feeding station near one of the cabins.
While Dee watched the feeder birds, I followed a pair of Vermilion Flycatchers along the river bank.
I also got a look at a pair of Red-shouldered Hawks before they took flight and disappeared.
Back at the Lodges' store, the trees were busy with Cedar Waxwings.
There were several Eurasian Collared Doves around, too.
We had lunch at the Lodges' restaurant. As we were leaving, another Golden-fronted Woodpecker was kicking up a racket.
Rather disappointed with the birding in Concan, we decided to head back to Uvalde to check out the town's Fish Hatchery and to pay another visit to Cook's Slough. Surely these two sites would produce some interesting birds!
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.Our trip didn't start well, as we had to drive the first 150 miles towards San Antonio in torrential rain. However, the rain stopped and the sun emerged before we reached Mitchell Lake, the Audubon-maintained birding area south of San Antonio.
The Bird Pond had a nice range of ducks, including Gadwall, Ruddy, Bufflehead, Ring-necked, American Wigeon, Blue Winged Teal and Northern Shoveler (below).
The trail by the pond was lovely but the only birds we saw were a Red-shouldered Hawk and some Turkey Vultures (below).
After half-an-hour we got back in the car and continued to Uvalde, where we were going to spend two nights. As it was only mid-afternoon, we drove past the motel and along to Cook's Slough, the town's premier birding site.
On our previous trips the area around the slough was clearly semi-arid land. This time, because of the recent rains, it was mainly covered in thick vegetation, making some of the trails impassable.
We were greeted by about 100 Black Vultures circling overhead and perching on utility poles.
Other birds were few and far between. A couple of Eastern Bluebirds and Verdins were too quick for me to photograph. I did better with a pair of Great Kiskadees.
We were entertained by two Black-bellied Whistling Ducks which were taking a late afternoon bath.
Rather disappointed by the low number of birds, we were walking back to the car when there was a sudden flurry of activity. Several White-crowned Sparrows accompanied by a Field Sparrow popped up in a nearby bush, while Red-winged Blackbirds flew over the road. Just ahead of us a male Vermilion Flycatcher perched on a utility wire. As always, the red of the plumage was almost too intense for my camera to handle.
As we reached the car, a bird flew onto the trunk of a tree at the side of the road. A Ladder-backed Woodpecker, one of our target birds for the trip and a good sighting with which to end the day.
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.The constant rain over the past few days has meant that most of my birdwatching at home has been carried out from indoors, through rain-streaked windows.
Our seed feeders have continued to attract up to a score of Chipping Sparrows every day. We're certainly going to miss these beautiful little birds when they finally decide to head north again.
Unfortunately, the seed feeders have also been attracting increasing numbers of House Sparrows. Yesterday I counted 8 on or near the feeders.
Downy Woodpeckers come to the suet feeders throughout the day but they aren't the only birds to snack on the suet. The latter is a favorite of our Northern Mockingbirds.
Even our White-winged Doves have learned to perch on the suet cages.
I get so irritated by the numbers of White-winged Doves that often flock to our yards that I tend to forget just how beautiful these birds are. I can think of very few other birds with such lovely eyes.
By contrast, I don't think that anyone can ever see a male Northern Cardinal without being impressed.
The female Cardinal has less dramatically colored plumage but she, too, is certainly always worth looking at.
Away
When you read this, we'll be away spending a couple of days in the Texas hill country. We're going to do some birding around Uvalde and Concan. It's a little early for warbler migration but we still expect to see some interesting birds. I'll start blogging about our trip on Thursday.
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.Work at the college eased up towards the end of the week and I thought I might finally get time to do some birding around the campus . Unfortunately, as work eased up the rains came down, and what little birding I managed to do was carried out mainly from my car.
The parking area near the nature trail was still attracting a score or more Savannah Sparrows. What delightful little birds they are!
Several more Purple Martins have now settled in to their houses. Their profile is distinctive, both in flight and when perched.
The Northern Harrier that arrived some weeks ago continued to make regular forays over the campus but I wasn't able to get any photos. Our pair of Red-tailed Hawks seemed to be spending most of their time perched on distant utility pylons, only occasionally venturing close enough for me to grab a photo.
We have a good array of birds on and around the retention ponds, including Ring-necked Ducks, Redheads, American Coots, Double-crested Cormorants, Great Egret and Great Blue Heron. These have now been joined by a few small groups of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks.
Several pairs of Whistling Ducks used to raise their families around the ponds until construction work drove them away last year. I'm hoping that some of the current visitors will decide to stay and breed.
The rain seemed to dampen the spirits of the Eastern Meadowlarks and Red-winged Blackbirds that usually fill the air with their songs. Our Great-tailed Grackles and Brown-headed Cowbirds (below) were uncharacteristically quiet, too, even during the brief spells when blue sky re-emerged.
We've always had a couple of Loggerhead Shrikes at CyFair but lately I've been seeing Shrikes all over the campus and so I suspect that our population has grown. I hope so because they have long been one of my favorite birds.
As next week is spring break, I probably won't get down to the campus. Hopefully, by the time I get back there the rains will have stopped and I will be able to do a more comprehensive survey of the campus.
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Early this week I managed to do somthing that I hadn't managed to fit in for about a month: Visit the Katy Prairie on my way in to work. My main motivation was to see if any interesting sparrows were still lingering in the area.
As usual, my drive down the Katy-Hockley Cutoff took me past several Crested Caracaras perched on utility poles.
I passed numerous Red-tailed Hawks, too.
At the Bear Creek bridge on Longenbaugh there was no sign of Pyrrhuloxias but I did spot a Harris's Sparrow.
Mixed in with many Savannah Sparrows were several Field Sparrows. One of them perched above my head and sang its little heart out for 3 or 4 minutes.
Heading back to the car ,I noticed a movement in another nearby. It was a Lark Bunting, one of the birds I had been most wanting to find.
Since it was now time for me to head to work, I tried not to stop to look at birds as I drove down Porter Road. However, I couldn't resist braking to check out a small bird perched on a field gate. I was pleased to discover it was a Grasshopper Sparrow.
Even though Grasshopper Sparrows aren't uncommon, I rarely see them and so it was a good sighting with which to end my early morning visit to the Katy Prairie.
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Our front yard used to be busy with woodpeckers throughout the year. A pair of Red-bellied Woodpeckers would dominate our suet feeders, and a pair of Downy Woodpeckers would sneak in to eat whenever the Red-bellieds weren't around. In the winter, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers would migrate into our area and spend hours each day drilling holes in our old elm tree.
For some reason, Red-bellied Woodpeckers stopped visiting us about a year ago. We would see them in neighbors' yards but never in ours. Then last fall we had to cut down the elm. As a result we haven't seen a Sapsucker in our yards this winter, although I have occasionally seen them visiting our next door neighbor's trees.
Luckily, our pair of Downy Woodpeckers have continued to be loyal visitors, making many trips each day to one or other of our suet feeders.
They are so comfortable in our yards that they often keep eating even if I walk past only 3-4 feet away.
Our luck improved still further last week: A Red-bellied Woodpecker started visiting the feeders in our front yard. Judging from the amount of red on his crown and face, I'd guess the bird is a youngish male.
He has only popped in at our feeders a few times so far but I'm hoping he settles in and eventually brings a partner along, too.
BTW, although the red belly that gives this species its name isn't as obvious as the red on the bird's head, it is sometimes clearly visible.
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.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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