Arquivos de periódicos de fevereiro 2014

15 de fevereiro de 2014

Group Walk Report for February 15, 2014

Seven folks joined me this morning for the monthly group walk. We had a beautiful clear morning. The temperature started in the mid or upper 40s at 9:00 AM and got to the upper 50s or lower 60s by 11:30 when we were done. Here are some highlights.

In the oak-juniper woods east of the gate we encountered a small group of White-tailed Deer that snorted at us and looked at us a bit before running off:

White-tailed Deer

By the spring we encountered a small mixed-species foraging flock with at least 2 Golden-crowned Kinglets which most of the group got to see and hear.

Near the northeast corner of the preserve we found a nice group of birds on the fence line. They were mostly White-throated Sparrows with a Northern Cardinal and Carolina Wren thrown in. Here's a photo of one of the sparrows. See the white throat, black-and-white striped head, and the yellow "cere" between the bill and the eye:

White-throated Sparrow

In the pencil cactus by the cowbird trap we looked for the Pyrrhuloxia I found a few days ago, but we were unsuccessful. However, nearby we did find the male Eastern Towhee that has been wintering on the preserve. This is a rare bird for the Austin area -- only a few are seen in Austin each winter. Here's a photo I took. It's very similar to the Spotted Towhee which is much more common in Austin in the winter. But notice the lack of white spots on its back:

Eastern Towhee

On our way back up the hill everyone got great looks at a female Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, another winter-resident bird in central Texas. And a little further down the trail we encountered another mixed-species foraging flock of songbirds that included Yellow-rumped Warblers, Carolina Chickadees, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and a brilliant male Pine Warbler. Here's a poor photo I got of the Pine Warbler:

Pine Warbler

Here are most of the same photos plus a couple more on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikael_behrens/sets/72157641027478674/

And here is our complete bird list:

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S16955229

Posted on 15 de fevereiro de 2014, 08:50 PM by mikaelb mikaelb | 0 comentários | Deixar um comentário

28 de fevereiro de 2014

Tracking Class at Monahans Sandhills State Park

Placeholder to group observations made during Earth Native Wilderness School's Wildlife Tracking Intensive 2013-2014.

Posted on 28 de fevereiro de 2014, 11:41 PM by mikaelb mikaelb | 39 observações | 0 comentários | Deixar um comentário