Sunday Bike Ride & Bird Happenings

This year I will no longer be doing the Breeding Bird Survey at the park. I have written up my report and submitted it to the Texas Ornithology Society for publication in their bulletin. Its title: 2008-2010 PROTHONARY WARBLER, Protonotaria citrea, NEST BOX STUDY & SURVEY of BREEDING BIRDS at PEDERNALES FALLS STATE PARK, JOHNSON CITY, TX.

Spring migration is underway so I visited the park today to checkout the bird blinds, bike the Wolf Mountain Trail, and look for Golden-cheeked Warblers. Along my travels I ran into 8 Golden-cheeked Warbler males singing and had an excellent view of one near Jones Springs. A first park bird for me was a Northern Harrier which took off from the field behind the bird blinds. Eastern Bluebirds are nesting in the park for the second year in a row. Spotted Towhees have finally showed up at the blinds. There were seven species of sparrows including the Dark-eyed Junco, White-crowned and Lincoln's sparrows.

Blind Happenings & Hike

This morning I spent over an hour in the bird blinds and was pleased to see the first year male Pyrrhuloxia come for its morning meal of peanut butter mix. This bird has been showing up at the feeders for a few weeks to drink water only but it finally discovered better fare. It now comes several times a day to eat this mix.
The blinds had quite a bit of bird activity today. Twenty five species of birds for me today. Saw Song Sparrows down by the river. We also saw a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker at the blinds. Nothing real unusual happening avian wise.
I also walked the nature trail and discovered nest box #2 is gone. This box is one of two located at Twin Falls mounted to metal poles. Someone pulled the pole out of the ground and hauled it off somewhere.
I still have hopes of attracting Prothonotary Warblers to this site and others located along the Pedernales River within the park. But the boxes do need to be maintained. I just finished writing up a three year report and have submitted it to the Texas Ornithological Society for publication in their Bulletin.

2011 New Years Day at the Park

I rang in the New Year Sunrise at Pedernales Falls State Park this morning. This photo was at 7 AM with Venus shining above the waning moon. A few clouds on the horizon postponed the real sunrise so I decided to head over to the bird blind. Calm air, no birds until 7:30. The first bird was an Orange-crowned Warbler drinking at the water feature. It looked as if the birds had become acustomed to the hosts feeding time of 9 AM so I headed for the trail to warm up hiking a 2 mile stretch of service road down to the river.
I was pleasantly surprised during the first ten minutes with an American Robin welcoming in the New Year and a single Verdin! The Verdin is a first for me at the park and Robins I do not see very often there. I watched the Verdin for 15 minutes as it fed by itself in the Juniper trees near the road. Then came a sharp call which turned out to be a Spotted Towhee. All great omens for the new year at the park.

Down by the river a few Double-crested Cormorants, Red-shouldered Hawk, flocks of sparrows and goldfinches. I saw the usual mix of wrens, chickadees, titmouse, pheobes and Ladder-backed Woodpeckers. In all I saw 27 species of birds.

I am enclosing a picture of a Golden-fronted Woodpecker I saw at the bird blind Christmas Day. It has been showing up regularly this winter at the blinds. Also seen on Xmas day were two Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers down at the Boy Scout Campground.

September Migrants

I decided to catch a few migrating birds at the blinds today. Arriving at 8 AM I watched for almost 2 hours about a dozen Cardinals or more. I did see three warbler species: Nashville, Wilson's and Yellow Warblers. The latter were several individuals, male, female and first year birds, seen repeatedly.
One female Summer Tanager and one first year bird. Two plus Ladder-backed woodpeckers but no sparrows of any kind were sited. I had all year-round wren species: Carolina, Bewick's and Canyon Wrens. The latter I heard down stream from Jones Springs where I finished out the morning mountain biking the Wolf Mountain Trail.
Also had a male Ruby-throated and several Black-chinned Hummingbirds at the bird blinds.

2010 Nest Box Checks Today

Hot and steamy morning at the park. Only a few birds were singing like the Summer Tanager and Painted Buntings. Lynn Kuentsler, the park peace officer, helped me get back to two of my remote sites along the Pedernales River.

As noted earlier in the season nest box 4 was the only box occupied this year by a Black-crested Titmouse. This is the first box to be used in the park since the study began in 2008. All the nest box wood is well seasoned and may prove more attractive to birds in coming years. Several of the boxes along the river were submersed during flash floods which deposited 3-4" of silt in the bottom.

Water levels are up 1 foot in the river right now after recent rains. All the vegetation in the park is lush and green. Quite a change from last year. Lynn reported the Lacey Cactus bloomed profusely this past week.

We ran across this Texas centipede which is about 5 inches long. Not something one would like to pick up by any means.

Hot Day with Plenty of Bird Songs

Though the breeding season is almost over I had many birds singing today. Whether they are late nesters or second nesting they sure are enjoying this hot summer day. Temperatures began at 74 degrees under clear, calm skies and a partial lunar eclipse between 5:30 and 6 AM (picture).
Today I saw family groups of the White-eyed Vireo, Summer Tanager and the Eastern Phoebe. Still hearing Black & White Warblers, Northern Parulas, Louisiana Waterthrushes as well as buntings and Blue Grosbeaks. I saw Purple Martins for the second time this year flying over the park.
Water levels in the Pedernales River are at their normal lows. This is my last official survey of the season. I must return to open up all the boxes to see what may have hung out in them besides birds this year. One out of ten boxes was used by the Black-crested Titmouse.

The third photo shows the mouth of Hackenberg Creek where I have nest box seven and eight one on each side.

Summer Solstice Outing

Having not surveyed last weekend I certainly made up for it this morning. I had many surprises, not all avian. The morning started out calm, humid and slightly overcast at 73 degrees. With no wind I should have heard a pin drop but my first walk-in along Hackenberg Creek there was a deafening buzz of insects. I am not sure if they were cicadas. They may have been another species of insect. Does anyone have a clue?
The Red-eyed Vireo was the most incessant songster of the day. Not a single Golden-cheeked Warbler was seen or heard. The breeding season looks to be over for them. I still have a Least Flycatcher singing on territory at Tobacco Creek. He definitely is not a Western Flycatcher. His song is the distinctive "Che-bek". This bird has a white eye ring and two dull wing bars. When the bird sings it flicks its tail and wings. I am very familiar with this species as I had them on breeding bird surveys in Upper Michigan.
At Tobacco Creek Seep I finally had the opportunity to photograph the Louisiana Waterthrush nest after the young fledged. This pair of waterthrushes chose to build their nest right in the middle of the seep on a slope that was dangerous for both four and two footed creatures to approach. The first photo above is an area shot, the second the nest.
Flybys today were a Crested Caracara, two Green Herons and a Great Egret. The Yellow-billed Cuckoos continue to be abundant this year.

I happened upon a huge Walking Stick by nest box #4 at Trammel Crossing. This fellow was over 4" long. Lucky I had gloves on when I handled it as I noticed nice sized claws at each leg joint. I also believe I found my first ever Indian arrowhead laying at the base of a sapling where the tree growth raised it out of the ground. The Summer Solstice certainly was filled with a variety of surprises for me!