Sunday Afternoon Birding & Pipeline Hike

I arrived at the park today at 1:30 to walk some Golden-cheeked Warbler habitat. Two males were singing on adjoining territories. I weaved my way through the dense juniper understory of dead branches in search of an active nest but never found one. One male sang for a half hour as I walked his territory. In between his song he would make what I believe to be a contact call, ticket - ticket - ticket. At first I thought the female was close by responding to him. Perhaps it is getting close to egg hatching time and the male is changing his vocalization behavior toward his mate.

The bird blind has been bringing some surprising migrants lately. Just before I arrived, park manager Bill McDaniel, saw a male Scarlet Tanager. At 3:30 in the afternoon I saw a male Lazuli Bunting and a female Dickcissel at the blind. I also just missed a Black-headed Grosbeak that has been frequenting a feeder at one of the volunteer's campsites.

There have been plenty of snake encounters and observations lately at the park. Fortunately, I have not seen any up close but I am being more cautious on my forays climbing around rocks. One park employee stepped out of his truck and was immediately struck in the boot by a Copperhead Snake. A picture of the Copperhead is shown here. Volunteers have seen Rattlesnakes at the bird blind waiting for an unsuspecting bird at the water baths.

I finished the evening out hiking the pipeline trail with a 35 pound backpack on for what turned out to be a refreshing hike with gusty winds sufficiently cooling me on my training exercise.