1st New Year Sunrise

The morning chill in the air brought in the birds to the bird blind. Ten species of sparrows including the elusive Fox Sparrow for a five minute show time at 7:35 AM. A Song Sparrow made its presence down by the Pedernales River. Spotted Towhees are common at the blind as are White-crowned and White-throated Sparrows. A single Dark-eyed Junco hung around at the crack of dawn for about a half hour. Several Orange-crowned Warblers have been frequenting the suet for the last month.
Along my hike down to the Pedernales River I saw a flock of Ruby-crowned Kinglets. There is one male who continues to visit the suet feeders at the blind who sports the ruby crown without any provocation. Though I did not checkout the Falls I could hear their roar from the bird blind. It appears the ground is still saturated from recent rains and river levels are good for this time of year.