Birding
Nothing like being back in South Texas to fill out a bird list. Last month, one state, 85 birds. The month before, 6 states, 107 birds. This month, 3 states (but only 1 day for Colorado and Oklahoma), and 158 birds. The October bird list:
| Black-bellied Whistling-Duck |
| Snow Goose |
| Canada Goose |
| Gadwall |
| Mallard |
| Mottled Duck |
| Blue-winged Teal |
| Northern Shoveler |
| Northern Pintail |
| Green-winged Teal |
| Redhead |
| Ruddy Duck |
| Ring-necked Pheasant |
| Pied-billed Grebe |
| American White Pelican |
| Brown Pelican |
| Neotropic Cormorant |
| Double-crested Cormorant |
| Anhinga |
| Great Blue Heron |
| Great Egret |
| Snowy Egret |
| Little Blue Heron |
| Tricolored Heron |
| Reddish Egret |
| Cattle Egret |
| Black-crowned Night-Heron |
| White Ibis |
| White-faced Ibis |
| Roseate Spoonbill |
| Wood Stork |
| Black Vulture |
| Turkey Vulture |
| Osprey |
| Bald Eagle |
| Northern Harrier |
| Cooper’s Hawk |
| Red-shouldered Hawk |
| Swainson’s Hawk |
| White-tailed Hawk |
| Red-tailed Hawk |
| Golden Eagle |
| Crested Caracara |
| American Kestrel |
| Merlin |
| Peregrine Falcon |
| Clapper Rail |
| Sora |
| Common Moorhen |
| American Coot |
| Sandhill Crane |
| Whooping Crane |
| Black-bellied Plover |
| Snowy Plover |
| Semipalmated Plover |
| Piping Plover |
| Killdeer |
| American Oystercatcher |
| Black-necked Stilt |
| American Avocet |
| Greater Yellowlegs |
| Willet |
| Lesser Yellowlegs |
| Long-billed Curlew |
| Marbled Godwit |
| Ruddy Turnstone |
| Red Knot |
| Sanderling |
| Least Sandpiper |
| Dunlin |
| Stilt Sandpiper |
| Long-billed Dowitcher |
| Wilson’s Snipe |
| Laughing Gull |
| Franklin’s Gull |
| Ring-billed Gull |
| Herring Gull |
| Gull-billed Tern |
| Caspian Tern |
| Black Tern |
| Common Tern |
| Forster’s Tern |
| Royal Tern |
| Sandwich Tern |
| Black Skimmer |
| Rock Pigeon |
| Eurasian Collared-Dove |
| White-winged Dove |
| Mourning Dove |
| Inca Dove |
| Common Ground-Dove |
| Great Horned Owl |
| Burrowing Owl |
| Common Nighthawk |
| Ruby-throated Hummingbird |
| Belted Kingfisher |
| Golden-fronted Woodpecker |
| Red-bellied Woodpecker |
| Northern Flicker |
| Eastern Wood-Pewee |
| Eastern Phoebe |
| Say’s Phoebe |
| Vermilion Flycatcher |
| Great Kiskadee |
| Couch’s Kingbird |
| Scissor-tailed Flycatcher |
| Loggerhead Shrike |
| White-eyed Vireo |
| Blue Jay |
| American Crow |
| Common Raven |
| Horned Lark |
| Tree Swallow |
| Northern Rough-winged Swallow |
| Cave Swallow |
| Barn Swallow |
| Brown Creeper |
| Cactus Wren |
| Carolina Wren |
| House Wren |
| Marsh Wren |
| Golden-crowned Kinglet |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet |
| Swainson’s Thrush |
| American Robin |
| Gray Catbird |
| Northern Mockingbird |
| European Starling |
| Sprague’s Pipit |
| Orange-crowned Warbler |
| Nashville Warbler |
| Northern Parula |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler |
| Black-throated Green Warbler |
| Yellow-throated Warbler |
| Pine Warbler |
| Palm Warbler |
| Black-and-white Warbler |
| American Redstart |
| Common Yellowthroat |
| Wilson’s Warbler |
| Summer Tanager |
| Savannah Sparrow |
| White-crowned Sparrow |
| Northern Cardinal |
| Indigo Bunting |
| Dickcissel |
| Red-winged Blackbird |
| Eastern Meadowlark |
| Western Meadowlark |
| Brewer’s Blackbird |
| Common Grackle |
| Boat-tailed Grackle |
| Great-tailed Grackle |
| Bronzed Cowbird |
| Brown-headed Cowbird |
| Orchard Oriole |
| House Sparrow |
Charlie’s Pasture
Sometimes the birding tower at the end of the boardwalk at Charlie’s Pasture is crowded.
Right now.
…you’re probably wondering if I’ve seen any Burrowing Owls since we’ve been back in Texas. Well, what a coincidence! I have some Burrowing Owl pictures to share!
The many moods of the Burrowing Owl.
Thursday
Nothing sweaty about today. The wind came back up and a cold front spun it around to the north. A north wind is a dry wind here. 81 degrees and a dry breeze from the north.
I love this billboard near our home; a constant reminder that not everything is as permanent here as we might otherwise think.
We live on a barrier island. Our island paradise intercepts and diffuses hurricanes from the gulf before they get to the mainland. There is nothing naturally occurring here that is over ten or fifteen feet above sea level. The weather takes what we build and makes it impermanent. We build here and live here, recognizing that we’re not really in charge; we’re just using the space for a while.