White-winged Doves

Camille spotted a White-winged Dove nesting in the tree in our front yard. By the time we saw her, the eggs must have hatched, because by last week we already saw little heads popping up, and by Friday they had fledged and were perched next to the nest. It turns out that they fledged just in the nick of time, because the nest quickly fell apart and by Saturday it was completely gone!

We watched them through the storms on Friday and Saturday night, and they did just fine.
Sunday morning they were still perched near where their nest had been, and by the time we got home from church they were gone.

Good luck little guys!

If at first you don't succeed.....

The Commons Ford trip had a target bird - the Blue Grosbeak. And although we saw a female on Friday evening, we were still hot to see a male. We decided to give it another go on Saturday morning, and arrived at the park around 9am.

At the bottom of the hill, where signage directs visitors to the picnic area, I heard a sound that caused me to stop and listen. "I know that sound" I said, and listened more. "That's a bird, and I know that bird" was my next whispered comment. My mind worked over the problem until I realized I was hearing a Northern Parula. But should I have been hearing one? Aren't warblers migratory? What was this bird doing here in the summer? I looked through my Travis County Birds checklist, and sure enough, they are here all year. I confirmed what I was hearing with a recording I had with me on my Treo. Yes, that was the bird! And since we knew what we were looking for, we spotted the little guy and confirmed the ID. Very satisfying!


Northern Parula (Jim deVries)
As we continued on, we encountered Isaac and Patty who are frequent visitors to the park and who had shown us where the Blue Grosbeak could be found. It wasn't long after stopping and chatting that Camille followed her ears to a singing male Blue Grosbeak! "I've got him!" she said. We all had great looks at a beautiful bird very close by. Wow!
In all, we had 23 species in two hours. Great day birding!

Commons Ford Ranch Park

Saturday morning I birded Commons Ford Ranch Park. This park is in Austin and is accessed by driving from Bee Caves Rd and turning right on Cuernavaca. Take the first left on Commons Ford Rd. and the park is a few miles later on the left.
I got to the park around 7am and jumped the gate to get in. A Northern Mockingbird followed my progress down the hill until I got to the picnic area. I had originally planned to follow the road past the picnic area to the barn, but the allure of the water was just too great. I wanted to try for the Ringed Kingfisher, and early morning before the boats got busy seemed like the best time.
Unfortunately, I didn't get the Ringed Kingfisher that day, but I did get a very good ID on a Golden-fronted Woodpecker. I spent the whole morning walking around the park with brief rest periods on my little camp stool. That has been a welcome addition to my birding gear!
26 birds for a summer morning is not too bad. I know there were more birds there that I didn't ID, but I was happy for the ones I did get.

So I saw this bird....

My Office Window

I get questions at work every day from someone wondering if I can ID a bird they saw from their description.
"I saw this bird, it was red and had black on its face and long feathers on top if its head" - Cardinal
"I saw this bird that was black and white and red, and looked like it had spot on its back. The red was on the chest". - Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Everyone I work with must know by now that I'm crazy about birds. When I went on vacation recently, I posted a note on my door that said "gone birding", and every meeting I chair that uses a PowerPoint presentation starts with a "bird of the week" photo.
I feel like I've accomplished something just knowing that a few more people are aware of the birds around them.

Have you been to Hornsby Bend?

Pond 3 at Hornsby Bend

Hornsby Bend Bird Observatory is my favorite place to bird in Austin, and maybe in Texas. It is located east of the airport along CR973. The facility processes waste-water and produces Dillo-Dirt from it.
The first and most obvious birding opportunity is accessed from the main entrance by following the sign to the left indicating "Public Entrance". This takes you to two sludge ponds and the beginning of the River Trail. The ponds have a wealth of bird activity at all times of the year, from thousands of ducks in the fall and winter to shorebirds and waders in the spring and summer. At all times of the year a nice variety of perching birds can be found in the trees that line the ponds. I've seen everything from warblers and vireos to flycatchers and hawks.
Last winter I walked around the ponds at least once week for a month and saw many of the same birds in the same places over and over. They came to feel like old friends! There were two immature Vermillion Flycatchers hanging out and they were very predictable, as was a beautiful male Kestrel. The Loggerhead Shrike never dissappointed either.
These ponds are 1East, 1West and Pond 2. I joke about sunset over the sludge ponds being a thing of beauty, but it's not really a joke. I think it's stupendous.

My Favorite Birding Buddy

On my birthday in 2004 I was treated to a surprise birding weekend by my partner Camille. She knew nothing about birding at that time, but was resourceful enough to know who to call to get information. She hooked up with Charles Stephens of Wild Birds Unlimited and the Travis Audubon Assoc. who both gave her great tips on where to bird.
We started at Blunn Creek (a wonderful little city park near St. Edward's University) where we saw my first ever Black-and-White Warbler. We went to Hornsby Bend next and were introduced to that wonderful place for the very first time.
The next day we joined a TAS field trip to Pace Bend State Park - in the rain no less! It was on this trip that I saw my first ever Loggerhead Shrike (more on this bird in a future post).
Camille has become a terrific birder since that time, and is able to ID many of the birds in Texas now. She didn't have to love birding, but she does. She's my favorite birding buddy!