Nalle Bunny Run 2017-06-17

Only two people joined me on the monthly group walk on Hill Country Conservancy's Nalle Bunny Run Wildlife Preserve this morning. Starting at 8:00, we spent about 2.5 hours covering a little over a mile and finding 31 species of birds. Here are some highlights.

Early in the walk we heard and then saw a singing male Summer Tanager. As we watched it it moved closer, then was joined by a male Painted Bunting. They were almost in the same binocular view at one point. Here is probably the same Painted Bunting, photographed nearby before the walk started. And below it is the tanager.

On our way to the spring a juvenile Great Horned Owl flew downhill across the trail and into the woods. This time of year there are many new birds, recently out of their nests. Some other juvenile birds we saw were Northern Cardinals, Black-crested Titmice, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, and this Eastern Phoebe by the pools just below the spring:

In the open spaces of the sandy prairie area down by the lake, the air was full of insects and birds. Insects too small for us to see were being hunted by dragonflies, flycatchers, and swallows. Dragonflies included Wandering Gliders, Spot-winged Gliders, Red Saddlebags, Black Saddlebags, Prince Baskettails, and some kind of river cruisers. The swallows were mostly Cliff Swallows and Barn Swallows, with a couple Northern Rough-winged Swallows mixed in. The flycatchers were Western Kingbirds, and here's one perched on a blooming mesquite tree. Although my photo doesn't show it, the bird's yellow belly matched the yellow blooms on the tree:

Also on the sandy prairie area, in a habitat type I didn't expect, we saw two Rock Squirrels. Both disappeared into an open irrigation pipe, this one with something in its mouth that we couldn't identify:

Here's our complete bird list:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S37649220

And here are a few more photos on Flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikael_behrens/albums/72157682899852821

Attached are the same photos as observations.

Publicado el junio 17, 2017 11:57 TARDE por mikaelb