Another horrible, cloudy, drizzly and very cold day but
it turned out to be an excellent days birding for my last full day in the
States; I started off just after dawn at the Attwater Prairie Chicken NWR and
drove round the loop where new birds included good views of a SPRAGUE’S PIPIT
on the side of the track, a small group of BREWER’S BLACKBIRDS (a bigger flock
was seen later in the day) and good but distant views of two GREATER PRAIRIE
CHICKENS (the smaller isolated Attwater’s race pretty much only found on this
reserve) down a side track with one of them flushed by a Harrier and another
seen well feeding in the middle of the track, even calling once and jumping up
and down, practising for spring. A walk
round one of the paths also produced a few new birds with good views of a
GRASSHOPPER SPARROW, good numbers of FIELD SPARROWS in the long grass and a few
brief but good views of a couple of LE CONTE’S SPARROWS in amongst big numbers
of Savannah, Vesper, Lincoln’s and White-throated Sparrows.
Other
birds included two Long-billed Dowitchers and good numbers of Wilson’s Snipe
and Killdeer, one flock of Mallard (new for the trip!), lots of raptors with 2
White-tailed Hawks, many Northern Harriers cruising around, a few Red-tailed
Hawks and a few American Kestrels, a couple of family parties of Sandhill
Cranes, Mourning Doves, Common Ground Doves, Red-bellied Woodpeckers and Downy
Woodpeckers in the creek bed, Eastern Phoebes, a couple of Loggerhead Shrikes
and a big flock of Myrtle Warblers in the creek bed along with Ruby-crowned
Kinglet and House Wren.
I
then drove down some back roads where birds included several thousand more
Sandhill Cranes with many of them starting to jump around and dance, a decent
flock of WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS, lots more Northern Harriers including a couple
of adult males, more Red-tailed Hawks showing amazing variation from all dark
birds to very white adults, a Sharp-shinned Hawk and more Sprague’s Pipits, Loggerhead
Shrikes and Sparrows.
I
then had a walk along one side of Eagle Lake where the highlight was definitely
great views of two brilliant 1st winter BALD EAGLES right along the
edge; other birds included excellent views of a smart Red-shouldered Hawk, good
numbers of waterbirds such as White Ibis, Great and Snowy Egrets, Little Blue
Heron, Tricoloured Heron, American Wigeon, Blue-winged Teal and Pintail, Swamp
Sparrows, Carolina Chickadees, a Couch’s Kingbird and another small group of
White-crowned Sparrows.
Grasshopper Sparrow
Sandhill Cranes flocking and dancing
White-crowned Sparrows
Red-shouldered Hawk
I'm not sure what this is. Some kind of Musk Rat thing or is it maybe a Beaver?
Bald Eagle
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