It's been 6 long months since I went for birding. Birding as such this year has been very less. I hope to get more time next year and visit other places as well.
I got some free time during the last weekend. I decided to head towards the Hagerman NWR to see if there were any early migrants(waterfowl). This is my favorite birding place in Dallas area. Its about 60 miles from where I live but the drive isn't very bad considering the beauty you get to see once you reach the place. It has good stretch of woodlands, marshes and the lake itself to see all kinds of birds.
I reached very early at around 6:30AM. It was still dark when I reached the place. I parked my car near the visitor center and tried to walk around. I could hear owls calling out in the dark. Waited at the center till about 7:15 and then headed towards the Meadow Pond Trail. Since it was early morning I thought of trying my luck with woodland birds. Here I could see Chipping, Lincoln and White-throated Sparrows. Also there were lot of Red-Winged Blackbirds, Northern Flickers, Yellow-bellied sapsuckers and Downy Woodpeckers. Ruby-crowned Kinglets were busy hopping from tree to tree. Tufted Titmouses and Chickadees were busy foraging for food. I could see lot of Carolina Wrens and some of them singing their heart out. Mornings best sighting was to see a flock of Pine Siskin's. Last year I had seen a Pine Siskin among the Goldfinches but never saw them in a flock like this. In the Meadow pond all I could see were some Mallards and Grebe. Belted Kingfisher visited the pond for a brief time before flying away. After couple of hours of walking the trail I headed back towards the lake to look for the waterfowl.
Checked the big dead tree near the bridge to see if I can find Red-headed woodpecker but could not find any. I did see a bird fly away from this tree earlier but did not get good look to id the bird. This tree always had Red-headed woodpeckers. After this I returned to check the pads on the lake. I could see Northern Harrier was canvasing the lake. It kept flying over the lake and over the fields. In the lake I could see Coots, Mallards, Shovellers, Egrets and Herons. There were a few American white pelicans and some tern which I could not ID. Apart from these I could not see any other waterfowl.
I had another interesting sighting for the morning, American Bittern. I would have missed it very easily if not for some movement nearby. This was my first sighting of this Bittern and after this sighting I could understand why it is difficult to find this bird. The way it stood tall motionless in between the grasses, it was difficult to find it. After this I decided to head towards the Crow Hill trail. Again here the most I saw was Sparrows, lone Red-bellied Woodpecker and a group of Ruby-crowned Kinglets. After walking this trail it was time for me to head back home. On returning to the lake I could see a good sized raptor sitting on a tree. After approaching the bird I saw it was a Harris's Hawk. I was ecstatic to see this bird. I had seen a rescued Harris's Hawk in one of the rescue centers during last Christmas but I had never seen this bird out in the wild. This was out of its range. This bird is usually seen in south Texas. I thanked my luck. Ended the day on a high note.
Planning to head back again during Christmas by then the lake should be brimming with waterfowl.
ebird : http://ebird.org/ebird/view/
Birds seen during the day :
I got some free time during the last weekend. I decided to head towards the Hagerman NWR to see if there were any early migrants(waterfowl). This is my favorite birding place in Dallas area. Its about 60 miles from where I live but the drive isn't very bad considering the beauty you get to see once you reach the place. It has good stretch of woodlands, marshes and the lake itself to see all kinds of birds.
I reached very early at around 6:30AM. It was still dark when I reached the place. I parked my car near the visitor center and tried to walk around. I could hear owls calling out in the dark. Waited at the center till about 7:15 and then headed towards the Meadow Pond Trail. Since it was early morning I thought of trying my luck with woodland birds. Here I could see Chipping, Lincoln and White-throated Sparrows. Also there were lot of Red-Winged Blackbirds, Northern Flickers, Yellow-bellied sapsuckers and Downy Woodpeckers. Ruby-crowned Kinglets were busy hopping from tree to tree. Tufted Titmouses and Chickadees were busy foraging for food. I could see lot of Carolina Wrens and some of them singing their heart out. Mornings best sighting was to see a flock of Pine Siskin's. Last year I had seen a Pine Siskin among the Goldfinches but never saw them in a flock like this. In the Meadow pond all I could see were some Mallards and Grebe. Belted Kingfisher visited the pond for a brief time before flying away. After couple of hours of walking the trail I headed back towards the lake to look for the waterfowl.
 |
| Northern Cardinal |
 |
| Yellow-bellied Sapsucker |
 |
| Carolina Wren |
 |
| Downy Woodpecker |
 |
| Chipping Sparrow |
 |
| Pine Siskin |
 |
| Eastern Bluebird |
 |
| White-throated Sparrow |
Checked the big dead tree near the bridge to see if I can find Red-headed woodpecker but could not find any. I did see a bird fly away from this tree earlier but did not get good look to id the bird. This tree always had Red-headed woodpeckers. After this I returned to check the pads on the lake. I could see Northern Harrier was canvasing the lake. It kept flying over the lake and over the fields. In the lake I could see Coots, Mallards, Shovellers, Egrets and Herons. There were a few American white pelicans and some tern which I could not ID. Apart from these I could not see any other waterfowl.
 |
| American White Pelicans |
 |
| Great Blue Heron |
I had another interesting sighting for the morning, American Bittern. I would have missed it very easily if not for some movement nearby. This was my first sighting of this Bittern and after this sighting I could understand why it is difficult to find this bird. The way it stood tall motionless in between the grasses, it was difficult to find it. After this I decided to head towards the Crow Hill trail. Again here the most I saw was Sparrows, lone Red-bellied Woodpecker and a group of Ruby-crowned Kinglets. After walking this trail it was time for me to head back home. On returning to the lake I could see a good sized raptor sitting on a tree. After approaching the bird I saw it was a Harris's Hawk. I was ecstatic to see this bird. I had seen a rescued Harris's Hawk in one of the rescue centers during last Christmas but I had never seen this bird out in the wild. This was out of its range. This bird is usually seen in south Texas. I thanked my luck. Ended the day on a high note.
 |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet |
 |
| American Bittern |
 |
| Harris's Hawk |
Planning to head back again during Christmas by then the lake should be brimming with waterfowl.
ebird : http://ebird.org/ebird/view/
Birds seen during the day :
| 1 | Northern Shoveler |
| 2 | Mallard |
| 3 | Pied-billed Grebe |
| 4 | cormorant sp. |
| 5 | American White Pelican |
| 6 | American Bittern |
| 7 | Great Blue Heron |
| 8 | Cattle Egret |
| 9 | Black Vulture |
| 10 | Turkey Vulture |
| 11 | Northern Harrier |
| 12 | Sharp-shinned/Cooper's Hawk |
| 13 | Harris's Hawk |
| 14 | American Coot |
| 15 | Killdeer |
| 16 | White-winged Dove |
| 17 | Belted Kingfisher |
| 18 | Red-bellied Woodpecker |
| 19 | Yellow-bellied Sapsucker |
| 20 | Downy Woodpecker |
| 21 | Northern Flicker |
| 22 | American Kestrel |
| 23 | Eastern Phoebe |
| 24 | Loggerhead Shrike |
| 25 | Blue Jay |
| 26 | American Crow |
| 27 | Carolina Chickadee |
| 28 | Tufted Titmouse |
| 29 | Carolina Wren |
| 30 | Ruby-crowned Kinglet |
| 31 | Eastern Bluebird |
| 32 | Northern Mockingbird |
| 33 | White-throated Sparrow |
| 34 | Savannah Sparrow |
| 35 | Lincoln's Sparrow |
| 36 | Northern Cardinal |
| 37 | Western/Eastern Meadowlark |
| 38 | Red-winged Blackbird |
| 39 | Pine Siskin |
Enjoyed the trip blog.
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Thomas
https://madaboutbirdingandtravel.wordpress.com