Sparrows at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge

 I was back at my favorite bird spot in Dallas. Hagerman's National Wildlife Refuge is the best place to visit during the winter. We get to see hundreds of Snow/Ross's Goose, American White Pelican, Ducks and Sparrows here. 

ebird hotspot : https://ebird.org/hotspot/L815117

It's about an hours drive from Richardson. Started at about 6 from home. I was hoping to see some owls on the way. I have been lucky to see Great Horned owls on the way couple of times. So gave myself sometime to drive a during the early dawn to scan the roads close by. This time around there was no sightings of any of the owls. I reached the park around 7 in the morning. I started with the going over the different pads of the lake looking for the ducks and the Sandpipers. I saw there were lot of Northern Shovellers, Northern Pintails, Mallards and Green-winged Ducks in the lake. I also saw lot of Dowitchers, Yellowlegs and Least Sandpipers. Lot of Goose were flying around and some of them were very far from the road. I had usually seen them grazing in the fields but not today. I thought I will come back to see the goose just before I leave. I went to walk the Meadow Pond Trail.

Least Sandpiper

American Avocet

Dowitcher

Lesser Scaup

Great Blue Heron

Pied-billed Grebe

Northern Pintail

Northern Shoveller

Green-winged Teal

When I reached the gates near the trail I saw lot of cars parked here. Usually I see one or 2 cars but today it was different. There were lot of cars parked. I went in wondering the same. I should have paid more attention at the gate and read the notices. It was hunting season. I was told of the same when I returned from the trail. I should have stayed out. I usually avoid going during the hunting season but forgot about the same this visit. The walk in fact was very productive. Saw lot of sparrows during the walk. There were also Goldfinches and Pine Siskins around. There were good number of American Robins too. As I was walking the trail I saw a big bird flyover. The flight pattern looked like that of a Woodpecker. I was hearing the Pileated Woodpecker during the walk but did not expect it to see which is usually the case for me. I had seen this bird only once during my number of visits to the refuge. I always hear the bird but hardly get to see. But today it was different. I had 2 flyby's of the bird. It was great to see the bird. Such a large woodpecker. Also got my first decent photograph of the bird.  

White-throated Sparrow

American Goldfinch

Chipping Sparrow

Fox Sparrow

Lincoln Sparrow

Swamp Sparrow

American Goldfinch

Pileated Woodpecker

Harris's Sparrow

American Robin

Song Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow

Pine Siskin

Fox Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

Harris's Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow

Back in the lake I saw lot of the same ducks. Went near one of the oil wells to get a closer look at the pelicans. Saw good number of pelicans along with Forster's Terns, Franklins Gulls and Ring-billed Gulls. At a bit of distance I saw lot of the goose. As I was about to return one of the fellow birder asked if I had seen Bald Eagle. He had see it earlier but could not locate it again. I had not seen the eagle as well. As I was about to return I saw a big bird flying over the lake. And to my surprise It was the eagle. It was my first sighting of the season. It was good to see the eagle again. I usually get to see the eagle at Hagerman or once in a while at White Rock Lake. Such a majestic bird. 

Bald Eagle

Red-shouldered Hawk

American White Pelican

Franklin's Gull

On the way back I saw the Goose were no where near the fields instead all of them were in the lake. Took some record pictures before returning home. There was also couple of American Pipits along the road along with lot of Meadowlarks. There was also a lone American Kestrel around.

American Pipit

Meadowlark

Snow and Ross's Goose

Savannah Sparrow

American Kestrel

ebird : https://ebird.org/checklist/S76573462

Birds seen during the day :

1. Snow Goose
2. Ross's Goose
3. Canada Goose
4. Northern Shoveler
5. Mallard
6. Northern Pintail
7. Green-winged Teal
8. Lesser Scaup
9. Pied-billed Grebe
10. American Coot
11. American Avocet
12. Least Sandpiper
13. Short-billed/Long-billed Dowitcher
14. Wilson's Snipe
15. Greater/Lesser Yellowlegs
16. Franklin's Gull
17. Ring-billed Gull
18. Forster's Tern
19. American White Pelican
20. American Bittern
21. Great Blue Heron
22. Black Vulture
23. Bald Eagle
24. Red-shouldered Hawk
25. Red-tailed Hawk
26. Red-headed Woodpecker
27. Red-bellied Woodpecker
28. Downy Woodpecker
29. Pileated Woodpecker
30. American Kestrel
31. Eastern Phoebe
32. Loggerhead Shrike
33. Blue Jay
34. American Crow
35. Carolina Chickadee
36. Tufted Titmouse
37. Carolina Wren
38. Northern Mockingbird
39. Eastern Bluebird
40. American Robin
41. American Pipit
42. Pine Siskin
43. American Goldfinch
44. Chipping Sparrow
45. Fox Sparrow
46. Harris's Sparrow
47. White-throated Sparrow
48. Savannah Sparrow
49. Song Sparrow
50. Lincoln's Sparrow
51. Swamp Sparrow
52. Western/Eastern Meadowlark
53. Red-winged Blackbird
54. Yellow-rumped Warbler
55. Northern Cardinal

Birding at Village Creek Drying Beds in DFW metroplex area

I Had been reading about this place since I moved to Dallas area but never got a chance to visit the place. This winter I had decided to revisit some of my favorite places but also added this place as well. I was planning to visit during the Christmas break but based on recent interesting sightings at this place I preponed my trip. There were reporting of Mountain Bluebird which is very rare visitor to Dallas area. There was also sightings of Say's phoebe which is another rare visitor. Both of them were reported during the first couple of weeks of November. I had not checked the rare bird alert and missed seeing both of these birds. I had Say's Phoebe at Big Bend National Park but the Mountain Bluebird would have been my first sighting. In third week of November I started seeing the reports of Common Ground Dove which is another very rare visitor to the Dallas area. It was interesting to see so many rare birds in a single month at the same location here in Dallas. I decided to try my luck to see these birds. I also had not seen many of our wintering ducks and this was a great place to see the ducks with so many tanks/ponds around.

ebird Hotspot : https://ebird.org/hotspot/L122362

Reached the place by 7. The VCDB has small parking lot but it was closed and I was not sure of the gate timings. Instead I parked my car at the opposite park(Dunlop center). Thankfully birders were already there. I met Jim Sipiora here. I had been to one of his bird walks to Palo Pinto Park back in 2016. He leads walks to this Drying beds regularly. I was in very good company for the day. 

Just as we entered the park we could here lot of sparrows and other birds. Since the light was low I could not make much out of the birds. As we were about to reach the tank bund a Bobcat crossed the road right in front of us. It was surreal to see a wild cat like that. We were so stunned that no none of managed to lift our cameras to take the picture. It was great way to start the birding day. As we reached the tank bunds we scoped the tanks to see the ducks. There were Mallards, Coots, Pintails and Green-winged Teals.

One of the birds called out Rusty Blackbirds. I was waiting to see these birds for a while. Its reported very often around the birding spots in Dallas area but I never got to see them till now. They were mixed in with Red-Winged Blackbirds. We could see the birds very clearly. I did not get good pictures but enough to ID the birds. There were atleady 5-6 of them mixed in with other black birds. Not a bad way to start the day. We checked the power lines on the tank bund scanning the wires for the birds. We saw some Savannag Sparrows and Pippits here. After this we started walking towards the first pumping station. There was Meadow Lark and the American Kestrel as well here. A Red-bellied Woodpecker hopped on one of the poles looking for food before flying away. Near the nearby reeds we saw a Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

Rusty Blackbird

Savannah Sparrow

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

American Pipit

American Kestrel

Meadowlark

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Lincoln Sparrow

We started walking the path towards the water pumping station. We were told the Common Ground Doves were found in this path. As we walked towards this path we saw lot of American Goldfinches and Pine Siskins. They were everywhere. Also present was a lone Spotted Towhee. My first sighting for this season. Right on the pumping station was a Juvenile Red-Shouldered Hawk. He was basking in the sun with no care and wasn't bothered with our presence there. Most of us were surprised at how comfortable this hawk was with humans. Most of us took pictures and walked away without disturbing him much. We did not find the Ground doves. We decided to walk ahead to see if we see some other birds. As we kept walking James Sipiora got a phone call that the Common Ground Doves were seen near the Pumping Station. We returned back to see them. There were 2 of the birds. We stayed quite far to make sure we did not disturb them. James Sipiora had a scope which helped getting very good view of the birds. Thanks to James Sipiora for sharing the scope. As folks tried to get a little closer they flew away into the reeds. Great to see these birds again after seeing them for the first time in Big Bend National Park. 

Spotted Towhee

Black Phoebe

Red-shouldered Hawk

Eastern Bluebird

American Goldfinch

Song Sparrow

Pine Siskin

Common-ground Dove

Savannah Sparrow

House Finch

House Finch(Female)

American Crow

After this I headed back to the water tanks to see the ducks. There were Buffleheads, Lesset Scaups and all the other ducks. I was hoping to see some Canvasbacks but had no luck. Also missing were any of the Grebes. Did not see any of them. But got some very good looks at one of the Red-shouldered Hawk nearby. There were Bluebirds lining the wires on the tank bund. 

Green-winged Teal

Red-shouldered Hawk

Bufflehead

Gadwall, American Wigeon, Northern Shoveller and Green-winged Teal

Gadwall

Northern Shoveller

Red-shouldered Hawk

Eastern Bluebird

Ring-necked Duck

Green-winged Teal

Northern Pintail

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Returned home after a very productive day. Another bird that was reported here was a Purple Finch. I did not have any luck with this bird. Still waiting to see this bird. Hope I get to see this bird soon.

ebird : https://ebird.org/checklist/S76966596

Birds seen during the day :

1. Canada Goose
2. Blue-winged Teal
3. Northern Shoveler
4. Gadwall
5. American Wigeon
6. Mallard
7. Northern Pintail
8. Green-winged Teal
9. Ring-necked Duck
10. Bufflehead
11. Ruddy Duck
12. Common Ground Dove
13. Mourning Dove
14. American Coot
15. Killdeer
16. Greater/Lesser Yellowlegs
17. Neotropic/Double-crested Cormorant
18. Great Blue Heron
19. Red-shouldered Hawk
20. Red-tailed Hawk
21. Red-bellied Woodpecker
22. Downy Woodpecker
23. Eastern Phoebe
24. Blue Jay
25. American Crow
26. Carolina Chickadee
27. Tufted Titmouse
28. Brown Thrasher
29. Northern Mockingbird
30. Eastern Bluebird
31. American Robin
32. American Pipit
33. House Finch
34. Pine Siskin
35. American Goldfinch
36. Dark-eyed Junco
37. Savannah Sparrow
38. Spotted Towhee
39. Western/Eastern Meadowlark
40. Red-winged Blackbird
41. Brown-headed Cowbird
42. Rusty Blackbird
43. Northern Cardinal