[leasbirds] Dickens County Highlights - today
- From: Anthony Hewetson <fattonybirds@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Anthony Hewetson <fattonybirds@xxxxxxxxx>, leasbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 20:25:50 -0600
Greetings All:
Phillip Kite and I spent from 8:30 to 5:00 on 26 December 2014 exploring
Dickens County. Roads covered: Highway 84 from the Crosby/County line to
Dicken, Highway 70 north to Afton, Highway 193 and backroads in the Afton
area, Highway 193 to East Afton and then to the Dickens/King county line,
Highway 193, Highway 265, and Highway 82 to Dickens Springs, backroads in
Dickens to the Dickens Sewage Ponds, and highway 82 back the Dickens/Crosby
County line.
With very limited surface water we considered ourselves fortunate to tally
58 species and noted, with considerable hope for the White River Lake CBC,
that a lot of winter sparrows were down. We dipped on Carolina Chickadee
(hard but possible in the county) and American Tree Sparrow but scored
Red-bellied Woodpecker and Eastern Towhee for my regional year list.
Highlights included 9 Eastern Bluebirds and 4 Harris's Sparrows south of
Afton; 2 Red-bellied Woodpeckers, 3 Common Ravens, 2 Red-breasted
Nuthatches, 1 Brown Creeper, 1 Carolina Wren, 2 Fox Sparrows, 7
White-throated Sparrows, and 4 Harris's Sparrows in the Afton area; 1
Common Raven, 2 Eastern Towhees, 1 Fox Sparrow, 3 White-throated Sparrows,
and 14 Harris's Sparrows between Afton and East Afton; 7 Common Ravens, 1
Fox Sparrow, and 9 White-throated Sparrows east of East Afton; 2 Eastern
Bluebirds south of East Afton; 1 Canvasback at the Dickens Sewage Ponds.
Another 'highlight' arrived in the form of two hitchhikers: 1 Bewick's Wren
decided to get in the car west of the Joiner Ranch and had to be shooed -
ever so gently - out ... then ... another Bewick's Wren (we are not
paranoid enough to think the same wren was following us) decided to enter
the vehicle well east of the Joiner Ranch.and was ushered - ever so gently
- back into the wilds of Dickens County.
What was that all about?
The lowlight, as it were: an all-time record for fewest species recorded at
Dickens Springs - 5 species of birds in 45 minutes beating the previous
record of 7 species in 75 minutes. And to think that, with a straight
face, I recommended the site as an eBird hotspot:)
Anthony 'Fat Tony' Hewetson; Lubbock
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