[texbirds] Granger Lake
- From: MiriamEagl@xxxxxxx
- To: texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2013 21:21:59 -0500 (EST)
Hi, all!
First, a big THANKS to Sam Fason for posting the results of HIS trip to
Granger and environs yesterday: thanks to his post I redid my whole
itinerary for the day, and probably would have missed out on some terrific
birds!
So instead of starting around the San Gabriel area, I went straight back to
Sore Finger in hopes of catching the Whooping Cranes take off for their
feeding grounds, or maybe a Short-eared Owl hunting the grasslands. Got a
Harrier instead, and gave the Whoopers until eight to show up (which they
didn't), so decided to explore CR 352 to the north, where Sam said they had
them after they had flown. Sure enough, I first heard, then saw the family
of three drifting down to the west way out there, and then they were gone
from sight! Had I arrived just a few minutes later I would have missed them
completely!
Wanting to see if I could get over that direction, I continued on 352 and
turned left on CR 351, which zigged and zagged all over the place. I hit
the jackpot at one little creek crossing, however, and had sparrows galore:
mostly Whitecrowns, but also several Harris', which I was thrilled to see!
A single Field Sparrow also popped up. I found CR 350 and took that
south, and that turned into 353 at a ranch; after curving around the cows I
couldn't believe my eyes--there was the Whooper family, almost right next to
the road! The youngster was even close enough to make out the markings on
his leg bands! Comedy relief was provided by the herd of cows that all
gathered at the fence to see what I was up to, then running after me when I
stopped down the road for something else!
Everything was gravy after that; I did go down CR 357 to try and find Sam's
Burrowing Owl, but no luck. Next stop was Friendship Park where I failed
to kick up a LeConte's Sparrow (habitat looked great, though), but a
hooting Great Horned Owl was a surprise! In the park proper was able to pick
up
a drumming/laughing Downy Woodpecker for the trip (a lot of these
widespread eastern things are exciting to us Valley folks) and a singing
Eastern
Bluebird on the way out! I wanted to check out that grassland behind the dam
as well, but just managed to find Savannah Sparrows (and the wind was still
howling today as well, so all my birding was done from the car today...).
Back up on the dam I dipped on the reported Bald Eagle, so decided to head
straight to Willis Creek Park, where the Snipes had been the day before.
The only one I saw today was one a worker happened to flush, but lots of
Killdeer were about, and turning the corner to the day use area was another
Sparrow Bonanza: in addition to the Whiteys was able to add Lincoln's,
Song, and a brilliant White-throated Sparrow! Down at the shelter the wind
had
died down considerably (or else it was just literally sheltered in there),
so I strolled around the woodland edges and had more goodies, including the
first Orange-crowned Warbler of the trip, and was surprised to find a
TUFTED Titmouse (according to the map in the TOS book I assumed just
Black-crested showed up here)! Sparrows were everywhere, and I was
particularly
looking for Sam's Fox Sparrow; in the cacophony of Whitecrowns was a song I
admit stumped me--thankfully I got a decent recording which is one the website
(link below), so feedback is welcome! On the way out that Still Small
Voice encouraged me to check that sparrow flock at the start of the Day Use
road again, and bingo! Up popped the Fox Sparrow! Lovely bird!
Sam mentioned a Macedonia Cemetery, but the only cemetery I saw up along CR
348 had every name BUT that, it seemed, so I crawled through looking for a
Red-headed Woodpecker, but nada. Headed straight to the back roads of
Elgin after that just to scout the roads and figure out a route; never saw
nary a suspicious longspur flock, but did have a couple of pale Redtails (one
was probably a Krider's as the tail was very whitish with a salmon wash to
the tip). On the way back to Taylor I passed a blackbird flock in the
woods, so I swung around to check it out, and it turned out to be mostly
Common
Grackles, their glossy blue heads contrasting nicely with their bronzy
bodies!
Link to the pictures and recordings is here:
_http://miriameaglemon.com/Trip%20Reports/Austin%20Area/Granger%20Lake.html_
(http://miriameaglemon.com/Trip%20Reports/Austin%20Area/Granger%20Lake.html)
Bird List (new birds for the trip in CAPS):
GADWALL Anas strepera
Great Blue Heron
GREAT EGRET Ardea alba
Black Vulture Coragyps atratus
Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
Northern Harrier Circus cyaneus
Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis
WHOOPING CRANE Grus americana
Killdeer Charadrius vociferus
GREATER YELLOWLEGS Tringa melanoleuca
Wilson's Snipe Gallinago delicata
Rock Pigeon Columba livia
White-winged Dove Zenaida asiatica
Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura
GREAT HORNED OWL Bubo virginianus
Red-bellied Woodpecker Melanerpes carolinus
DOWNY WOODPECKER Picoides pubescens
American Kestrel Falco sparverius
Merlin Falco columbarius
Eastern Phoebe Sayornis phoebe
Loggerhead Shrike Lanius ludovicianus
American Crow Corvus brachyrhynchos
Carolina Chickadee Poecile carolinensis
TUFTED TITMOUSE Baeolophus bicolor
Carolina Wren Thryothorus ludovicianus
Ruby-crowned Kinglet Regulus calendula
EASTERN BLUEBIRD Sialia sialis
Hermit Thrush Catharus guttatus
Northern Mockingbird Mimus polyglottos
European Starling Sturnus vulgaris
American Pipit Anthus rubescens
ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER Oreothlypis celata
Yellow-rumped Warbler Setophaga coronata
FIELD SPARROW Spizella pusilla
Vesper Sparrow Pooecetes gramineus
Savannah Sparrow Passerculus sandwichensis
FOX SPARROW Passerella iliaca
Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia
LINCOLNâS SPARROW Melospiza lincolnii
WHITE-THROATED SPARROW Zonotrichia albicollis
HARRISâ SPARROW Zonotrichia querula
WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW Zonotrichia leucophrys
Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis
Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus
EASTERN MEADOWLARK Sturnella magna
Western Meadowlark Sturnella neglecta
Brewer's Blackbird Euphagus cyanocephalus
COMMON GRACKLE Quiscalus quiscula
Great-tailed Grackle Quiscalus mexicanus
Brown-headed Cowbird Molothrus ater
American Goldfinch Spinus tristis
House Sparrow Passer domesticus
52 SPECIES
So far: 74 SPECIES
Mary Beth Stowe
McAllen, TX
_www.miriameaglemon.com_ (http://www.miriameaglemon.com/)
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