[texbirds] Village Creek - Rusty Blackbirds, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Great Horned Owl

From: Christian Walker <christian.walker@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Sat, 2 Mar 2013 16:00:21 -0600

Hello, 
Had a good morning birding with Maria from New Hampshire and Julia.  Found an 
early(?) Northern Rough-winged Swallow.  Highlights were definitely the pair of 
Hooded Mergansers, a flock of Rusty Blackbirds at very close range, and a Great 
Horned Owl on the nest with a youngster.  Almost all the birds seen were along 
the entrance road and the pond there.  All the ponds were almost dry, and the 
north wind made birding the beds almost unbearable.  The owl has taken over one 
of the Great Blue Heron nests in the rookery.  Also, a quick shout-out to Tom's 
Burgers - really good diner right near the stadium.  Hot breakfast was just 
what we needed after freezing our hands off.  

Good birding,

Christian Walker
University of Dallas
Irving, TX
512 431-2495


Begin forwarded message:

> From: do-not-reply@xxxxxxxxx
> Subject: eBird Report - Arlington- Village Creek Drying Beds (PPW-W 083), Mar 
> 2, 2013
> Date: March 2, 2013 3:50:17 PM CST
> To: christian.walker@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> 
> Arlington- Village Creek Drying Beds (PPW-W 083), Tarrant, US-TX
> Mar 2, 2013 8:15 AM - 9:15 AM
> Protocol: Traveling
> 0.25 mile(s)
> Comments:     Birding with Julia Steigerwald and Maria Landry.  Clear, very 
> cold.  Around 45 degrees Fahrenheit, but about 25 with the windchill.  N 5-15 
> mph.
> 37 species (+1 other taxa)
> 
> Gadwall  8
> American Wigeon  15
> Northern Shoveler  8
> Lesser Scaup  1
> Hooded Merganser  2
> Pied-billed Grebe  4
> Great Blue Heron  10
> Black Vulture  10
> Turkey Vulture  40
> Red-shouldered Hawk  1
> Red-tailed Hawk  3
> Killdeer  5
> Least Sandpiper  30
> Ring-billed Gull  6
> Rock Pigeon  3
> Mourning Dove  6
> Great Horned Owl  2     Adult on nest with baby.  Good looks.
> Belted Kingfisher  1
> Red-bellied Woodpecker  1     HO
> Downy Woodpecker  2     1 HO
> Northern Flicker (Red-shafted)  1
> Northern Rough-winged Swallow  1     A tad early? Calling and flying over the 
> ponds.
> Carolina Wren  2
> Ruby-crowned Kinglet  1
> American Robin  25
> European Starling  1
> American Pipit  1     HO
> Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)  3
> Savannah Sparrow  2
> Song Sparrow  1
> White-throated Sparrow  1     HO
> Northern Cardinal  5
> Red-winged Blackbird  10
> Eastern/Western Meadowlark  4
> Rusty Blackbird  8     Sweet!  Great looks.  Males mostly in breeding plumage 
> already, but some of the females were still in bright winter color.
> Common Grackle  1
> Great-tailed Grackle  2
> American Goldfinch  2
> 
> View this checklist online at 
> http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S13240865
> 
> This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)


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[texbirds] Village Creek - Rusty Blackbirds, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Great Horned Owl

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