I sneaked in some birding at a few spots near Victoria over the past week,
trying to get out there before the summer heat rolls in. At Riverside Park in
Victoria, raptors were actively hunting once the flood waters receded and prey
animals became available. There were two Mississippi Kites hunting together and
a first-year Red-shouldered Hawk, perched uncharacteristically low and close
to the roadside. In Dacosta, on farm road 1686, just east of S.R. 87, I found
two or three Common Grackles in a field, (thank you, Sonny Bratz), and two
miles or so north of Indianola, on S.R. 316, a calling/singing Northern
Bobwhite was perched on a fence post. Not a lot was going on at Magic Ridge,
but there were several calling Long-billed Thrashers, some of the usual herons
and egrets, and a bird called from the marshy grasslands about a quarter mile
before the old cemetery. It was fairly faint, from a small marsh bird, and I
did not see it and I have not heard this call before, but it was not a wren
nor a sparrow. Makes me wonder. At Indian Point, several Common Nighthawks
were perched, in that half-awake slumber they do, on fence posts. Back to
Riverside Park again this morning, and there were two Eastern Bluebirds and
five (!) squabbling Pileated Woodpeckers that chased one another from tree
trunk to tree trunk. Photos are here (the first 9 on the page)Â
https://www.flickr.com/photos/13451078@N03/  Bob BeckerVictoria    Â
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