[texbirds] Re: Breeding Horned Larks in NE Travis County
- From: Brush Freeman <brushfreeman@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "ronniekramer1964@xxxxxxxxx" <ronniekramer1964@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 5 Jul 2014 14:18:19 -0500
They breed in the Granger Lk. area. I noticed the did like Milo fields too. I
just never do NE Travis Co. When crops are in so can't add much. A long time
back they bred in the ag. fields near Hornsby in small numbers. Not sure about
now.
Sent from my iPhone
> On Jul 5, 2014, at 2:00 PM, Ronnie Kramer <ronniekramer1964@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> Shelia, I have a photo of a pair from the same stretch last September 15.
> I assume these were too early for migrants.
> Ronnie Kramer
> Austin
>
>
> On Sat, Jul 5, 2014 at 8:37 AM, Shelia Hargis <shelia.hargis@xxxxxxxxx>
> wrote:
>
>> Good morning,
>> I received a call on Wednesday evening from Debbie Parsley regarding some
>> birds she was watching in northeastern Travis County. Debbie is a graduate
>> of the Introduction to Birds and Birding class that Laurie Foss and I teach
>> for Travis Audubon. Debbie was seeing huge numbers of swallows that she
>> thought were Cliff or Cave Swallows. Due to the numbers, she had to call
>> someone! I'm very glad she called me. During our conversation, she
>> mentioned seeing what she thought were Horned Larks. Both the massing of
>> swallows and the possibility of seeing Horned Larks piqued my interest and
>> I added a trip to NE Travis County to my birding itinerary for the next few
>> days.
>> Yesterday evening, Laurie and I joined Debbie on Wells Lane between Wells
>> School Road and Lund-Carlson Road. This area is agricultural land with
>> corn, sorghum and cotton growing very well right now. We arrived right
>> after a rain shower had come through. Unfortunately, the swallow numbers
>> were much decreased possibly due to the rain, but we still had many out in
>> the sorghum fields. They were Cliff Swallows. A few were flying around but
>> most were perched on Johnson grass that was growing taller than the
>> sorghum. We couldn't tell if they were eating the seeds (this doesn't seem
>> likely), eating insects, just hanging out or preparing to roost there for
>> the night. I'm not sure if this is common behavior or not, so I'd
>> appreciate some feedback regarding what was likely happening.
>>
>> We also found numerous Horned Larks including at least one juvenile bird.
>> Most of the Horned Larks were found on Wells Lane between the intersection
>> of Wells School Road and about a half mile north. They were in the road or
>> along the edge of the road. Laurie observed an adult feeding a juvenile
>> bird. This was my first observation of a young Horned Lark. Very cool
>> plumage! We have some photos of so-so quality.I'll be adding them to my
>> eBird checklist to address that flag that appeared when I tried to add this
>> species to my list. ( :
>>
>> A check on eBird revealed mostly sightings from winter or early spring, so
>> I'm not sure if this is a situation of the birds not being documented
>> during summer or the birders not being around to do said documenting. The
>> second edition of *The Texas Ornithological Society Handbook of Texas
>> Birds*
>> indicates that they are known to breed near this area, but I'd love to know
>> more about the breeding records for this species in Travis County.
>>
>> The Common Night-hawks were also a treat! There were numerous birds flying
>> all around and a few perching on the road and on the wires. They were very
>> active and vocal. One even did his courtship display of plunging to the
>> earth, pulling out at the last moment causing a loud booming sound.
>>
>> Thanks to Debbie for alerting me to the bird activity in this area. It was
>> a great way to spend the July 4th evening.
>>
>> Shelia Hargis
>> Austin Texas
>>
>>
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