Greetings All:
This will not get all the notables but will probably cover most of the
things people are hugely interested in.
I spent 2.5 hours below Lake Six this morning. In the area just below
the spillway I spotted 1 Northern Waterthrush and, in the company of 2
Yellow-rumped Warblers, 1 female American Redstart.
I then walked the main bike trail down to the oxbow (roughly 0.75
miles according to Google Earth) with little to report.
I hiked the roughly 0.40 miles of trails associated with the oxbow
and, while chasing a singing Carolina Wren, encountered 1
MacGillivray's Warbler, 1 Common Nighthawk (flushed from the ground),
1 female Black-headed Grosbeak (fine streaking restricted to the
flanks, underparts otherwise unstreaked - buff-cream collar - dark
bill), and 1 male Rose-breasted Grosbeak. When I was done with Mr.
Wren and Associates I walked the bike trail through the floor of the
oxbow, encountering 1 Blue Grosbeak, 1 female Lazuli Bunting, 1 Willow
Flycatcher, 1 Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and 1 Western Wood Pewee.
On my way back to the spillway I flushed 2 Upland Sandpipers from a
grassy patch and watched them fly, northward, out of sight ... and
kicked up 2 more Blue Grosbeaks.
During the course of the walk I found at least 4 male Black-chinned
Hummingbirds defending 'territories' - it looks to be a good year for
our only breeding hummingbird species.
I then spent 1.5 hours at the lake, mostly on the trails around the
spillway end. There was some good stuff about (as with the area below
the lake, good diversity but poor numbers) but the only thing worth
writing home about was a Red-eyed Vireo - in the large draw on the
north side of the lake just uplake from the spillway parking area. I
chased this critter for fifteen minutes, got some great looks, but
could not get a picture ... as it stuck to the foliage in the tops of
the trees and said foliage kept a) getting in the way or b) became the
only thing in focus. I gave up when I realized that I was actually
craving water (a rare event for me; not fond of water) and that things
were getting a bit too hot to be fun.
Anthony Hewetson; Lubbock
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