[texbirds] Granger Lake area today - ~76 species, Striped Sparrow, Burrowing Owl, 7 sp woodpecker, and others

  • From: Christian Walker <christian.walker@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: "texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 18:03:40 -0600

Hello,
I birded the Granger Lake area today from around 8 to 1:15 pm. Stopped at CR 
428 first, where the Striped Sparrow was being seen. When I walked up to the 
group of birders it had just disappeared into the grass on the north side of 
the road, but it soon after appeared, giving great looks. It was seen pretty 
well on and off for the next hour or so. Folks were actively spreading bird 
seed, and there were a ton of birds in the area in addition to the sparrow 
including loads of Harris’s Sparrows, Pine Siskins, the Red-headed Woodpecker, 
and two heard-only Pileated Woodpeckers. A Brown Thrasher also made an 
appearance with the sparrows feeding along the grassy verge of the road. 
I spent the rest of the morning moving north and west around the lake. From the 
dam I found 2 Bonaparte’s Gulls, and counted 38 Eared Grebes. This was 
conservative. I checked out the larids at Friendship Park, but did not find 
anything other than Ring-billed Gulls and Forster’s Terns. I did hear a 
Ladder-backed Woodpecker here though, and got great looks at a western 
Red-tailed Hawk. The roads around the megafield area had Horned Larks, a 
Sandhill Crane, and a Burrowing Owl. 
The woodland areas on CR 348 had lots of birds, the highlights being at least 3 
singing Fox Sparrows and a pair of Brown Thrashers. There was a huge flock of 
Common Grackles, so I looked for Rusty Blackbirds but wasn’t able to find any. 

Good birding,

Christian Walker
Austin TX

Begin forwarded message:

> From: ebird-checklist@xxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: eBird Report - Granger Lake Area (HOTE 031), Jan 16, 2015
> Date: January 16, 2015 at 5:54:25 PM CST
> To: christian.walker@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> 
> Granger Lake Area (HOTE 031), Williamson, US-TX
> Jan 16, 2015 8:00 AM - 1:15 PM
> Protocol: Traveling
> 50.0 mile(s)
> Comments:     Stopped by CR 428 for Striped Sparrow, then moved north and 
> west in big loop around lake, hitting megafield, dam, friendship park, Willis 
> Creek area (but not the park), and all the roads in-between. Did not bird 
> south of the lake. Clear, calm, 45-70 degrees Fahrenheit. Many birders at CR 
> 428, a few others seen throughout the day.
> 73 species (+3 other taxa)
> 
> Gadwall  7
> Mallard  2
> Northern Shoveler  6
> Green-winged Teal  2
> Ruddy Duck  10
> Eared Grebe  38     conservative count.
> Double-crested Cormorant  20
> Great Blue Heron  2
> Black Vulture  3
> Turkey Vulture  28
> Northern Harrier  3
> Cooper's Hawk  1
> Red-shouldered Hawk  3
> Red-tailed Hawk  12
> Red-tailed Hawk (Western)  1     Dark belly band, darker buffy color on 
> breast and vent. Very dark overall, strong red in tail.
> American Coot  8
> Sandhill Crane  1     On CR 350 pond.
> Killdeer  22
> Greater Yellowlegs  1
> Bonaparte's Gull  2
> Ring-billed Gull  75
> Forster's Tern  12
> Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  4
> Eurasian Collared-Dove  1
> Mourning Dove  15
> Burrowing Owl  1     Great looks at culvert just north of intersection of CR 
> 352 and 357. Flew out and perched on a post when it heard my wheels on the 
> gravel.
> Red-headed Woodpecker  1     Adult at CR 428 (striped Sparrow spot).
> Red-bellied Woodpecker  10
> Yellow-bellied Sapsucker  1
> Ladder-backed Woodpecker  2     One heard at Friendship park, another heard 
> at CR 350.
> Downy Woodpecker  5
> Northern Flicker  2     HO
> Pileated Woodpecker  2     Heard calling at CR 428. Wild monkey call.
> Crested Caracara  8
> American Kestrel  10
> Eastern Phoebe  6
> Loggerhead Shrike  16
> Blue Jay  4
> American Crow  20
> Horned Lark  4     1 HO at CR 357, 3 seen at CR 352.
> Carolina Chickadee  14
> Tufted/Black-crested Titmouse  4
> House Wren  2
> Carolina Wren  12
> Bewick's Wren  1     Near the river off of CR 347.
> Ruby-crowned Kinglet  5
> Eastern Bluebird  1
> Hermit Thrush  1
> American Robin  5
> Brown Thrasher  3     1 seen at CR 428, 2 others later on around noon at CR 
> 348.
> Northern Mockingbird  12
> European Starling  12
> American Pipit  23
> Cedar Waxwing  7
> Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)  17
> Striped Sparrow  1     Good looks at the bird. Seen from 8:30 on and off til 
> about 9:15 am. Buffy flanks, black bill, mostly rufous crown (broad rufous 
> lateral crown stripes with faint gray central crown stripe) gray breast, 
> black cheek patch, broad buffy white super cilium. Buffy vent. Scratches like 
> towhee. Gray breast extends up onto collar. Black cheeks meet at bill 
> creating black mask. Head shape a bit like RCSP. Back pattern like 
> Zonotrichia or LISP. Shorter tail than RCSP. Seen 30 to 100 feet away through 
> 60x swarovski. About 12 others there.
> Chipping Sparrow  2
> Vesper Sparrow  27
> Savannah Sparrow  22
> Fox Sparrow  3     On CR 348.
> Song Sparrow  6
> Lincoln's Sparrow  8
> White-throated Sparrow  10
> Harris's Sparrow  21
> White-crowned Sparrow  39
> Northern Cardinal  32
> Red-winged Blackbird  130
> Western Meadowlark  5
> Western/Eastern Meadowlark  450
> Brewer's Blackbird  19
> Common Grackle  300
> Great-tailed Grackle  15
> Brown-headed Cowbird  75
> Pine Siskin  3
> American Goldfinch  13
> House Sparrow  5
> 
> View this checklist online at 
> http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S21370426
> 
> This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)

Christian Walker
Independent Adjuster
Austin, Texas
(512) 431-2495




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  • » [texbirds] Granger Lake area today - ~76 species, Striped Sparrow, Burrowing Owl, 7 sp woodpecker, and others - Christian Walker