The 3 mute swans were present this morning from 10 AM until I left at 10:45
AM. They are easily seen from CR 118 as Bob describes below.
The 4 hour round trip was worth it. Beautiful birds in a natural setting, as
apposed to a city park or zoo.
Thanks Bob for the report.
Dennis Cooke
Dickinson, Tx
-----Original Message-----
From: Bird.fried
Sent: Saturday, June 13, 2015 10:11 PM
To: texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [texbirds] Rock Island BBS - Colorado County - Mute Swans!
I've been traveling and busy with various other things, so unable to do my
new BBS route. Feeling the time crunch and despite an iffy forecast for
today, I headed up to Rock Island in Colorado county to run the BBS. I
shouldn't have worried; it was a beautiful morning and a very rewarding
outing.
I scouted this BBS route back in May and it was very wet then; one road was
under 6 inches of water and the last part of the router along FM 950 was
closed, being inundated by the flood waters of the Colorado River. Today it
was still quite wet though the gravel roads were dry and in decent shape.
I started the route at the official start time of 5:56. Things were going
along as expected until stop 6.... Still before sunrise, I pulled up to the
wetland at stop #6 that I thought had promise during my scouting trip back
in May. Immediately, I noticed 3 large, bulky white birds and thought it odd
that White Pelicans would be at this location at this time of year. Raising
the binocs I was shocked to find, not White Pelicans, but Mute Swans! Three
adult swans, in all their glory, preening in the earlier morning light.
They were immediately aware of my presence and moved further back in the
wetland when I crawled into the back of my truck for a better view. These
birds were obviously wild.
After a while, the 3 swans took flight and headed off in a south easterly
direction. However, within 5 minutes here they came; returning to this
wetland, giving more great looks and photo opps. I saw no bands or other
bling on the birds that would suggest that they are domestic. And there is
no farm house in the area. So, I'm not sure what to make of these birds.
For those interested, a couple of pics are attached to the eBird report
(link below).
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23893033
Other good birds (for Colorado County) at this wetland at stop #6 of the
Rock Island BBS route were Purple Gallinule, Least Bittern, Anhinga and
Fulvous Whistling Duck.
Along the rest of the BBS route there were good numbers of Bobwhite,
Dickcissel and Green Heron. The local sheriff chatted my up near Garwood
and seemed genuinely interested in knowing what birds are breeding in his
area and in learning a little about this citizen science things called the
Breeding Bird Survey. Tractors and 4-wheelers were almost as numerous as
cars along the route, though car and truck traffic was quite heavy along FM
950, late in the route. And, the much anticipated rain held off until I
finished the route, so that was a good thing too!
All in all a pretty exciting day of June birding. If you're interested in
checking out the swans or some of the other birds at the wetland at stop 6,
it is on CR 118, southeast of Rock Island at 29.513077, -96.550258.
Good birding,
Bob Friedrichs
Palacios Texas
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