It’s been a while since I’ve been able to really enjoy some fantastic birding (and blogging) since I’ve been working on my dissertation, but since I’ve finally passed my oral exam (FINALLY!), I am able to update with some pictures of birds I’ve managed to see even with all the craziness going on.  I’m hoping to get a lot more birding in now that I’m nearly done and significantly more relaxed.

The White-eyed Vireo is a lifer for me that we saw this past Sunday here in San Antonio.  I actually was specifically looking for this one and when I heard its beautiful song, I knew it would be a good day!

The yard is booming as well.  We had our FOS Black-chinned Hummingbird, along with some visiting Brown-headed Cowbirds and Northern Cardinals (2 firsts for the yard!).  

I can’t wait to be able to sit outside and enjoy the outdoors again!

Aww don’t be jealous, I’m sure you see lots of neat birds that I can only dream of! Thanks for the lovely compliments!  I actually live about 5.5 hours north of Brownsville, but I did drive past the dump on my last visit.  There hadn’t been any crow sightings around that time, so we headed out to South Padre Island instead.  My sister-in-law lives down there though, so we may get around to it if the crows come back.

If you’re ever in San Antonio, let me know and I’ll hopefully be able to show you a Loggerhead Shrike.  We actually just saw one while we were playing mini-golf in the middle of the city on Sunday!

PS…LOVE your user name.  First (and only) owl I’ve seen!

As promised, some pics from birding this weekend.  The Cedar Waxwings were my favorites this time.  Such beautiful birds!

We had some killer rain this past Friday.  Killer as in “if I actually drive to my friend’s birthday party downtown, I’ll probably die” killer.  However, after the skies temporarily cleared, I went out to restock my bird feeders (sparrows are eating everything!).  Low and behold, up in a tree to the left, I caught a flash of red.  Not Cardinal red, not Inca Dove red.  It was an American Robin.  It was lots of American Robins.  It was at least 100 American Robins.  They must have come by to eat all the tasty bugs in that were in the grass after all the rain.  None actually came into my yard, but I was counting them as yard birds since I saw them from my yard. :P  Sunday was my lucky day though because just as I looked out the window, a lone Robin popped down a took a drink from the bird bath.   Official yard bird!!!!!

We decided to take advantage of the beautiful Sunday morning weather to head down to Brackenridge Park and feed some ducks.  Highlights there included a male Blue-winged Teal and a couple of Gadwall.  As we were driving to a different portion of the park, we heard our favorite little Belted Kingfisher and stopped to get a couple of nice pics.  There we met a really nice birder from NM who wanted to see Black-bellied Whistling Ducks for her life list.  Luckily we knew where she could see them just a quarter mile away.  Birders are cool!  We drove a little further and found a ton of Cedar Waxwings…such gorgeous birds!  Called it a day after that and went home to relax on a Sunday.

Pics to come!

Went birding in Corpus Christi last Saturday.  We saw lots of neat birds and even got a few new lifers: Pyrrhuloxia, Bufflehead, Red-breasted Merganser, Ovenbird, and Dunlin.

Also got much better looks at Roseate Spoonbills who previously liked to hide their bills.

Very fun Saturday and can’t wait until Spring migration!!!!!

I live on the Northwest Side of San Antonio.  My yard borders a park, which borders a greenbelt, which gave me hope for a nice variety of yard birds if I put up some different types of feeders.  Towards the end of last summer/beginning of fall, I installed said feeders and filled them up with different types of seed (as much as my budget would allow anyway).  I imagined I’d see a variety of colorful birds feeding to their hearts’ content (as shown on the bags of seeds), so I found myself disappointed when I attracted only House Sparrows, House Finches, Great-tailed Grackles, White-winged Doves, Mourning Doves, and Inca Doves…and an occasional hummingbird which was more attracted to my lantanas anyway.  My dogs were pleased, but I had been hoping for more.

During December and most of January I let the feeders go empty.  My plants were dormant, it was cold, and I didn’t see much of anything anywhere else either.  After we came back from our weekend in Brownsville where I saw the most beautiful birds feeding in the parks, I was reinspired to refill my feeders…no matter who decided to visit.  What a great decision!  That very day, I had Black-crested Titmice visiting my sunflower seeds.  Within days I had Carolina Chickadees (brand new to the yard), numerous House Sparrows, beautiful male House Finches, Chipping Sparrows and a Yellow-rumped Warbler (brand new to the yard), and all my doves back.  I had forgotten how much I missed looking out the window and seeing nature in my little piece of the city.  Last weekend was very exciting at the feeder because I had my first Life Bird feeding.  I’ve never before seen a Lesser Goldfinch, only American, so I was doubly thrilled when I snuck one last glance out the window before running errands to see that beautiful yellow bird helping himself to some lunch.

I can’t wait to get a fountain with running water and our new Monterrey Oak to hopefully get more friends to come visit!

If anyone has any tips for how to attract a greater variety to the yard, I’d love to hear them!

Went birding again this weekend and yesterday.  On Sunday, we headed out to Avenue A at Brackenridge Park.  There is always a nice variety of birds and Sunday was no exception.  We managed to sneak a peak at the following species:

Blue Jay

Northern Mockingbird

Mallard

Cedar Waxwing

Downy Woodpecker

Golden-fronted Woodpecker

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

Belted Kingfisher

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Great-tailed Grackle

European Starling

Black-bellied Whistling Duck

Northern Cardinal

Loggerhead Shrike

Red-shouldered Hawk

Yesterday was such a beautiful day (upper 70’s, sunny), I left work early and we took the pups to Woodlawn Park.  Last time I was there, there weren’t too many different species, but today was a different story.

We saw

Lesser Scaup

Mallard

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Great-tailed Grackle

Rock Pigeon

Mourning Dove

American Goldfinch

Pied-Billed Grebe

Double-crested Cormorant

Neotropic Cormorant

Little Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron

Snowy Egret

Great Egret

Egyptian Goose

Northern Shoveler

American Coot

All in all…not a bad week of birding!

Glad to help! ;)

Last batch of Brownsville pics!

Even more Brownsville birds!