Who is Sue Oliver you might ask. She is a friend of ours and one of the best birders in this area. We had been talking about doing this for the past several months. I also promised that I would put her name in headlines. (Hence the title of this post). She works at her job all week and only has time to get out on Saturdays. We set it up to leave about 8:15AM, and we should have decided on going after a “Big Day” number. We ended up seeing 51 species, and it could have been more, had we done a better job of deciding the route that we would take.
In the birders jargon, a “Big Day” is one where you try to see as many birds as possible. Ann and I have, or had a record of 44 in one day back in 2011. That was just she and I, and we were not really trying for a big number. It just happened that way.
The weather was pretty cold when we started. It was around 40 degrees and very cloudy, but not really uncomfortable unless we rolled the car windows down at higher speeds. But as you probably know, birders do not travel at high speeds.
We decided to head for Mertzon, Texas, a little town only about 20 miles southwest of San Angelo. We took a round-a-bout way, through ranch country on some dusty caliche roads, and after three hours,(yes that’s right, three hours) of not many birds, we arrived in Mertzon. We promptly stopped at a convenience store to answer nature’s call. At that time, we had only chalked up about a dozen birds. They were mostly sparrow types, grackles, and a few doves. We were disappointed the way our birding exploits were going because we had wasted our time on those backroads. Of course, we had now way of knowing that there would be such a shortage of birds on that route.
There was a little county park there in Mertzon, with a dam and a low-water crossing. We decided to check it out as we had heard that it would be a great place for birds. We were really correct on that score. There were Cardinals, Finches, Pied-billed Grebes, Pyrrholoxia and a Great Blue Heron. But the star of the show was a Ringed Kingfisher, a rarity here in this area. It was apparent that it had invaded the territory of two Belted Kingfishers. Those two were not making the Ringed KF welcome. All the time we watched they were constantly chasing one another. Patiently waiting, I did get a couple of photos when it happened to perch for a few seconds.
We stayed around for a bit to see if there were any more surprises. Nothing more exciting showed up, except some American Goldfinches, American Kestrels, and another Red-tailed Hawk. I think that by then, we had seen 35 different species.
By then it was only about 2:00 PM. We decided that we would head for Eldorado, a drive of about 35 miles. We thought that we could add a bunch to our list at the Water Treatment Plant ponds. And we did. Plenty of birds there, however, some of them were duplicates of birds that we seen in Mertzon. But we added a Wilson’s Snipe and a Northern Harrier, and several others including an American Widgeon.
On the way home, entering San Angelo, we saw the first two Ring-billed Gulls of the season, and some European Starlings. So all in all it was another fun day of birding here in the Concho Valley. Click on any image to see an enlargement.
Here is a complete species list for you who may be interested.
- Red-tailed Hawk
- Mourning Dove
- Common Raven
- Western Meadowlark
- Common Grackle
- Savannah Sparrow
- Vesper Sparrow
- American Kestrel
- Northern Mockingbird
- Loggerhead Shrike
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Green-winged Teal
- Turkey Vulture
- Northern Cardinal
- Pyrrholoxia
- Golden-fronted Woodpecker
- Black Vulture
- House Sparrow
- Ringed Kingfisher
- Eurasian Collared Dove
- Belted Kingfisher
- Pied-billed Grebe
- Great Blue Heron
- Pine Sisken
- American Goldfinch
- Brown-headed Cowbird
- Northern Shoveler
- Eastern Phoebe
- House Finch
- Eastern Bluebird
- Ladder-backed Woodpecker
- Great-tailed Grackle
- Lark Sparrow
- Western Scrub Jay
- Wild Turkey
- Double-crested Cormorant
- American Coot
- Gadwall
- Ruddy Duck
- Northern Pintail
- Northern Harrier
- Ring-necked Duck
- Redhead
- Great Egret
- Spotted Sandpiper
- Lesser Scaup
- Wilson Snipe
- Blue-winged Teal
- Ring-billed Gull
- Rock Pigeon
- European Starling
Bob had a great time. Next time I suggest you take a spare “noodle”. Also appently we did see two Ringed Kingfishers. A male and a female, pluse two Belted Kingfishers
We did,too, Sue. I will make me another Noodle, also. My neighbor saw and photographed a Lewis’ Woodpecker. We are heading out this morning, Friday, to see if we can spot it.
Congrats on your very successful Big Day, Bob. I’d never even heard of the Ringed Kingfisher – it sure has a lot of red on the belly, compared to the Belted K. Good job getting the namesake red tail of the hawk to show up so well. Seems like 90% of the red-tails we see are immatures with no red there.
Thanks, Ron. It wasn’t intended to be a ‘Big Day’, it just happened. The Ringed Kingfisher is only (usually) found in far south Texas. I think the sun helped bring out the red in the hawk’s tail. But mature red-tail are pretty plentiful here.
I work with Sue Oliver! In fact, she is the one who told me about you and the reason I’m now a follower. I do enjoy all your photos, but there’s a special place in my heart for the raptors. That hawk in flight is just awesome!
Hey, Pam, many thanks for the comment. I appreciate your compliment on the hawk. I love to photograph the raptors. 🙂
Hi Bob, I really admire your photography skills. Such great variety of birds captured everytime. It makes me want to explore more on wildlife 🙂
Thank you very much, maviedesign, I really appreciate your comments.
I’ve never seen a ringed kingfisher – great images!
In the U.S. it is seen regularly in the deep south of Texas. Thanks for the comment, Cindy.
I would say that was a darn good outing!!! Love the photos especially the Red Tail !
Thanks, David, it keeps on getting more fun all the time. 🙂
What an amazing day, and a great list. Well done! I love the kingfisher photos.
Thanks, Jo, for your comment. Birding can be fun. 🙂
Sounds delightful, sure it was a lot of fun, especially sharing it with friends. Have you seen the movie “The Big Year”? I got a big kick out of that.
It was definitely a lot of fun. We have seen “The Big Year” and enjoyed it a lot. Thanks for your comment, Jane.
WOW! Great shots, Bob. These are all great, but I love the first shot of the Kingfisher, and the Red Tailed Hawk the best!
~ Lynda
Thanks so much, Lynda. I appreciate all of your comment. Nice to hear from you again. 🙂
I’m jealous! 😉 Glad you had such a great day! Would love to join you again sometime!!
You didn’t sign your name. Who are you? You can join us anytime. 🙂
Nice work Bob! 🙂
Thanks, H.J.
That hawk photo is nothing short of AMAZING!!!
Thanks, Bonnie. I love to get the opportunity to photograph hawks on the wing. I appreciate your compliment.