Here are a few photos from a short three-hour birding trip to Middle Concho and Spring Creek Parks. The first two images are of a Cooper’s Hawk. The same bird, but taken in two different trees. It was on the move but we followed it. The sky was bright but cloudy, and the subject was back-lit in both images. The Cooper’s is often confused with the Sharp-shinned Hawk. The Cooper’s is the larger of the two, but since I hadn’t had them close together, I opted for the Cooper’s because of the flatish head. The horizontal breast markings show that it is an adult.
Cooper’s Hawk
Cooper’s Hawk
We came upon several Yellow-rumped Warblers. I was able to get this close shot when one lit on a small tree just a few feet from the car. It wasn’t there but for a few seconds.
Yellow-rumped Warbler
This Great Blue Heron was taking it easy atop an old concrete pier.
Great Blue Heron
We saw a good many birds, including our first Cedar Waxwing of the season. Here is a complete list of our 29 sightings.
- Northern Mockingbird 4
- Great-tailed Grackle 35
- House Finch 2
- Northern Cardinal 3
- American Kestrel 2
- Eastern Bluebird 8
- Red-winged Blackbird 7
- American Coot 16
- Great Blue Heron 4
- Northern Harrier 1
- Double-crested Cormorant 9
- Pied-billed Grebe 1
- Mute Swan 2
- Vermilion Flycatcher 1
- Cooper’s Hawk 1
- White-winged Dove 20
- Golden-fronted Woodpecker 5
- Blue Jay 2
- Black-crested Titmouse 4
- Ladder-backed Woodpecker 1
- Yellow-rumped Warbler 3
- House Sparrow 10
- Belted Kingfisher 3
- Ring-billed Gull 11
- Gadwall 3
- Cedar Waxwing 3
- Eastern Phoebe 2
- American Robin 1
- Mallard 6
Enjoy the photos and click on any of them to see enlargements.
Texas Tweeties by Bob Zeller 