Birders often try to have a Big Year, where they try to see how many different species of birds they can observe in one year. Some may try for one month. Ann and I are always trying to see how many we might see in one day. Our previous record was 44. Today, Sunday February 9, we saw a new record of 48. We were gone from the house for about four hours and a half. However we only added one more to our on-going list of our Big Year. It now stands at 94 after adding a Brown Creeper today.
It was great fun, as I also got some nice photos, which some days I fail to do. We saw a Verdin again, and I finally got it in my viewfinder, as well as a nice shot of a Western Bluebird. Heck, why don’t I just show you a few highlights.
We decided to make a stop at San Angelo State Park. There we saw the above pictured Verdin. This is the first time I have ever seen one at a feeder, as usually they are timid and keep pretty much to themselves.
The Western Bluebird was scratching in the grass, and I guess I disturbed it and I caught her (it is a female), beautiful plumage as she tried to fly.
When this Great Egret caught this fish, I thought he was going to come out of his shoes, so to speak. You can see that his feet left the water. I love these beautiful birds.
High above it all, atop a dead tree, was this Red-tailed Hawk.
As for the Brown Creeper, I was unable to get a clear shot of it today, so I will show you the above shot that I got of it a couple of years ago.
Click an any image to see an enlargement. Also if you are interested in seeing a complete list of what we saw today, here it is:
- Northern Mockingbird
- House Sparrow
- White-winged Dove
- Blue Jay
- Gadwall
- Bufflehead
- Northern Shoveler
- Northern Cardinal
- Western Meadowlark
- Great-tailed Grackle
- Great Blue Heron
- American Coot
- Ring-billed Duck
- Great Egret
- Osprey
- Double-crested Cormorant
- Mallard
- Green-winged Teal
- Cinnamon Teal
- Killdeer
- Yellow-rumped Warbler
- Brown Creeper
- American Pelican
- Belted Kingfisher
- Red-tailed Hawk
- Northern Harrier
- Golden-fronted Woodpecker
- Greater Yellowlegs
- European Starling
- Black Vulture
- Northern Flicker
- Wilson’s Snipe
- Mute Swan
- House Finch
- Black-crested Titmouse
- Verdin
- Pyrrhuloxia
- Curve-billed Thrasher
- Canyon Towhee
- White-crowned Sparrow
- Chipping Sparrow
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Ringed-neck Duck
- American Wigeon
- Pied-billed Grebe
- Western Bluebird
- Eastern Bluebird
- Ladder-backed Woodpecker