snipe | Texas Tweeties by Bob Zeller

Well, I don’t know how much of a storm it will be, but getting extremely cold, (for here), tomorrow. High predicted 38 degrees. That’s after us having the hottest temp in the nation yesterday of 85 degrees. Today was almost as warm, but a beautiful balmy day. What to do. What to do. Go birding, of course.

First we decided to visit the blind at San Angelo State Park. There we saw basically just the regulars, but not much in the way of anything new. Like going into a tavern and seeing all the regular locals at the bar, but no new pretty girls coming in. I did get a nice photo of a House Finch.

House Finch

After that we headed for our usual spots at Lake Nasworthy. Two parks, Spring Creek and Middle Concho, are usually pretty good at producing a nice variety for us birders. Today was no exception.

Great Horned Owl

Ann spotted the Great Horned Owl. We knew one was hanging around, but we didn’t know which tree it would be in. It was in a sleepy mood. Whooooooo could blame him. 🙂

Great Blue Heron

The Great Blue Heron was busy looking for breakfast, or was it lunch. No matter. He probably didn’t know the difference.

American Wigeon

This American Wigeon was doing a bit of searching on his own. I don’t know what the American Coot was doing. He may have been jealous of the wigeon’s colors.

Cinnamon Teal

A Cinnamon Teal gliding placidly along showing off.

Wilson’s Snipe

This Wilson’s Snipe was in a very shallow area near the bank of the river. I almost didn’t see him as they are so tiny. Actually, they measure 10 inches, but half of that is it’s bill.

All in all, we saw about 35 different species.

We added three more to our 2014 West Texas Big Year list.

#88 Mourning Dove

#89 Cinnamon Teal

#90 Blue-winged Teal

Enjoy the photos, and click on any of them to see enlargements.

Tuesday dawned as a beautiful day. Winds calm, temperature balmy. A perfect day to get out and do some early birding. A friend of mine wanted to go birding for the first time, to see what this hobby/pastime was all about. I will simply call him John Smith as that is his real name. I picked him up at his house about 8:45AM and away we went. I took him on the usual tour that Ann and always make. Ann, by the way, had to stay home and catch up on wifely chores, laundry, ironing, cleaning and the like.

Osprey in tree.

We headed for Middle Concho Park and before we got there we had already seen about 7 species, including the Osprey pictured above, sitting on a tree branch overlooking a pond near Lake Nasworthy. I think it was the same Osprey that I had photographed a few days ago, as it was on or near the same branch, but positioned slightly different for a better exposure. (Click on any picture to see an enlargement.)

Pied-billed Grebe

Inside the park, we were surprised that the parks department had already had the place cleaned up from the hordes of people that cluttered the place over the Easter weekend. We immediately saw plenty of birds, woodpeckers, grackles and even a Ruby-crowned Kinglet flitting in a small Live Oak. Along the shoreline we saw the above pictured Pied-billed Grebe. I love those little guys. They seem to be smiling and having a good time. A little farther along we saw the first of the season, for me, some Blue-winged Teals.

Blue-winged Teal

“The water sure is cold.”
“And deep, too.”

We then proceed to leave Middle Concho Park and head over to Spring Creek Park. It is actually just across the river, but with no bridge, you have to drive an approximate 7 mile trip around the lake.

Vermilion Flycatcher in mesquite tree.

Will driving in that park, we saw a Vermilion Flycatcher in front of us. I didn’t have room, or the time, to maneuver the car so this photo was taken through the car. I now am driving a brand new Ford Escape, and for some reason or other I had an easier time of getting a good focus through the glass.

Wilson’s Snipe

We proceeded to get a little closer to the shoreline, and as I drove, I told John that it would be nice to see a Wilson’s Snipe, since the habitat in that area was shallow and muddy. Sure enough, I had hardly spoken when we spotted two of them.

Black-bellied Whistling Ducks

As if seeing the snipes was surprising enough, just a few minutes later, we saw thes Black-bellied Whistling Ducks. So we had a really fun day. John said he was hooked on birding and is chomping at the bit to do it again. We ended up seeing a total of 36 species. If you are interested, here are all of them listed.