American Wigeon

There is still an odd duck or two on the ponds at Spring Canyon.  I saw this lone American Wigeon on the large pond early the other morning.

Palo Duro Reservoir

I drove up to Palo Duro Reservoir north of Spearman, Texas a few days ago and logged one of the highest species counts I’ve ever had-31 different birds in about 3 hours of hiking and driving around the lake and the area below the dam.  One of the sightings was a Swainson’s Thrush.  They aren’t…

Red-tailed Hawk

I’ve been watching a Great Horned Owl raise her babies since Valentine’s Day. On May 11 there was a huge fire at Lake Meredith that destroyed over 200 homes and buildings and damaged a hundred or so more.  The bright spot of this disaster was that there were no deaths or even serious injuries, but…

More Spring Birds

Black-necked Stilt Spotted Sandpiper Northern Cardinal from the Missouri trip Blue Jay, also taken in Missouri Great Blue Heron in Missouri.  All three of these birds are common in the Texas Panhandle.  The color green is not. Scissor-tailed Flycatcher after a bath Yellow-headed Blackbird in a mesquite bush. Red-winged Blackbird on last year’s cattails Western…

Watercolors

The day after we got back from Missouri we had our first real rain since last summer.  The next morning I went out to Spring Canyon to see if there was anything interesting down there.  While we were in Missouri an itinerant birder had posted on eBird that he had heard a Black Rail and…

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds

My wife and daughters and I went to Missouri last week to visit my parents.  They live in the foothills of the Ozarks in a pretty thickly forested rural area.  The climate and geographical change between the Texas Panhandle and southwestern Missouri is stunning- from dry, parched prairie to lush, green, forest covered hills as…

Birds of Summer

I’ve really been enjoying the changing of the guard around here for the last month or so.  Most of the winter birds are gone, migrating shorebirds and warblers are still on the march, and in the last week or two the summer residents have started arriving.  Two of my favorites showed up this morning-a Swainson’s…

More Photos from Monday’s Outing

As promised, here’s more pictures from the Monday morning adventure. Northern Cardinal Townsend’s Solitaire. Not a very good photo, but he was determinedly ignoring me. Baird’s Sandpiper (best guess, sandpipers are tough) Spotted Sandpiper Wilson’s Phalarope Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon’s) Western Kingbird Eared Grebe Great Horned Owlet

Palm Warbler!

I got off work this morning after a pretty busy weekend, made a quick stop at Jesse’s Burritos for breakfast, headed out to the lake.  I like to get early morning pictures at Spring Canyon—it’s somewhat protected from the southwest wind, and the light from the rising sun reflects off of the canyon walls and onto the…