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Birding in the local park (1 Viewer)

Cillana

Well-known member
Now that finals are over I'm visiting my parents in Baytown, Texas. There's a park within walking distance from their house with a nature trail through the woods. My mom and I went Monday morning with binocs and field guide in hand. Before even getting to the park (well we did take the long way) we saw a Swallow-tailed Kite near the horizon, a Turkey Vulture fly overhead, a female Pine Warbler feeding her very large baby in a low branch of a pine tree, and the usual Cardinals, Starlings, Blue Jays, Carolina Wrens, Common Grackles, Mockingbirds, White-winged Doves, Mourning Doves, Red-bellied Woodpeckers (who are nesting in my parents' yard), Downy Woodpeckers, and Purple Martins. I also saw a small brown striped bird that I didn't see long enough to ID. Probably some kind of sparrow.

In the woods we saw more Cardinals, Doves, Blue Jays, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, and Downy Woodpeckers. We also saw lots of Carolina Chickadees and Tufted Titmice. I was hoping to see some migrating warblers and I wasn't disapointed. Not too far into the woods we saw at least three Blackburnian Warblers and one Black-throated Green Warbler hoping around the branches just over our head. They were so close! I really wish I had brought my camera. They were lifers for both my mom and me. We also saw a flycatcher sallying and after much deliberation decided it was an Eastern Wood-Pewee. A lifer for my mom and a second time sighting for me. After we were through the woods we went on the bridge over the bayou and saw two Great Egrets. We also saw a couple Mockingbirds and a Loggerhead Shrike at the edge of the woods. On the way back we saw an unIDed hawk and wren. Those flying brown blurs are hard to ID.

We went again this morning. I'll write about it later.
 
Wednesday morning we spent more time in the park than getting there. :t: First thing we saw was a Blue Jay. Then we saw a Broad-winged Hawk flying overhead and calling. It was a lifer for my mom and a second sighting for me. We heard lots of male Pine Warblers singing up in the treetops as usual but I actually managed to spy one way up there with my binocs this time. Of course we saw more Purple Martins, Mourning Doves, Cardinals, Carolina Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, Starlings, and Mockingbirds. We saw several Carolina Wrens that were scolding us for being too close to their brush pile. We saw an Eastern Wood-Pewee again. He was perched really close. I was too enthralled to remember to take a pic. I also briefly saw a Common Nighthawk fly over. Couldn't find any migrating warblers this time though. No luck finding any Pileated Woodpeckers either. We saw lots of Downy, Hairy, and Red-bellied Woodpeckers. We even found a baby Red-bellied being fed by a parent. I managed to get close enough for a good pic since the hole wasn't far from the ground. He kept calling for more food but the parent seemed nervous so we moved farther away. But instead of feeding it the parent kept taunting the baby until he flew out of the hole and landed sprawling on the side of a nearby tree trunk. It was very exciting. :bounce: And lastly we saw a Black Vulture on the way back.

Here's a pic of baby woodpecker in the hole and parent on top of the dead tree.
 

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