I took a walk along the trail down to the pond today. It was only about 95°F outside, so I counted it a cool day. Still, I figured I’d see what birds were out, do my weekly count for my Pond Trail Big Year and have a look at what the hailstorm did last week. I forgot to charge my camera battery, so no pictures.
The storm ripped up and beat down most of the undergrowth so walking off the trail was easier, though it was weird with all the leaves that shouldn’t have fallen until autumn on the ground instead of still in the trees. Several trees had fallen across the little creek near the footbridge so it was a lot more open in an area where I’m used to deep shade this time of year.
The reeds near the pond were decimated, and I didn’t see any Red-winged Blackbirds around. That’s where they had been nesting so I wonder if they’ll be back. The herons were away as well so I wonder if their nests got flooded or destroyed in the storm. This was this first time all year that I didn’t see any kind of water bird around the pond.
As to birds, I saw the usual suspects for this time of year: grackles, Blue Jays, mockingbirds, cardinals. In the non-avian category, I saw a rabbit and some kind of a garter snake. Nothing special to add to the bird list, but here’s the updated list for the pond trail, about halfway through 2009:
- Black-bellied Whistling Duck
- Gadwall
- American Wigeon
- Blue-winged Teal
- Northern Shoveler
- Northern Pintail
- Ring-necked Duck
- Pied-billed Grebe
- Great Blue Heron
- Great Egret
- Little Blue Heron
- Green Heron
- Black Vulture
- Turkey Vulture
- Osprey
- Accipiter sp
- Red-shouldered Hawk
- Killdeer
- White-winged Dove
- Mourning Dove
- Black-chinned Hummingbird
- Red-bellied Woodpecker
- Ladder-backed Woodpecker
- Eastern Phoebe
- Western Kingbird
- Blue Jay
- American Crow
- Purple Martin
- Barn Swallow
- Swallow sp.
- Carolina Chickadee
- Black-crested Titmouse
- Carolina Wren
- Ruby-crowned Kinglet
- Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
- Eastern Bluebird
- American Robin
- Northern Mockingbird
- European Starling
- Orange-crowned Warbler
- Yellow-rumped Warbler
- Black-and-white Warbler
- Common Yellowthroat
- Chipping Sparrow
- Song Sparrow
- Northern Cardinal
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Common Grackle
- Great-tailed Grackle
- House Finch
- Lesser Goldfinch
- American Goldfinch
- House Sparrow
James Brush is a teacher and writer who lives in Austin, TX. He tries to get outside as much as possible.
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