Location: Utley Bridge (Hwy 969) to Tarcoola, Bastrop, US-TX
Observation date: April 6, 2013 – 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM
Number of species: 63 (+ 2 other taxa)
EPISODE 83: An Interesting Mix of Summer And Winter
Today was that interesting mix of summer and winter you would expect on a spring day. Some of the trees have leafed out while others have barely started. We got a mix of lingering winter birds and found some of our regular summer birds. Even the weather started our very chilly and warmed nicely.
Once it had warmed there were butterflies, and damselflies and the turtles and snakes were out sunning themselves. The spring wildflowers were everywhere and gorgeous
I have lots of interesting sightings I want to share with you.
The birds did not disappoint. We found two adult Bald Eagles. We had a small group of Anhinga and migratory Swanson Hawks. There were still hundreds of ducks on the river, two groups of American White Pelicans, Wild Turkey, Pileated Woodpecker, and many singing Northern Parula. But perhaps the best sighting of the day was an American Bittern that rounds out a list of 65 species
We found a Great Blue Heron rockery or about six nests.
We found Tiger Swallowtails, Sulfur, and Bordered Patch, and several species of damselflies.
There were Map Turtles, Red-eared sliders, Diamond-backed Watersnake and Blotched Watersnake.
We also found what we believe to be River Otter scat. I did not include photos of this but if you like I will send them to you. We believe they are feeding on Crayfish and Clams.
Whew. I hope I have not forgotten anything. It was a very fun day in the outdoors. Helping with all this fun I need to thank Stacey Bucklin, Aimee Beveridge, Sharon Richardson, Lee Charlton, Kim McKnight, Jeff Richardson, Geoff Hoese, John Barr, bob West, Denis Breining, and Duncan Charlton. Thanks for helping make this a great day.
Don’t forget to like the Austin Bastrop River Corridor Partnership Facebook page. Here you will find more information about the river and water issues in central Texas. I also post more photos than I send with the email.
Also, these surveys are posted on the Travis Audubon web site.
(Click any image below to view larger. Yellow Nicotiana flower and turtle photos by Bob West. Other photos by Claude Morris.)
Number of species: 46 (+ 1 other taxa)
Wood Duck 8
Gadwall 26
American Wigeon 12
Blue-winged Teal 32
Northern Shoveler 50
Canvasback 8
Ring-necked Duck 8
Wild Turkey 4
Pied-billed Grebe 4
Double-crested Cormorant 8
Anhinga 4
American White Pelican 70
American Bittern 1
Great Blue Heron 7
Great Egret 6
Snowy Egret 1
Little Blue Heron 8
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 1
Black Vulture 22
Turkey Vulture 36
Osprey 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Bald Eagle 2
Red-shouldered Hawk 3
Swainson’s Hawk 2
Red-tailed Hawk 1
American Coot 6
Killdeer 7
Spotted Sandpiper 18
Greater Yellowlegs 34
Least Sandpiper 6
Dunlin 1
Wilson’s Snipe 2
White-winged Dove 6
Mourning Dove 8
Chimney Swift 2
hummingbird sp. 2
Belted Kingfisher 5
Red-bellied Woodpecker 12
Downy Woodpecker 3
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Crested Caracara 8
Eastern Phoebe 2
Eastern Kingbird 1
White-eyed Vireo 18
Blue Jay 2
American Crow 9
Cliff Swallow 38
Carolina Chickadee 20
Tufted x Black-crested Titmouse (hybrid) 16
Carolina Wren 14
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2
Eastern Bluebird 6
Cedar Waxwing 24
Northern Parula 16
Yellow-rumped Warbler 6
Lincoln’s Sparrow 4
Swamp Sparrow 1
White-throated Sparrow 1
White-crowned Sparrow 4
Northern Cardinal 48
Red-winged Blackbird 38
Great-tailed Grackle 6
Brown-headed Cowbird 100
House Sparrow 18
View this checklist online.
Click here for previous episodes of Claude’s River Survey!
