Location: Utley Bridge (Hwy 969) to Tarcoola, Bastrop, US-TX
Observation date: 1/7/2012
Number of species: 43 (plus 1 other taxa)
EPISODE 68: The Duck Hunters
Seems the river is becoming quite a popular duck hunting spot. Today we had to dodge five or six groups of hunters. All the hunters had boats with outboard motors. The riffle bar about a mile downstream from the bridge is a barrier for them. Once we were downstream of that riffle we saw no other hunters. Well except for one and his pet Poly-duck. We debated whether it was Poly-Urethane or Poly-Propylene.
Of course we found some other great birds today. To mention a few of the birds of prey we had three Bald Eagles, four Osprey, and sadly we found a Barred Owl that was caught in old fishing line and had died. The bird was a beautiful adult. We also found a Pleated Woodpecker (and four other species of Woodpecker) and a huge number of Belted Kingfisher to round out our 45 species day.
We had a very large group of avid boaters and birders. We thank Ruth Jansa, Pam Hohman, Odilia DeLeon, Julie DeLeon, Linda Williams, Julie Bollman, Jenny Yarbrough, Kelly Smith, Claudia Brandenburg, Dean Brandenburg, Kathy Kopp, Bill Forshey, Ann Syptak, John Barr, Art Jennings, Mary Torczon, Judy, Peg Gavin, Ron Armbruster, Hemant Kulkarni, and Andy Balinsky.
This was a very nice group of people and we had a good time on the river today.
Here is a link to Andy’s photos.
Here is a link to Hemant’s photos.
(Click any image below to view larger. Top row courtesy of Claude Morris. Wilson’s Snipe and Double-crested Cormorant by Hemant.)
Number of species: 43 (plus 1 other taxa)
Gadwall 200
American Wigeon 5
Mallard 14
Green-winged Teal 24
Redhead 2
Bufflehead 1
Hooded Merganser 8
Pied-billed Grebe 3
Double-crested Cormorant 8
American White Pelican 9
Great Blue Heron 6
Great Egret 4
Black Vulture 18
Turkey Vulture 6
Osprey 4
Bald Eagle 3
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 3
Crested Caracara 6
American Coot 8
Killdeer 7
Spotted Sandpiper 23
Greater Yellowlegs 8
Lesser Yellowlegs 3
Least Sandpiper 6
Wilson’s Snipe 3
Belted Kingfisher 12
Red-bellied Woodpecker 7
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 2
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 2
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Eastern Phoebe 4
American Crow 17
Carolina Chickadee 16
Carolina Wren 19
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 6
Eastern Bluebird 3
Orange-crowned Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 42
Song Sparrow 2
Lincoln’s Sparrow 5
Northern Cardinal 37
American Goldfinch 18
House Sparrow 24
