Greetings All:
I spent almost eight hours in Hockley County today, making one last run at
running up the totals for my 2016 game.
Highlights included 2 Greater White-fronted Geese at Smyer Playa, 7 Snow
Geese at Smyer Playa, 1 Ross's Goose at Brashears Park in Levelland, 2
Ross's Geese at Smyer Playa, 2 male Ring-necked Pheasants just south of
Roundup, 5 Short-eared Owls foraging over a field northeast of Smyer, 1
Peregrine Falcon at the Smyer Playa, 1 Say's Phoebe in Pep, 1 Winter Wren
in Pep, 5 Mountain Bluebirds near Petit, 1 Hermit Thrush at Anton Ponds, 1
Brown Thrasher southwest of Pep, and 2 Field Sparrows southwest of Pep.
The Short-eared Owls, Winter Wren, and Brown Thrasher were all new for my
county list for the year and I actually managed to get photographs of the
.....owls. By the time I got to songbirds, the winds had kicked up
something awful and I was barely able to get good looks at the wren and the
thrasher, much less photographs.
If I have gotten my paperwork right, this means that I have seen 210
species of bird in Hockley County in a single year which, unless Leanna
Smith has done better at some point in the past, must be the record big
year for the county.
In other news, Rich and I have picked our game for 2017 and I have picked
my next county for an attempt at another county big year record in 2017 but
.... I think I will save that news for the new year!
Anthony 'Fat Tony' Hewetson; Lubbock