What an impressive array--great work Anthony and great day of birding! Talk
about putting the time in.
One quick question for a relative tenderfoot: most of the locations on your
list made sense to me, but two stuck out:
- Yellowhouse Canyon-this is downstream and to the east of Buffalo
Springs and Ransom Canyon lakes, heading towards the rolling plains and off
the Caprock?
- City Farms--I'm not familiar with that location at all (and would love
to find some curlews!)
Thanks for any tips and again, an impressive day of good birding!
Johnny
On Mon, Mar 15, 2021 at 9:59 AM Anthony Hewetson <fattonybirds@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Greetings All:
I managed to locate 105-106 (the jury is still out on my scaup
photograph) species in Lubbock County yesterday, despite the
'interesting' wind conditions, from 9:00 AM to 7:30 PM. Of particular
note, small songbirds were in very short supply - I did not see a
single Verdin, Bewick's Wren, or Ruby-crowned Kinglet despite hours in
appropriate habitat - and smaller songbirds are thought to have done
very poorly during the polar vortex. Highlights were nicely scattered
across the sites I visited and included:
1 Snow Goose at City Farms
6 Wood Ducks at Leroy Elmore Park
5 Wood Ducks at Whisperwood Pond
2 Wood Ducks at Yellowhouse Canyon
1 male Blue-winged Teal at MacKenzie Park
1 female and 1 male Cinnamon Teals at Mae Simmons Park
2 female and 2 male Cinnamon Teals at Ransom Lake
4 male Cinnamon Teals at Yellowhouse Canyon
2 female and 2 male Canvasbacks at Andrews Park
2 female and 2 male Canvasbacks at Lake Two
2 male Canvasbacks at Yellowhouse Canyon
1 female Redhead at Andrews Park
1 female and 1 male Redheads at Lake Two
1 possible female Greater Scaup at Lake Two
2 male Common Mergansers at Ransom Lake
3 Scaled Quails at Yellowhouse Canyon
1 Eared Grebe at Lake Two
6 Long-billed Curlews at City Farms
1 Wilson's Snipe at MacKenzie Park
1 Greater Yellowlegs at Andrews Park
1 Ring-billed Gull at Ransom Lake - normally not a highlight in March
but they vanished from the region after the polar vortex and this was
the only one I saw all day.
1 Neotropic Cormorant at Leroy Elmore Park
3 Turkey Vultures at City Farms
3 Turkey Vultures at Yellowhouse Canyon
1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker at the Lubbock Cemetery
1 Downy Woodpecker at Yellowhouse Canyon
1 Merlin at Whisperwood Pond
1 Prairie Falcon at City Farms
1 Eastern Phoebe at Ransom Lake
1 Say's Phoebe at Yellowhouse Canyon
1 Common Raven at Yellowhouse Canyon
1 Northern Rough-winged Swallow at Lake Two
1 Tree Swallow at Lake Six
3 Tree Swallows at Lake Two
2 Tree Swallows at Ransom Lake
2 Barn Swallows at Lake Six
1 Red-breasted Nuthatch at MacKenzie Park
1 Canyon Wren at Ransom Lake
1 House Wren in my Lubbock yard
1 Marsh Wren at Ransom Lake - normally not a highlight in March but
this species is said to have done poorly during the polar vortex and
was the only one seen all day.
1 Carolina Wren at Yellowhouse Canyon
2 Eastern Bluebirds at Yellowhouse Canyon
1 Townsend's Solitaire at the Lubbock Cemetery
6 Cedar Waxwings at Ransom Lake
25 Pine Siskins in my Lubbock yard
14 Pine Siskins at Ransom Lake
2 Lesser Goldfinches at Ransom Lake
1 Brewer's Sparrows in my Lubbock yard
1 Swamp Sparrow at Yellowhouse Canyon - normally not a highlight in
March but this species is said to have done poorly during the polar
vortex and was the only one seen all day.
6 Yellow-headed Blackbirds at Yellowhouse Canyon.
Anthony Hewetson