[leasbirds] Some good birds in Lubbock today
- From: Anthony Hewetson <terrverts@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "leasbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <leasbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 13:58:13 -0700 (PDT)
Greetings All:
I hit several sites in Lubbock today - with specific goals at each site - and
did fairly well. Nothing amazing but a nice day.
I started at Dupree Park, hoping for shorebirds, and lucked into 1 Black-necked
Stilt (my fos) , 2 American Avocets (my fos), 3 Long-billed Dowitchers, and 1
Merlin.
I then visited Leroy Elmore Park, hoping for waders. No waders but I did spot
1 male Wood Duck and 2 Barn Swallows (my fos).
I then visited Leftwich Park, hoping for more shorebirds, and tallied 2 Greater
Yellowlegs, 4 Lesser Yellowlegs (my fos for the area), 4 Long-billed
Dowitchers, and 2 Barn Swallows.
City farms (raptors) was slow but I did manage 1 Turkey Vulture, 11 Long-billed
Curlews (my fos), and 6 Burrowing Owls (not necessarily a highlight but always
a treat.
Bole's Lake Rod was really slow but did yield 2 more Burrowing Owls and 1
American Pipit.
There were at least 5 Cliff Swallows at Loop and east 19th Street.
The area below Lake Six was pleasant and I walked downstream until I hit my
target for the site: 1 Ash-throated Flycatcher (my fos). There were no other
avian highlights from this stretch of riparian vegetation but I did spot a
Common Snapping Turtle (my fos) and an Eastern Fence Lizard (my fos).
Lake Six was pretty decent though most of the exciting ducks appear to have
vanished. I spotted a Green Heron (my fos) in some cattails just above the
spillway, and lucked into 1 adult winter Bonaparte's Gull (my fos for the
region) and 2 first cycle Franklin's Gulls (my fos) amidst a smallish horde
(18) of the expected Ring-billed Gulls.
A jogger chased the nifty gulls up to Mae Simmons Park and I followed. Aside
from the gulls, a pair of Common Gallinules and a singing male Common
Yellowthroat were pleasant treats.
Clapp Park was not kicking. The only highlights were birds that in a normal
(i.e. moister) year would be no big deal but I dutifully report them anyway: 1
Orange-crowned Warbler in the junipers at the north end of the park and 1 Fox
Sparrow in a hedgerow near the arboretum's butterfly gardens. There was a nice
assortment of butterflies flitting about: nine species in under an hour of
ambling about.
I finished at Maxey Park with highlights in the form of 1 Snowy Egret (my fos
for the region) and 2 Black-necked Stilts.
Anthony 'Fat Tony' Hewetson; Lubbock
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