[leasbirds] Re: Tundra Swan, Red-breasted Merganser, Common Loon, and Evening Grosbeak in Lubbock Today

  • From: peter keyel <labtroglodyte@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: leasbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Sun, 2 Feb 2014 15:22:09 -0800 (PST)

I had a completely different mix of waterfowl at Buddy Holly just before noon. 
9 Snow geese, 4 Ring-necked ducks and a Bufflehead. Also two Red-tails 
courting/being harassed by a grackle. Geese numbers were somewhat low (~60ish) 
but some came in while I was there. I think the waterfowl move around here a 
little too much. We need more of these in-town playas to go dry or freeze, 
right? 

Peter Keyel
Lubbock, TX
labtroglodyte@xxxxxxxxx

"Gonna buy a fast car
Put on my lead boots
And take a long, long drive"
-The Who, "My Wife"

--------------------------------------------
On Sun, 2/2/14, Cameron Carver <c.o.carver@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

 Subject: [leasbirds] Re: Tundra Swan, Red-breasted Merganser, Common Loon, and 
Evening Grosbeak in Lubbock Today
 To: "leasbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <leasbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
 Date: Sunday, February 2, 2014, 5:06 PM
 
 I briefly
 saw the swan flying up Lake 2 in the direction of Erskine
 Marsh. I was out of position and never saw where it went. I
 then drove the entire Canyon Lake system looking for it and
 checked all of the marshes. The only place I didn't
 check was the big golf course lake. Not sure where it went
 between when you saw it and 3:10, but it was hiding
 somewhere.
 
 C
 
 On Sun,
 Feb 2, 2014 at 3:16 PM, Anthony Hewetson <terrverts@xxxxxxxxx>
 wrote:
 
 
 Greetings All:
 I spent a little over three hours in Lubbock
 this morning and Clapp Park and the Canyon Lakes were well
 worth the effort.
 
 
 I started at Clapp Park where every songbird in the park
  was clustered in the two conifer thickets at the north end
 of the park with most of the birds (including all of the
 highlights) in the thicket closest to the northwest playa. 
 The thicket afforded a pleasant microclimate away from the
 two inches of snow on the ground.  Highlights included 1
 Townsend's Solitaire, 1 Orange-crowned Warbler, 1 Fox
 Sparrow, and 1 female EVENING GROSBEAK.  The grosbeak,
 quite probably the same one spotted earlier in the winter,
 was relocated at this site earlier in the week by Cameron
 Carver.  Thanks, Cameron!
 
 
 Highlights at Lake Six included 11 Common Mergansers, 1
 Red-breasted Merganser, and 3 White-throated Sparrows.  Mae
 Simmons Park kicked out a happily singing Carolina Wren. 
 MacKenzie Park kicked out 1 Greater Yellowlegs, 2
 Wilson's Sniipes, and 1 Downy Woodpecker - the
 woodpecker had been spotted earlier in the week by Ross
 Rickett - thanks Ross!  The Common Loon was back, assuming
 this is the same bird, at Lake Two but much further down the
 lake - just above the spillway separating Lake Two from the
 upper reaches of Erskine Marsh.  Buddy Holly Park kicked
 out 1 first winter (cycle) TUNDRA SWAN (assuming that our
 identification of this bird is correct), 2 Greater
 White-fronted Geese, 4 Snow Geese, 2 Redheads, and 1 Common
 Goldeneye - the swan was swimming close to the boat launch
 in the area that was thickest with geese and is presumable
 the same bird we had earlier in the year.  
 
 
 
 Anybody who would like photographs of the swan can e-mail me
 at anthony.hewetson@xxxxxxxxxx
 and I will send my two best shots along.
 
 Anthony 'Fat Tony' Hewetson; Lubbock

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