Friday, March 20, 2009

Disappointing Birds of the Equinox

Birds of the Equinox

Today was the day I planned to observe a bunch of birds so I could participate in Birdstack's "Birds of the Equinox." I did participate, but I was very disappointed in that it seemed like all the birds were just hiding from me. I could hear them, but I couldn't see them. I know I've come to this conclusion before, and it seems true today: birdwatching is better done in the winter when there are no leaves on the trees. Spring has come to Dallas, and the trees are all budding out, obscuring the birds.

There was one bird of interest, which I saw twice, but I don't know what it was. I'll see if David from Birdstack can help me figure this one out with this sketchy description:
  • location - back yard, near the forest edge
  • size - small to medium, but not as small as a sparrow
  • tail - notched
  • bill - black and thin, not cone shaped
  • colors - kind of hard to tell, but I think white breast and gray body
  • behavior - swooped to snatch up flying insects in mid-flight
Tomorrow I'm hoping for better luck with bird watching. We're driving to Houston for a short visit and plan to stop at W.Goodrich Jones State Forest and see if we can find an endangered Red Cockaded Woodpecker.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hmm. Look up Eastern Phoebe.

Thainamu said...

I had wondered about Eastern Phoebe. Have you see that bird around here? Presumably it catches flies mid-air since it is a flycatcher?? I'm going to add it. My life list is slowly growing. :-)

Anonymous said...

Yes, they are permanent residents here. There's a pair nesting in the restroom building at the dam. They fly out from a perch to nab insects in flight, and they often wag and bob their tail upon returning to the perch.