Late winter birds

Temperatures had already gone to the 60s in middle February when we got some threw inches of snow on Feb 24th. My juncos had a bit of a hard time at the platform feeder. After I chopped up the ice some seeds became available:

Other juncos found seed that I had sprinkled under the feeder on top of the snow.

Over at Branched Oak Lake, many snow geese had passed through going north. However, many traveling flocks of 500 or more landed there at noon for a rest every day this week.

Many flocks of Canada geese were on the move, some with cackling geese in them, clearly smaller.

One flock looked a little odd and through binoculars and with camera I found Greater White Fronted Geese. There is less of the black at the rear and the heads are not black.

Here is one on the ice from last year:

The two taller ones are Canada Geese, most are Cackling Geese and the arrow is the Greter White Fronted.

Through the end of February we see bald eagles at Branched Oak.

Cleaning Out and Numbering North Side

ACCIDENTAL POST from my other Blog:
http://pioneersparkbluebirds.blogspot.com/
But no problem, learn about bluebirds if you follow that link

I moved a few boxes in the fall to the service road behind the school house and the boxes had odd numbering in any case. My improvement was to number them along the route in the order I normally check them. The numbers are a bit conspicuous but I can also get a picture of parents and nestlings with a numbered box now. There were no bluebirds today. Box 5 shows the example of the new numbering.

A few boxes are now unpaired, such as 15 which was moved out of the way of Prairie Jazz and the last box, number 18. That is behind these two along the service road.

I will see some bluebirds around the boxes by March. Three pairs typically on the South side. it will be interesting to see if we get more bluebirds on the North side than last year, now that the boxes are a bit more away from people paths. The tree swallows do not seem to mind people. They fly over the ponds for the insect food so this North side is convenient for them.

I moved a box off the parking lot area that had house sparrows. The house sparrows will claim maybe one box near the Nature Center. They also fight for the purple martin houses on the tall pole.

Winter Birds

I do have a couple of rough pictures of bald eagles, but mostly they are too far for my camera to get detailed shots.

Sitting on the ice.  Adult and juvenile

A Ross's goose pair. Usually I find a few snow geese with the Canadas.

In winter you find some odd looking hawks that kind of look like red tails. Some are rough-legged hawks. 

I had better binocular looks of it. The camera is auto focus so it was much further when I got pictures.

Western meadowlark with a flock of red-winged blackbirds.

Peregrines nest at the state capitol. This was about a mile West of it on an electrical tower.

Birds of Winter

have not found a Pine Siskin for December yet. Will add it if I find one.

Birds of winter are those hardy birds that come from the North and spend some time in the prairie. I found a single Lapland Longspur in Denton, Spring Creek Prairie yesterday.

In mudflats and rocky shores where you find shore birds you can find American Pipits. One photo has some sandpipers as well.

Along highways and in bare farmland...the emptier the better...you can find horned larks. Never found a very good shot from the car along the road. The windshield always messes up my photos. I can't even find the photo right now, just a photo of a photo.

Waterfowl

Sometimes you go for something and find something else. Holmes lake was supposed to have a white-winged scoter, but it was a female Greater Scaup (next to some Redheads) instead, a nice find as well:

In the colder months ducks and geese turn up, until the lake freezes. They stay long at even a partially open lake. Then we have a few lakes nearby with LOTS of geese, snow geese.

Among CANADA geese and cackling geese (a high arctic bird, the smaller goose here) there is one greater white-fronted goose.

 A few snow geese always end up with these geese as well.

Among the gulls, some wandering gulls from the East end up. These are just Franklin's in spring. In the fall we find some left with the regular ring billed. Most are gone by November.

Among the cormorants, one Ross's goose.

Canvasbacks at Holmes Lake.

Sparrows

There are sparrows migrating through in October. Some days are good, some not so many. You never can tell.

White throated sparrows are here all winter. As well as Harris's.

Others are hard to get pictures of, but I was lucky to get close to a LeConte's a few times, They hide in the grass mostly (click the photo) :

Grasshopper sparrows are here all summer, but you see them on the move in October:

A Savannah accidentally posed in front of a bit of sunflower, giving him a crown:

Another Savannah, similar striping to Song Sparrow

Vesper Sparrow and below that a Hermit Thrush I found while looking for the sparrows:

And Clay-colored sparrows from last spring