Only three folks joined me for the monthly group walk on Hill Country Conservancy's . We spent about 2.5 hours slowly walking 1.6 miles of trails on the preserve and we ended up finding 26 species of birds and a few other interesting things. Here are some highlights.
Just before our 8:00 AM start time a male Painted Bunting was singing and just visible in the treetops downhill from the gate:
We were lucky to find two "herps" today, a frog and a lizard. I have very few reptile and amphibian observations on the preserve. When we opened up the spring box we found this Rio Grande Leopard Frog:
And near the waterfall we found this Texas Spiny Lizard that stayed uncharacteristically still as we walked almost right on top of it:
My favorite moment was when some fledgling Eastern Phoebe's hunted insect right beside us. (Young birds often will get closer to you than adults since they haven't learned to be wary of humans yet.) Here's one looking around for insects:
On the large dead cottonwood near the northeast corner, we found both species of cowbird, perched right next to each other. I've never seen this before and was pleased that my photo shows both well enough to be identified. Look at the red eye of the Bronzed Cowbird on the left and the brown head of the Brown-headed Cowbird on the right:
We got to see a few neat insects, including our largest damselfly, a Great Spreadwing, and a tiny blue butterfly called a Reakirt's Blue.
What a fun morning!
Here's our complete bird list.
Here are a few more photos.
And the same photos are attached as observations.
Taken on the monthly group walk on the Nalle Bunny Run wildlife preserve.
I've never seen these two species perched together before. There was a second Brown-headed Cowbird not in this photo. The Bronzed Cowbird was noticeably larger.
The bird on the left is a Bronzed Cowbird.
Taken on the monthly group walk on the Nalle Bunny Run wildlife preserve.
Can anyone tell what the two objects in its bill are?
Taken on the monthly group walk on the Nalle Bunny Run wildlife preserve.
The female is out of focus low and right.
Taken on the monthly group walk on the Nalle Bunny Run wildlife preserve.
We were treated to a family group of Eastern Phoebes that did some hunting right next to us.
Taken on the monthly group walk on the Nalle Bunny Run wildlife preserve.
This lizard stayed frozen here in the grass as the whole group walked almost right on top of it.
Taken on the monthly group walk on the Nalle Bunny Run wildlife preserve.
I've never seen these two species perched together before. There was a second Brown-headed Cowbird not in this photo. The Bronzed Cowbird was noticeably larger.
The bird on the right is a Brown-headed Cowbird.
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