The Great Kiskadee Escape

This morning I brought Meghan (the girlfriend) with me. She is a trooper. It was probably about 36 degrees outside not including wind chill. She loves joining me but sometimes doesn't have the patience to sit in the cold for hours with the hopes of catching a glimpse or flash of something rare.

Meghan in search of something cool... (maybe a great kiskadee)

So we set out early in hopes of adding to the list of birds that I have seen so far this year. So early that the state park hadn't opened yet. :( So I decided to meander down towards the Trinity. There was an RV park that seemed to be fit enough for some birds. We decided to check it out. These little guys felt we weren't too harmful.

Carolina Wren

Ruby Crowned Kinglet


We really didn't find anything too rare. February is a horrible time to bird in Texas. Only about 3-4 more weeks until the Spring Migration hits us. Fingers crossed for a fallout. Since there wasn't anything too exciting and the park was now open we decided to go back to the park. We left this goose egg behind...



Egyptian Goose

Sheldon Lake State Park is very nice. We spoke to the park ranger and she informed us of a few common birds and the Great Kiskadee. The Great Kiskadee is not common to the Houston area and since I am trying to increase my bird count... I was very eager... Not even 50 yards down the path I heard it. "BEE-tee-WEE" and an almost cat call. I decided we are going to find this bird and I am going to get a picture. If you read the title of this post you probably already know the end of the story and you are correct. We didn't hear it again and could not find it. I did get a good look at a Redhead and a Cedar Waxwing. Both on the list so far this year.


Cedar Waxwing

 Next weekend is the Great Backyard Bird Count. Myself and a fellow teacher are taking some students out to El Franco Lee Park. So here I am patiently awaiting the next time I can go birding. Happy Birding!

Bird Count - 95 Species
Newly added birds - Egyptian Goose, Greater White Fronted Goose, Great Kiskadee