Nalle Bunny Run 2019-12-07

Only two people joined me for the monthly group walk on Hill Country Conservancy's Nalle Bunny Run wildlife preserve this morning. A few other folks had registered for the walk but didn't show up, and they missed an absolutely beautiful morning on the preserve! It was my favorite kind of winter morning in central Texas: clear and cool. When we started at 9:00 AM temperatures were in the upper 40s, and three hours later when we finished the walk it had warmed up to the mid 60s. Here are some highlights of the walk.

Birds were active but a bit hard to see. (And I was unable to get any decent photos of them this morning.) Before we left the gate we got a brief look at a male Red-bellied Woodpecker. And towards the end of our walk we got a better look at a male Golden-fronted Woodpecker. These similar species are one of several examples of a pair of an eastern species (Red-bellied) and a southwestern species (Golden-fronted) whose ranges overlap in central Texas. The Bunny Run is one of the few places around town where both can sometimes be seen!

Between the gate and the spring we ran into a couple mixed species foraging flocks that included Bewick's and Carolina Wrens, Black-crested Titmouse, Carolina Chickadee, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Orange-crowned Warblers, and Yellow-rumped Warblers. On the sandy prairie we saw Northern Cardinals, a couple Eastern Phoebes, heard and then briefly saw a Song Sparrow, and a few Northern Mockingbirds. A single Field Sparrow was by the cowbird trap.

Starting back up the hill we left the trail to spend a few minutes by the sometimes waterfall. After hearing it call for awhile, we finally got to watch a Canyon Wren foraging in the rocks for a bit. This was my favorite bird of the morning!

On our way back through the western half of the preserve we found this Checkered Skipper that stopped briefly to feed on some of the Bitterweed flowers blooming in the trail.