Nalle Bunny Run 2018-01-20

This morning 7 people joined me for the monthly group walk on Hill Country Conservancy's Nalle Bunny Run Wildlife Preserve. We spent 2.5 hours finding 30 species of birds. The most diversity was in the deciduous woods area where the tall cedar elm trees had Cedar Waxwings, Carolina Chickadees, Black-crested Titmice, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Lesser Goldfinch, Downy Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, and Northern Cardinal.

Down the hill near the houses was the most exciting bird of the morning, a Merlin perched at the top of a large cottonwood. I've seen one here several times before over the years. I wonder if it's the same bird. My camera didn't perform well in the overcast conditions, but here's my photo of it:

Merlin

On the sandy prairie the birds were mostly quiet, but there was just the right amount of moisture in the sand to hold some detailed wildlife tracks. These included Common Raccoon, Gray Fox, White-tailed Deer, and Nine-banded Armadillo. Among the dense cover of the vine-covered junipers we found a group of mostly sparrows that included Field Sparrows, Lincoln's Sparrows, Song Sparrows, White-throated Sparrow, and a nice male Spotted Towhee.

Here's our complete eBird checklist.

Posted on January 20, 2018 09:30 PM by mikaelb mikaelb

Observations

Photos / Sounds

What

Merlin (Falco columbarius)

Observer

mikaelb

Date

January 20, 2018 10:08 AM CST

Description

Taken on the monthly group walk on Hill Country Conservancy's Nalle Bunny Run Wildlife Preserve.

Comments

So great — I have yet to see a Merlin... Every time I think I do, it turns out to be a kestrel.

As always, thanks for these journal posts, Mikael! I really enjoy reading them.

Posted by sambiology about 6 years ago

Thanks Sam! I send links to these posts to the attendees of the group walk, but I'm glad a few others are seeing them as well.

Posted by mikaelb about 6 years ago

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