Nalle Bunny Run 2018-07-21

Six people joined me this morning for the monthly group walk on Hill Country Conservancy's Nalle Bunny Run wildlife preserve. When I arrived at the preserve a little before 7:00 I heard a Painted Bunting singing nearby and I was able to get a couple photos. Here it is at the top of a Cedar Elm tree:

Unfortunately when we started the walk with the group, we heard this bird a few times but were unable to see it. We heard many more birds that we actually saw this morning, but we saw plenty of cool stuff. On our way down the hill we found a pair of Lesser Goldfinches, and I briefly saw the female go to a spot where I heard juvenile begging. And after looking closely I realized it was a nest! (See the attached observation.)

At the spring I found this feather that really puzzled me for awhile. I consulted @davescott who co-wrote this great field guide to feathers, and his opinion is that it's from a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk. Also at the spring @natashahaggard found this Texas Cave Scorpion! So cool, and a first for the Nalle Bunny Run!

Down on the sandy prairie we got to watch a (probable) family group of five or six Western Kingbirds. Here's one of them:

Insects and plants were much easier to observe this morning. Some of the plants the group enjoyed seeing, feeling, smelling and tasting included Mustang Grape, Toothache Tree, Camphor Weed, croton, Gum Bumelia, Anacua tree, Kidneywood, and Blackjack Oak.

Cool insects included a lifer dragonfly for me, this male Five-striped Leaftail we found down by the Chimney Swift tower:

Four-striped Leaftails are much more common, and @greglasley has this great web page explaining the difference. Look at those blue eyes!

See the attached observations for a few more cool things, including a very scary robber fly.

Here's our complete bird list on eBird.

Here are my photos on Flickr.

And here are all the observations Natasha Haggard made this morning. Thanks Natasha!

Posted on July 21, 2018 11:14 PM by mikaelb