Nalle Bunny Run Group Walk 2015-06-20

This morning seven folks risked getting rained on to join me for the monthly group bird walk on Hill Country Conservancy's Nalle Bunny Run Wildlife Preserve. We found about 32 species of birds and here are some highlights:

We started off with the two central Texas red birds. A Northern Cardinal sang on a wire over the gate and a Summer Tanager sang on a dead treetop a little down the hill.
We walked through a patch of small plant with tiny pink flowers that produced an unexpectedly strong and sweet scent. On our way back I took this photo with my iPhone and later identified the plant as Drummond's false pennyroyal (Hedeoma drummondii). Here's the photo:

After a relatively quiet hike further downhill and along the western truck trail, we got poor looks at a Yellow-billed Cuckoo and great looks at a pair of Ladder-backed Woodpeckers.
On the sandy prairie area we watched a Western Kingbird and then a Golden-fronted Woodpecker both try to catch the same flying cicada! Somehow this bug escaped them both. Maybe it's just a little too big for these species?
By far we had the most excitement when we approached the pond in the northwest corner of the preserve. First we a pair of Wood Ducks resting at the water's edge that didn't seem to mind our presence. Then I noticed there was a Green Kingfisher perched right behind them!** We watched this small bird dive into the water a couple times and catch and eat some kind of aquatic insect. In the past, if you wanted to see a Green Kingfisher you'd have to travel south to the Rio Grande valley. But this species has been expanding its range north along our rivers. Now it is an expected central Texas species, but they are seldom observed because they prefer to stay in dense vegetation along the edges of rivers and creeks. This was only the second time I've ever seen one in Austin, and it's the 165th species I've observed on the Nalle Bunny Run.

I didn't have my camera with me during the group walk because of the risk of rain this morning. But after lunch I returned to try and find the Green Kingfisher. Unfortunately I didn't find it, but I spent a very enjoyable hour waiting for it by the pond. I very briefly watched a Grey Fox walk along the pond's edge while two Northern Mockingbirds scolded it, I got a few decent dragonfly photos, and I got closer to the Wood Duck pair than I've ever gotten before and took this photo. I think it's my best Wood Duck photo to date: