Spent an hour or so in Winkler this morning. It was a beautiful
morning with a lot of birds, though an inordinate number seemed to be
House Sparrows.
Highlights were several Veeries and a Northern Waterthrush, both new
spp for me in Winkler. Green Herons continue to be elusive in the
preserve, but I saw two flying around over the pond in front of the
Hilton at Mark Center.
The behavior observation of the day were the Barn Swallows dropping
briefly into the water in the middle of the pond. Done repeatedly in
almost the same spot by multiple birds; fly in, slow down a bit, drop
into the water briefly, and then fly out shaking the water off
themselves. At first I thought maybe they were after a tadpole or
minnow, but then I thought they might be bathing or even trying to get
off the mud they had been collecting at the shore edge.
List of 37 spp at the link below.
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23452477
Cheers!
Russ Taylor
