Nalle Bunny Run Group Walk 2015-11-22

Only five folks joined me for this month's group walk on Hill Country Conservancy's Nalle Bunny Run wildlife preserve. It was a cold and clear morning: 36 degrees when I arrived at about 8:15 AM, and it only reached about 50 when we finished at 11:30. The lack of wind and the warm sunlight made it comfortable. We found 29 species of birds and here are some highlights.

We walked the west loop trail first, because I hoped there would be more bird activity in this more open habitat-type earlier in the morning. This turned out to be a good move. We got close to a mixed species foraging flock of songbirds, and some pishing brought it closer to us. The flock included kinglets, Hermit Thrushes, a Bewick's Wren, a small group of Chipping Sparrows, a Ladder-backed Woodpecker, and a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. A couple more times in this area we heard other foraging flocks calling in the distance. It was good exposure to what winter central Texas bird life is like in the woods.

Brief looks at uncommon species included a Pine Warbler and Spotted Towhee on the west trail, a pair of Wood Ducks in the pond, and a Ringed Kingfisher on the cypress trees by the lake.

On the sandy prairie area we got good but distant looks at an American Kestrel and a Golden-fronted Woodpecker. And we got to watch an Osprey hunting over the lake. We even got to see it dive into the water after a fish! Here's the only photo I took. It's of one of two Golden-fronted Woodpeckers we found: