March 17, 2024

Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge – March 2024

March 17, 2024/ Gwen Morrison

My March visit to Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge was on my way home the day after my mother’s funeral in Dallas. I needed the healing of being out in a natural place like Hagerman. There were the usual male red-wing blackbirds proclaiming spring and their territory. Several times I could see males spaced out over the landscape…a visible cue for the size of their territories.

There were American wigeon, gadwalls, northern pintails, and American coots on the water in small numbers. A neotropic cormorant was enjoying the warming sun on its wings. Some birds had probably already headed north.

There was a group of 2 great blue herons and a great egret in sentry mode. They must have already had their breakfast because they didn’t move while I was watching.

A vocal cardinal perched in a tree near the road.

I had two favorite birds of the morning: a killdeer that was posturing in a field just as started down the wildlife loop road (it looked like it was signaling something…but I don’t know what) and

A female common goldeneye…the first I had seen at Hagerman. This bird would certainly be moving north soon since most of their breeding area is in Canada and Alaska!

I continued home…glad that I had made the effort to photograph birds at Hagerman.

February 22, 2024

Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge – February 2024

February 22, 2024/ Gwen Morrison

I left my hotel in Plano TX early enough to get to Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge about 15 minutes after sunrise. It was a cloudy morning, so the light stayed muted during my drive along the wildlife road. There were a lot of pintails feeding in the shallow water. They sometimes blend in with the vegetation and only become noticeable because they are moving!

In my favorite pintail picture of the morning, the bird seemed to be posing!

There were a few Northern Shovelers. I saw a lot more of them in previous winters.

A yellowlegs was in the same pond where I had seen one many times before. I’m not sure whether it is a lesser or greater. The coloring looks more like a lesser but the bill is long like a greater! I don’t have anything to help me gauge the size.

The male red-winged blackbirds were raucously defining their territory.

I spotted meadowlarks several times but only got one (not very good) picture.

A group of gadwalls was feeding in the shallows. They look like they are interacting with each other more than the group of feeding pintails were.

I didn’t see any snow geese until later in my visit…and then I saw a small flock just before I left. I didn’t see the large flocks this year at Hagerman. I wondered if the avian flu reduced their numbers or if the odd winter weather has the geese wintering elsewhere.

As I left to continue my drive toward home, I savored the hour well-spent!

February 20, 2024

Other Parks in Dallas Area

February 20, 2024/ Gwen Morrison

I visited two more parks recently in the Dallas area…attempting to find a park closer to my parents’ new location than Josey Ranch.

The first was Vitruvian Park in Addison, Texas. There were more tall buildings in the area than around Josey Ranch – lots of shops, restaurants, and apartments/condos. The sculpture I saw on my way into the parking lot for the park turned out to be my favorite feature of the park!

The paved trail along the water was pleasant but there were no water birds! The water was low…erosion evident. It was impossible to take pictures without trash!

The second was Bert Fields Park. It is a park on the other side of White Rock Creek from my parents’ assisted living group home. There is a cul-de-sac with parking at the beginning of the trail that has mowed grass on one side and the deeply eroded stream bed on the other. The neatly fenced backyards of very large houses are uphill on the grassy side. There are circles of concrete in the stream with manhole covers. Does a sewer line run along the creek bed? The erosion is continuing because there was a tree that appeared to have fallen recently leaving the cliff to the stream bed only about 2 feet from the path. It looked like trees on the other side were being undermined. I wonder how long they will survive.

There were crows in some of the treetops…and some fruits that had not been eaten yet.

There were very healthy-looking mallards (and at least one gadwall) in the creek. The current was strong enough in the middle that they let it take them downstream…and then they hugged the shallows at the edge to swim/walk upstream. They were finding things to eat!

There was a thicket that replaced the grassy area for a short distance….and it sounded like it was full of chickadees!

Neither park was as good as Josey Ranch for birds….but I will probably visit the second one again.

April 23, 2018

Josey Ranch Park in Carrollton, Texas

April 23, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

The baby ducklings I posted about yesterday were the spring highlight for me at the part….but I was pleased with other sites too.

The buttercups in the grass…and the serendipity of catching a butterfly in flight between flowers.

The male grackles were facing off…asserting their dominance.

There was a scissor-tailed flycatcher that posed on a post for picture.

I hadn’t realized how similar they looked to mockingbirds that are also in the area….except for the vary long tail.

I saw two pairs of ducks (other than the mallards) that are probably getting ready to leave for their breeding ground further north: gadwalls (photo is of the male)