Henry and I are back for our fourth year of Birdathon. We'll be checking out birds in and around Denton County Texas. This year will be extra special as our Big Day will be April 8th to coincide with the total solar eclipse as it crosses north Texas. We have our fingers crossed for clear skies. We don't yet have a final destination as we are following the weather forecasts and anticipating heavy traffic throughout the DFW metroplex. We could be as close to Denton as Lake Lewsiville or as far away as southern Arkansas or somewhere in between. Our target bird is the Scissor-Tailed Flycather again. We'll be keeping a running tally of all the STF's we see on our big day but also over the course of the week or two that we are together in Denton. We are also hoping for a sighting of the elusive Pileated Woodpecker that is sometimes seen, but moslty heard, in the dense woods along the Trinity River watershed.  

RESULTS 

Thanks to all our supporters!  Henry's Big Day was actually two days.   Due to severe weather warnings and dire traffic predictions for eclipse day we moved our big day up to Sunday April 7h.   We were joined by Peggy Steffens who came out to bird with us and experince the eclipse.  Over the course of several days Peggy and I spotted 60-70 species but for our official Birdathon count I kept a seperate list for Henry of only birds with strong field marks that were easily visually identifiable by Henry with our help - many he already knew.  I'll only list each species once except for the STF.  We focused on wetlands and lakes to meet our challege pledges.  

We put in about 7 hours of birding on Sunday starting with a neighborhood walk along the woods to a small lake   

Species counted for Henry's list 

1. Canada Goose

2.  Mallard

3.  Mourning dove

4.  Kildeer

5. Bald Eagle - total bonus bird - Peggy and I both saw this large bird flying low towards us across the lake coming out of the rising sun and assumed it was a Great Blue Heron - as it flew just above our heads we both reallized that it was a Bald Eagle.  A good lesson for Henry (and us) on making assumptions.  

6. Scisssor Tailed Flycatcher - 2

7.  Blue jay 

8.  Purple Martin

9. Barn Swallow

10.  Northern Mockingbird

11.  Eastern Bluebird

12.  American Robin

13.  House Sparrow

14.  House Finch 

15.  Red Winged Blackbird

16.  Great Tailed Grackle 

17.  Northern Cardinal 

We left the neighborhood and stopped at Unicorn Lake and another small pond - all week long the waterfowl counts were dropping as the birds migarated so our species counts were less than we hoped.  We added;

18.  Double Crested Cormorant 

19.  Great Blue Heron

20.  Black Vulture 

21.  Turkey Vulture

Our next destination was Clear Creek Nature Preserve - on our way we added 

Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher - 2

At Clear Creek we added

22.  Franklin's Gull

Another Bald Eagle

23.  American Crow 

( I heard the Pileated Woodpecker and Peggy and I heard the Fish Crows ) 

On our drive back we stopped for 

24.  Western Cattle Egret

On eclipse day April 8h we got an early start to secure a prime lakeside picnic spot at Sycamore Bend Park on Lake Lewisville.  Some birding took place but it was mostly a park day while waiting for the clouds to pass.  Amazingly the clouds parted during most of the eclipse and we were treated to a remarkable and memorable view of the total solar eclipse with an amazing 360 degree sunset and visual beads and a glowing corona.  The birds also responded to an ealry nightfall and second sunrise and we added

25.  Great Egret

26.  Osprey 

27. Forster's Tern

Scissor Tailed Flycatcher - 3  (1 of which was taking insects off the lake and using it's tail to help it hover on the surface - a behavior I've never seen before) 

The rain held off until the evening and continued on and off for two days so we were very fortunate.  During our big day we saw many turtles and a swimming Rat Snake.   Our Big Day was truly memorable.  

 

 

 

 

Pledges:

• Clague Van Slyke: $2.50/species, $5 for every Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, and $25 for each Pileated Woodpecker 
• Marcia Grand: $10/species and
  • $150 if you get all four (all must be ID’d and actually seen not just heard): snake, lizard, ground squirrel, rabbit
  • $150 if you see a coyote
  • $150 if you see five different types of waterbirds: ducks, cormorants, shore birds, grebes, herons, etc – anything that swims or is comfortable in the water.
• Nancy Bilderbeck:  Henry and Clague - best of luck chasing that eclipse!! Wishing you cloudless, and bird filled, skies!! And challenge pledge FROM ACROSS THE POND:
  • $10 for every species of bird on or near water PLUS $10 for every Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher (my favourite!) ENJOY YOUR DAY!!
• Lucia & Jim Perry: Jim pledges $25 for an eagle, Lucia pledges $10 for a phoebe and $10 for a blue jay (or scrub jay). And $5 for a vermillion flycatcher. $30 for an armadillo.  Have Fun!

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Birdathon is one of Tucson Audubon’s largest fundraisers and has existed for over 35 years! It’s a great way to use our love of bird watching to support Tucson Audubon’s mission to inspire people to enjoy and protect birds.

By donating to one or more Birdathon teams you are ensuring Tucson Audubon’s vital work can continue well into the future. Whether it's preserving critical habitats, educating future stewards of the environment, or advocating for bird-friendly policies, your support makes a tangible difference.

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