|
Birdwatching
with Phyllis Yochem
| News
| Sports | Business
| Opinions | Columns
| Entertainment |
| Science/Technology| Weather
| Archives | E-mail
Us |
Tuesday, November 23, 1999
Aplomado falcon sighted at hawk watch
Flickers, jays and George Plimpton also visited Hazel Bazemore County Park
Coastal Bend Hawk Watch 1999 is now history. It made history, also. In addition to a high count of 640,258 broad-winged hawks, observers saw several species of birds not seen here on previous watches. Four bald eagles, 31 swallow-tailed kites, 14 ferruginous hawks, six zone-tailed hawks, 33 prairie falcons, and an aplomado falcon all made this a memorable year. Distinguished guests embellished the experience. I was especially delighted to be able to introduce author George Plimpton to the watchers. Alas, he did not get to experience the thrill of a large push, or in fact see any hawks at all. He was there on one of only two very bad days.
Now that the hawk memories are kettling and streaming, there is time to recall some of the fringe benefits. Sitting on the hill at Hazel Bazemore County Park with an enthusiastic group of avid birders is always rewarding. The birds that live in Bazemore or happen along in fall are some of our favorites. Groove-billed anis with droopy tails, olive sparrows accelerating their one-note calls, white-eyed vireos daring anyone to see them. . .these are but a few of the pleasures of birding the park. A roving band of green jays, boisterous and adolescent, may parade boldly from treetop to treetop. A pair of greater kiskadees will keep in touch by calling to each other. Mockingbirds put on their best concerts and an occasional cardinal perches on a prominent branch to vocalize.
Yellow-shafted flicker
A particular pleasure for me this year was a sighting pointed out by veteran birder Jimmy Swartz: a yellow-shafted northern flicker. The status of this bird has been changed by an ornithological practice called "lumping'' into one species. Once we had red-shafted flickers and yellow-shafted flickers. Now both are referred to as northern flickers. Now separated from these two is a western form, the gilded flicker. Yellow-shafted is the form usually seen here, but an occasionally red-shafted turns up or even a hybrid, to prove the ornithologist' point.
Flickers are large, ground-feeding woodpeckers. They have brown barred backs and spotted underparts with a black, crescent bib. A white rump is conspicuous in flight but, unlike golden-fronted woodpeckers, they are without white wing patches. The yellow-shafted flicker has yellow wing linings and undertail coloring.
Jimmy said, "I think I see. . .no, wait,'' but it was exactly what he thought. As others found it in their binoculars, it posed a minute on a bare limb, then opened its beautiful wings to give everyone a good eyeful of golden yellow feathers.
Flickers frequent open, coniferous and mixed forests and their margins. They also stray into orchards, clearings and gardens in towns and cities. They nest and roost in cavities. Their diet consists of all kinds of insects, fruit and berries but a favorite treat is ants. Propped by stiff tails, they cling to trunks and limbs in characteristic woodpecker fashion but also may be seen perching crosswise on a limb like a passerine. The horse-like whinny of a pair of flickers is a happy winter sound.
Phyllis Yochem, a Corpus Christi
resident, has studied birds of Texas since 1960.
| Discuss
about birdwatching | | Home |
1999 Caller-Times Publishing
Company, a Scripps Howard newspaper. All
rights reserved.
|
 |
 |
|
