Bird of the Day: September 2010

Welcome to Bird of the Day!

You might notice some recent changes to the blog. For one, the banner image above has changed from Mustang Island on the Gulf coast to a picture of a local birding spot near my house. Likewise, I plan to focus many of the upcoming posts on birding that area. On the right hand side of the page you will also see the addition of a new gadget that lists what birds have been seen in that area in the last 30 days. Further below, there is a link to ebird for more historic information about the birds seen at Bella Vista Creek. Feel free and contact me on the blog about what you think. Click on images to enlarge. (All photos by gbmcclure)

Sep 20, 2010

Baker Sanctuary

After a long, hot, slow month off from birding, I finally went back out on Sunday with a group of very knowledgeable, and passionate birders. This particular group was surveying the species and number of birds within the Baker Sanctuary on the Northwest side of Austin. You can read more about it at the link, but basically, Baker Sanctuary is roughly 700 acres dedicated to the protection of the Golden-cheeked Warbler.

Here is a picture of the Baker Cabin on the property.

All the Golden-cheeked Warblers begin migration activities in mid-July, so unfortunately none of those were spotted. Likewise, looking for birds of all types was challenging along the roads covered an both sides by cedar and oak. Once out in a small clearing and able to look up at the sky, we saw Mississippi Kites, Broad-winged Hawks, and 14 White-faced Ibis. I believe the picture below is one of the Broad-winged hawks. I used a slower shutter speed hoping to capture it's movement through the air.