September Bird Walk at Commons Ford

On August 25, the monthly Commons Ford Prairie bird walk was led by Sheila Hargis and Laurie Foss of the Travis Audubon Society. The walk occurred just 6 days after the prescribed burn (which occurred on August 19, 2013). Walk attendees and leaders were anxious to see what effect the burn had on the bird community.

August is not typically a very exciting month in the birding world. It is too soon for migrants, and many summer breeders have already started making their way south. So it was much to the birders delight to find that the Commons Ford Prairie was still rich in bird species diversity. Laurie and Sheila recorded 34 species, including a Green Kingfisher, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers (a population which was found in the actual prairie and not in surrounding trees, as is more typical of the species), and Scissor-tailed Flycatchers.

Bird enthusiast and blogger Sherry Singson documented the walk on her blog. Check out her amazing photos here.

Here is a complete list of species seen during the walk:

Wood Duck 4
Great Blue Heron 1
Black Vulture 2
Turkey Vulture 3
Cooper's Hawk 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
White-winged Dove 20
Mourning Dove 4
Chimney Swift 17
Ruby-throated/Black-chinned Hummingbird 5
Green Kingfisher 1
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 2
Least Flycatcher 1
Eastern Phoebe 10
Western Kingbird 1
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 10
White-eyed Vireo 6
Blue Jay 1
Purple Martin 1
Barn Swallow 5
Cliff/Cave Swallow 4
Carolina Chickadee 4
Tufted x Black-crested Titmouse (hybrid) 9
Bewick's Wren 1
Carolina Wren 3
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 10
Northern Mockingbird 14
Black-and-white Warbler 4
Nashville Warbler 1 In a feeding flock with BAWWs, white eye ring, grayish head, yellow body, top of sycamore tree
Lark Sparrow 6
Summer Tanager 3
Northern Cardinal 8
Dickcissel 2
Great-tailed Grackle 16
Orchard Oriole 1
Lesser Goldfinch 15