Friday, April 10, 2015

Bird Poker 2015

The first annual Bird Poker event at Commons Ford was a big success.  Nine teams participated in absolutely beautiful weather.  Thanks to all who participated.


So many birders in the park turned up two new species:  Long-billed Curlew and Barn Owl.  A total of (roughly) 98 species was tallied for the day which is a single day park record.  The full list is below. Most interesting misses were Greater Roadrunner and Eastern Screech Owl.  

The winning team, Crakes of Wrath, scored 53 points and also the most species (78).  Congratulations to Byron Stone, Noreen Baker, Christian Walker and Arman Moreno.


Birding the Hardway (Bryce and Rob Hardway) were only one point behind while the third place team, the Old Crows (Trent Miller, Fred Dalbey and Robin Doughty) had 39 points.

Thanks to all of our donors:  Native American Seed Company, Diane Sherrill of Native EarthScapes, artist Gail Woods, Brush Freeman and Barton Springs Nursery for their kind donations and support. All funds raised from this event will go toward continuing the Commons Ford Prairie Restoration Project.  Our expanded efforts include placing some education signs around the prairie this year.  

Mark your calendars and join us for Bird Poker 2016 during the last week of March.



The species list as submitted by participating teams follows:

Wood Duck       
American Wigeon      
Mallard     
Blue-winged Teal                        
Northern Bobwhite    
Wild Turkey      
Pied-billed Grebe     
Neotropic Cormorant         
Double-crested Cormorant        
American White Pelican     
Great Blue Heron      
Great Egret      
Snowy Egret     
Green Heron     
Black Vulture    
Turkey Vulture 
Osprey     
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk          
Red-shouldered Hawk                
Swainson's Hawk      
Red-tailed Hawk       
American Coot 
Killdeer    
Long-billed Curlew   
Rock Pigeon     
Eurasian Collared-Dove    
Common Ground-Dove      
White-winged Dove   
Mourning Dove 
Barn Owl  
Great Horned Owl     
Common Poorwill      
Black-chinned Hummingbird                       
Ringed Kingfisher     
Belted Kingfisher      
Golden-fronted Woodpecker      
Red-bellied Woodpecker   
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 
Ladder-backed Woodpecker     
Downy Woodpecker  
American Kestrel      
Merlin       
Eastern Phoebe
Vermilion Flycatcher 
Ash-throated Flycatcher   
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher  
White-eyed Vireo       
Blue Jay   
Western Scrub-Jay   
American Crow
Common Raven
Purple Martin    
Barn Swallow   
Cliff Swallow    
Carolina Chickadee  
Black-crested Titmouse    
Canyon Wren    
House Wren      
Carolina Wren   
Bewick's Wren 
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher      
Ruby-crowned Kinglet       
Eastern Bluebird                
Northern Mockingbird       
European Starling     
Cedar Waxwing
Black-and-white Warbler   
Orange-crowned Warbler  
Nashville Warbler     
Common Yellowthroat        
Northern Parula
Yellow-rumped Warbler              
Golden-cheeked Warbler  
Spotted Towhee        
Rufous-crowned Sparrow 
Chipping Sparrow     
Field Sparrow   
Vesper Sparrow        
Lark Sparrow   
Savannah Sparrow    
Grasshopper Sparrow       
Le Conte's Sparrow  
Song Sparrow  
Lincoln's Sparrow     
White-throated Sparrow    
White-crowned Sparrow    
Northern Cardinal     
Red-winged Blackbird      
Western Meadowlark
Eastern Meadowlark                   
Common Grackle      
Great-tailed Grackle 
Brown-headed Cowbird    
House Finch      
Lesser Goldfinch      
American Goldfinch  
House Sparrow