Chilly evening on the dam
DUNCANVILLE, TEXAS — A Bewick’s Wren was singing as I stepped out of the car this evening, but that cheery sound soon faded from my ears. The temperature was somewhere in the 30s (2 or 3 degrees if you think in Celsius), and a nasty wind was blowing off Joe Pool Lake. In the morning, there had been snowflakes in that wind. Anyway, by Texas standards, it was brutal.
I saw a harrier fly over the road and then wheel sharply, scattering the resident flock of American Pipits. A short time later, a young accipiter flushed the pipits again. I thought it looked like a Cooper’s Hawk, but as usual, I couldn’t see it quite well enough to be sure.
There were no cormorants flying south along the lake tonight, so I don’t know what explains that. The numbers of Canvasbacks and Ring-billed Gulls were down, but coots were still well-represented.
Savannah Sparrows (Passerculus sandwichensis) are common in the rocks and short grass of the dam.
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