January

I moved into a new apartment in Duncanville, Texas, and started exploring the southern Dallas area. Chasing some of the rarities reported on Texbirds, I scored my life Snow Bunting and Little Gull. Dallas winter residents include Spotted Towhees, Western Meadowlarks, kinglets, and Harris’s Sparrows.

February

Mid-month, I participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count, and I found four White-winged Scoters at Joe Pool Lake. These were the only White-winged Scoters reported in Texas during the count, so I helped us tie California for the most species: 333!

March

On the 22nd, Mike Bergin of 10,000 Birds joined me for a day of birding at Dinosaur Valley State Park. Our targets were Black-capped Vireo and the endangered Golden-cheeked Warbler. We heard male Golden-cheekeds on territory but had an awful time trying to see them. Finally though, we glimpsed a male singing through the cedar boughs. Mike even got a photo. The park is named for the many dinosaur tracks in the river bed, which we got to see. The juxtaposition of dinosaur tracks and a beautiful, endangered warbler left me feeling contemplative.

April

Migrants seemed to move slowly in the first half of April — warblers here and there; Franklin’s Gulls and Broad-winged Hawks in groups; hummingbirds and vireos returning to their summer homes.

Mid-month, Charley Burwick drove down from Missouri for a Texas birding adventure. We headed south to Laredo on the Rio Grande, where we picked up Green Jay, Great Kiskadee, Couch’s Kingbird, Cassin’s Sparrow, a huge Ringed Kingfisher flying over, and an exquisite Green Kingfisher with a fish. I also had quick looks at White-tipped Doves and Altamira Orioles. We missed White-collared Seedeater and Red-billed Pigeon.

Driving north through the desert, we encountered Crested Caracaras, a Harris’s Hawk, and tens of thousands of sulphur butterflies.

At the end of the month, I drove over to Henderson to participate in Jason Pike’s wedding. On the way, I stopped at some college-days haunts to pick up Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Yellow-throated Vireo, and Painted Bunting. After the wedding, I drove down to the coast, where I met Fjord. Warblers had been spectacular in the week before our arrival, but with favorable weather conditions that weekend, they had cleared out, leaving only a few stragglers behind. I had a female Hooded at Sea Rim, and we had Bay-breasteds at High Island.

GREENE CO., MO — I just wrote about the second Foja Mountains expedition — but then I found a segment from 60 Minutes that aired last week: A Visit To The “Garden Of Eden”. Wow, wow, wow! Please don’t miss this footage. It’s the first time courtship displays of the Black Sicklebill (Epimachus fastuosus) and Foja Mountains endemic Golden-fronted Bowerbird (Amblyornis flavifrons) have been filmed, and they are mind-blowing!

There’s footage of the Wattled Smoky Honeyeater (Melioptes carolae), whose call remains unknown, and other birds including Berlepsch’s Six-wired Bird-of-paradise (Parotia berlepschi).

The sights and sounds (small planes, dancing villagers, screeching lorikeets, mossy forests, etc.) made me “homesick” for Papua New Guinea, and the footage of birds and other creatures is absolutely spectacular. Wow. Go see for yourself!

GREENE CO., MO — A constant trickle of chickadees, titmice, and doves at the tray feeder sparked comments during Christmas dinner this afternoon. Even my mother’s 94-year-old uncle, who has lost most of his sight to macular degeneration, saw and remarked on the quickly moving birds.

It’s not a white Christmas this year; the weather is clear and mild. It was colder and windier on Sunday afternoon, when Charley Burwick and I spent some time birding Greene County. We didn’t find our friend Greg Swick’s Northern Shrike near Fellows Lake, but we did oo and ah over Short-eared Owls hunting late in the afternoon. Watching short-ears is always a highlight of the winter for me, and I hadn’t seen them yet this season.

As evening fell, we spotted a Great Horned Owl silhouetted against the gold and orange sunset. Taping for screech owls was unsuccessful that night, but I did hear two Great Horned Owls, and a pack of coyotes sent up a wild, cackling, collective howl. The full moon was huge and white, almost too bright to look at directly. Mars shone brightly beneath the moon, holding its own against our satellite’s brilliance. I had forgotten how cold 30 degrees can be.

Some of you may remember that I attended a presentation in March about the Foja Mountains expedition in New Guinea. A team returned to the mountains in June of this year, and a report of their trip was recently released (here’s one news story: Two New Mammal Species Discovered In Indonesia’s Wilderness). The BBC has a photo gallery, including three stunning bird photos. I also found this promotional/fundraising video narrated by Dr. Bruce Beehler: The Foja Expedition.

More unfamiliar birds in little-known corners of the world flutter on my horizon. What was under the tree for me this year? Field guides to Southeast Asia, Costa Rica, and Peru — all in anticipation of travel assignments in 2008.

Speaking of field guides, here’s a sneak peak at a project I’ve started working on: World Bird Field Guides.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

DUNCANVILLE, TEXAS — When I was in Cameroon this summer, I encountered a small brown bird on the Ndop Plain in Northwest Province. Its song seemed the only distinctive thing about it, though at the time I noted two dark bars on its undertail and pink legs.

By reading descriptions of songs in Birds of Western Africa, I guessed that the bird might be a Whistling Cisticola, Cisticola lateralis.

Here’s a brief video clip, which includes three songs. Can anyone familiar with Western African birds offer an opinion? I apologize in advance for the shaky video….

DUNCANVILLE, TEXAS — December has been warm. It was 80 degrees on Friday, and Saturday was nearly as hot. I’ve managed a few short birding trips over the last few days, and I’ve seen some good birds.

Monday, I nearly froze during a picnic lunch at Cedar Hill State Park — a cold front had briefly invaded, dropping temperatures into the 30s. A Forster’s Tern fed over the water, calling occasionally. A White-winged Dove fluttered around in the mesquite trees — surprising only because I usually see them in cities and suburbs this far north.

Several dozen Pine Siskins fed in the trees, calling and flitting around.

I had seen them a week earlier, on Monday the third, when I made a morning visit to the park. They are hanging out with House Finches and goldfinches, feeding on sunflower and ragweed heads and, apparently, hackberry fruits. I haven’t been able to spot any Purple Finches or, ahem, redpolls among the flock.

Harris’s Sparrows are present, vocal, and looking fine — oh yes.

Also on the third, I had a male Ladder-backed Woodpecker feeding in the mesquite brush at Joe Pool dam. I had heard that the species ranges as far east as Dallas County, but it was my first encounter with the species here. I was pretty excited. His crest caught the sun and practically glowed. Nice.

Saturday, I birded roads south of Wilmer in southern Dallas County, where I found a few Brewer’s Blackbirds and Eurasian Collared Doves.

Farther south, around Bardwell Lake west of Ennis, I had about 100 white pelicans, several Forster’s Terns, and a flock of about 40 American Pipits. Despite walking several grassy areas, I didn’t find any longspurs or Sprague’s Pipits, but I did do pretty well with sparrows: Swamp (gorgeous), Lincoln’s (exquisite), Song, Savannah, White-crowned, Harris’s, and Field.

Today was wet, warm, and muggy. I watched a gull fly past my office window. I think it’s supposed to get colder again overnight — please!