Texas Time: Birding Adventures from the Oven State

For those who have never been to Texas in July, it is a must-do at least once. There's a lot going on during the summer despite feeling like you've gone to some African desert. If you're going to go in search of birds, though, it better be early…like 6:00am early. I've learned this from experience and unless there's been some freak cold spell, it holds true. Besides, after about 9:30, the heat shimmers get too bad for much photography. So on this particular morning I was out early and headed 40 minutes away to Pappy Elkins Park in Arlington. Just from the name, one would automatically think this wouldn't be a good birding spot, but you can't judge a book by its cover. This summer, the park has boasted about its nice-sized population of Bewick's Wrens, a bird that I desperately wanted to photograph. Coming from Arkansas, Bewick's Wrens are a bit of a novelty; rarely around and hard to find when they are…I've only ever seen one. But by golly, this was going to be the day! And sure enough, I heard one singing almost as soon as I got out of the car. This was one of five for the morning. The first one I followed through the open, with no luck in the photo department. A little while later, a pair announced their arrival to a small grove of short oaks. I followed them between the trees and came out with several photos I was happy with.

Bewick's Wren I

You may say, gosh this guy looks familiar, well he probably does. The Carolina Wren is very similar and much more widespread in the east and fairly common in backyards and other brushy or woodland habitats. Bewick's Wren is more common in the west, but can be hard to come by anywhere in its range, so I'd say a park with this many has got it going on! Below is a comparison shot of a Carolina.

Carolina Wren in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

On the Carolina above, note the brighter color, buffy underparts, and lack of white edging on the outer tail feathers that can be seen in "Bewick's Wren I". The two species sound quite different, but other than that could be hard to tell apart to the untrained eye. You can see the dull coloration even better, below, in "Bewick's Wren II". These Bewick's were SO cooperative…I'm still not quite over it yet.

Bewick's Wren II

Before I got to the park, I was tipped off by another birder that there was an active Mississippi Kite nest. I don't often drool over MS Kites anymore, since where I'm from in Arkansas they're almost as thick as the mosquitoes in the summer, but any nest is cool to look at. I didn't think too much of it, though, knowing that it was probably WAY up in a tree. I did forget, however, that even in this more eastern part of Texas, we start to get away from the tall trees. I was pleasantly surprised to find that these kites had decided to make birders happy and nest within 15' of the ground! That's almost unheard of. A nearby military truck bed served as a good vantage point to get photos from; being higher up, it reduced the angle of elevation. I watched these kites for the better part of the morning.

Momma Mississippi keeping watch.

The two nestlings were probably halfway to adulthood. In this case, the male was the primary food deliverer, coming around every 15 minutes or so. Nearly the whole time, the female would sit watch from a snag about 20 yards away. As the male flew into the nest, he would flare his wings to seemingly block the view; probably some sort of defense posture. In keeping with that, he always flew in from the same direction. When the female fed the young, she would fly in from a completely different direction as the male.

Dad and the kids. 

Despite this area clearly being the kites' territory, a group of Blue Jays were almost a constant bother to the female, and once while I was there, the nestlings. Some of the jays were young, and it looked like a How to Be a Hellion 101 class, led by none other than the parents. At one point there was a standoff in the female's snag for about 10 minutes with all kinds of yelling back and forth and mobbing. As suspected, the kite came out on top. When all this started, a Bewick's Wren that had been happily singing from a thicket below, was nowhere to be found.

The Standoff.

As the morning heated up, the birds slowed down. This is a sign that it's time to go. When birding, it's nice to just be able to go out some place and see what's there. On a photography agenda, though, it's more about going after something specific, which can be hard given that we're dealing with creatures that can fly! So it was exciting to go for Bewick's Wren and come out with multiple, plus some. I left happy and headed for cooler climes. Back to old Arkansas, where the days start off cool and the mosquitoes wait for you outside the door.

Mississippi Kite (Ictinia mississippiensis)