January 2016 bird walk

  The Christmas lights were still lit around the parks as we began our 2016 birding walk along the San Marcos River. Eight of us started from the Rec Center along the sidewalk that is easily is one of the premier features of this Hill Country city. 
  It was chilly and an occasional sprinkle forced us to clean our lenses but it was productive as we continued from City Park to Veramendi Park and stopped at Bicentennial Park. We saw a good mix of aquatic and shore birds on our hour-and-a-half walk. Stephen brought his spotting scope for close-up looks at the red-shouldered hawk, woodpeckers and Great Egret. Colton provided the list of the many birds we viewed.

Cold and a little wet but very productive.

36 species
 
Double-crested Cormorant  8
Great Blue Heron  1
Great Egret  1
Black Vulture  3
Red-shouldered Hawk  2
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  7
Eurasian Collared-Dove  1
White-winged Dove  6
Mourning Dove  1
Belted Kingfisher  1
Golden-fronted Woodpecker  3
Ladder-backed Woodpecker  1
Downy Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker  1
Eastern Phoebe  1
Blue-headed Vireo  1
Blue Jay  6
Carolina Chickadee  3
Black-crested Titmouse  1
Carolina Wren  4
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  5
Northern Mockingbird  4
European Starling  10
Cedar Waxwing  80
Orange-crowned Warbler  2
Common Yellowthroat  1
Yellow-rumped Warbler  4
White-throated Sparrow  1
Song Sparrow  1
Northern Cardinal  10
Red-winged Blackbird  60
Common Grackle  1000
Great-tailed Grackle  4
House Finch  1
House Sparrow  1
 
View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S26693407