August 10th Report - San Angelo S.P.

Interesting morning in the blind. With the cowbird mystery solved, it was interesting that the first bird of the morning was a Brown-Headed Cowbird.

Good morning for a couple of reasons. First was that we filled the front row of the blind with 3 photographers. A very unusual circumstance indeed.

Second, the bird mix was very interesting with a new life list entry for me, though I didn't get a very good picture.

I had a laundry list written, but of course I lost it on the way home--didn't bring out my notebook like I usually do and my scrap of paper blew away.

My big highlight was seeing my first Orchard Oriole. Didn't get a great shot of him, but good enough to confirm what I saw. A mating pair of both of Canyon Towhees and Cactus Wren were in the blind area as well.

Northern Cardinals continue to spend time in the blind area, both mating pairs, singles, and juveniles. Pyrrhuloxia came through as well. Red-Winged Blackbird numbers are down, and what are around appear to be this year's crop of juveniles with glimpses of yellow still at the leading edges of their feathers.

Most of the other usual suspects were also around. House Finches and House Sparrows, Curved-Bill Thrashers, and both the Golden-Fronted and Ladder-Backed Woodpeckers were visitors.

The light could have been better, but I came away with about 2 dozen usable shots.

Image: Canyon Towhee, San Angelo S.P., ©2008 Jim Miller