The day started out cold, dark, and windy, and the birds were playing hard to get. Among the few passerines early was this Spotted Towhee. The picture is pretty bad, but I did record some video of it calling.
One big surprise for me was a pair of Brown-headed Nuthatches. I thought the nice stand of pines on the east side of the quad looked good enough for them, but I'd never seen this species south of I-10 before.
Fenton Quad
I was kind of shocked when I saw that the Fenton Quad hadn't even received 10 hours of coverage. This area includes Turf Grass Road and Miller Oilfield Road among others, and is a favorite spot of many birders.
As I was scanning pipits on the turf field, I saw home hawks circling in the distance. One was a Ferruginous Hawk. It was pretty far, and even though it circled closer to Turf Grass Road, my pictures aren't very great.
On Miller Oilfield Road, I was hoping to kick up a Ground Dove. Instead, a plump bird about the size of a Ground Dove flew up and landed in a roadside tree. It was a Lark Bunting.
It flew down to the field on the south of the road, and to my left, I saw a bird hopping out of the brush onto the roadside. This one was a Green-tailed Towhee.
What a bizarre winter, when someone can sit and watch a Lark Bunting feeding on one side of the road, and a Green-tailed Towhee 20 yards away on the other side.
A strange day made stranger by the water everywhere, and the birds taking advantage of it. This yellowlegs was enjoying America's roads.
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