East Texas Birder on The Move: 04/01/2017

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

New Area to call Home!

I know you are thinking where are new posts? I must confess life has been busy and as I get older I realize not as much happens in a day... We have re-located to the beautiful hill country of Texas. We are in close proximity to Austin as well as San Antonio. We are still designing and creating our bird and wildlife sanctuary. We have 3.4 acres and love every inch of it. We have enjoyed several Gray Fox, many deer and an abundance of birds. Wild hogs have also passed through wrecking havoc in the yards of ourselves as well as neighbors. There is also a nature trail close by with access to the Guadalupe River and Canyon Lake. I can honestly say a new adventure has begun and I am loving the fun of exploration and learning the area. At this time in April we have Lesser Goldfinch, a couple of American Goldfinch, Chipping Sparrows, Field Sparrow, Lark Sparrow, Lincoln Sparrow and White Crowned Sparrows visiting the water. We have the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Black-chinned and Ruby- throated Hummingbirds. We enjoy the White-winged, Mourning and Inca Dove. We have the Orange-crowned Warbler visiting the water drip. The Bewick's Wren has been nesting in the yard in one of the bird houses and we also see the Carolina Wren on our cedar branch pile. There has been a Scrub Jay visiting the yard. I thought it was a Western Scrub Jay but a person seeing my photo thought it to be a Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay. I have since researched and found that in 2016 it was decided that the Western Scrub-Jay would go away and now we have the California Scrub-Jay and the Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay. You can certainly read more about this online if interested. I will share photos of this beautiful Jay I have forgotten to name some of our current residents, the Northern Cardinal, Black-crested Titmouse and the Carolina Chickadee. Blessings!