January bird count: Great Horned Owl watches us watching it

There is a Great Horned Owl nesting along the main road into Baytown Nature Center.

We saw it peeping out of its nest as we started the January bird count Thursday. I hope to see some owlets in the coming weeks.

Dedicated David H. led the bird count group and recorded 64 species.

We were trudging along near the end of a 4.5-hour bird search when an opossum came out of the brush and approached the trail. It took a look at me and scurried away.

Not a bird.

The list 
    
12   Gadwall
3    Mallard (Domestic type)
8    Northern Pintail
30  Green-winged Teal
8    Hooded Merganser
2    Pied-billed Grebe
6    Neotropic Cormorant
15  Double-crested Cormorant
28  American White Pelican
9    Brown Pelican
6    Great Blue Heron
11   Great Egret
5    Snowy Egret
3    White Ibis
4    Roseate Spoonbill
5    Black Vulture
3    Turkey Vulture
1    Osprey
2    Red-tailed Hawk
1    Clapper Rail
29  Killdeer
5    Spotted Sandpiper
9    Greater Yellowlegs
5    Lesser Yellowlegs
22  Least Sandpiper
1    Wilson's Snipe
150  Laughing Gull
6    Ring-billed Gull
4    Herring Gull
1    Caspian Tern
35  White-winged Dove
5    Mourning Dove
1    Great Horned Owl
5    Belted Kingfisher
3    Red-bellied Woodpecker
2    Downy Woodpecker
1    American Kestrel
2    Eastern Phoebe
2    Loggerhead Shrike
4    Blue Jay
7    Carolina Wren
2    Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
8    Ruby-crowned Kinglet
2    Eastern Bluebird
1    Hermit Thrush
1    American Robin
3    Brown Thrasher
14   Northern Mockingbird
15   European Starling
110  Cedar Waxwing
4    Orange-crowned Warbler
1    Pine Warbler
45   Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)
1    Savannah Sparrow
3    Swamp Sparrow
3    White-throated Sparrow
1    Harris's Sparrow
10  White-crowned Sparrow
7    Northern Cardinal
19  Red-winged Blackbird
5    Great-tailed Grackle
30  Brown-headed Cowbird
2    American Goldfinch
3    House Sparrow
1    Tufted Titmouse

Hawk fights and fancy ducks

Walking along a mosquio-infested trail at Baytown Nature Center, we flushed out a Red-Tailed Hawk. 

Two Red-Shouldered Hawks immediately objected to its new perch on top of shelter, which gave us a good view of the big Red-Tailed. The smaller hawks circled before one of them swooped down to strike the Red-Tailed.

The big hawk left the shelter to land atop a nearby tree. Again the Red-Shouldered Hawks circled and one attacked. The scene was repeated a third time.

Although the Red-Tailed was bigger, the two Red-Shouldered Hawks forced it to leave.

What a show! For a couple of minutes it made us forget the mosquito swarms. 

David Hanson led the group on its November bird count, which was on a duck hunt, of sorts.

Hood Merganser photo by the Hansons.

 I got a good look at the pretty Hooded Mergansers and Gadwalls.

David said:

I guess  two things jumped out today. First, this was the most Hooded Mergansers I have ever seen in one session and the lack of Doves. There were very few of any of the Dove species but especially White-winged Doves.

As a novice birder, here is one that I can identify: dead.

Here is a list of the 57 species spotted  
    
7    Gadwall
6    Northern Shoveler
17   Hooded Merganser
1    Red-breasted Merganser
9    Pied-billed Grebe
10   Neotropic Cormorant
9    Double-crested Cormorant
17   American White Pelican
16   Brown Pelican
8    Great Blue Heron
9    Great Egret
3    Snowy Egret
1    Green Heron
8    Black-crowned Night-Heron
1    Roseate Spoonbill
1    Black Vulture
2    Turkey Vulture
2    Osprey
1    Northern Harrier
1    Cooper's Hawk
2    Red-shouldered Hawk
2    Red-tailed Hawk
2    Clapper Rail
21   Killdeer
2    Spotted Sandpiper
46   Laughing Gull
1    Ring-billed Gull
1    Herring Gull
10   Forster's Tern
1    Royal Tern
10   White-winged Dove
3    Mourning Dove
5    Belted Kingfisher
4    Red-bellied Woodpecker
3    Downy Woodpecker
2    American Kestrel
2    Eastern Phoebe
5    Loggerhead Shrike
5    Blue Jay
3    Carolina Chickadee
2    Tufted Titmouse
2    House Wren
4    Marsh Wren
6    Carolina Wren
5    Ruby-crowned Kinglet
10   Northern Mockingbird
1    Pine Warbler
8    Yellow-rumped Warbler
1    Swamp Sparrow
2    White-throated Sparrow
2    White-crowned Sparrow
4    Northern Cardinal
6    Red-winged Blackbird
8    Great-tailed Grackle
6    Brown-headed Cowbird
2    American Goldfinch
6    House Sparrow

I spy a roseate spoonbill

Roseate Spoonbill, left, and friend.

My first bird count excursion was a three-hour tromp beginning at 7 a.m along the trails at Baytown Nature Center. That night my shoulders and neck were stiff from looking at treetops with binoculars.

My bird count buddies were veterans, David H., who takes fabu nature photos and Chuck. They spotted 45 species.

I can't saw I saw that many. I didn't see the baby Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks swimming in a pond because I was too short to see over the brush in front of the bird blind. Bummer.

However watching and hearing the yellow Orchard Oriole was a treat. The guys also considered the Belted Kingfisher and Osprey good sightings for the area.

My goal this summer is learn to identify the big shorebirds. The only one I can name with any confidence is the Roseate Spoonbill. They are pink and pretty obvious. -- Lana b

Bird count    
10  Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
1    Mallard
4    Mottled Duck
2    Pied-billed Grebe
3    Neotropic Cormorant
1    Double-crested Cormorant
15  Brown Pelican
7    Great Blue Heron
8    Great Egret
14  Snowy Egret
7    Little Blue Heron
10  Tricolored Heron
5    Cattle Egret
2    Green Heron
4    Black-crowned Night-Heron
14  Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
9    White Ibis
3    Roseate Spoonbill
1    Osprey
11  Killdeer
4    Black-necked Stilt
16  Laughing Gull
2    Least Tern
40  White-winged Dove
15   Mourning Dove
4    Common Nighthawk
8    Chimney Swift
1    Belted Kingfisher
5    Red-bellied Woodpecker
1    Downy Woodpecker
3    Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
1    Loggerhead Shrike
3    Blue Jay
6    Purple Martin
2    Tree Swallow
16  Barn Swallow
1    Swallow sp.
11  Carolina Wren
19  Northern Mockingbird
25  European Starling
7    Northern Cardinal
7    Common Grackle
4    Great-tailed Grackle
6    Brown-headed Cowbird
2    Orchard Oriole
6    House Sparrow