The Rolling Plains Chapter of Texas Master Naturalists hosted this year's "Big Sit". This is about the easiest way to watch birds. Every one stays within a 17 foot radius and I.D. birds as they come to you. Needed equipment is your chair, binnoculars, and bird book. If a bird is heard or spotted, you can leave the circle for a better I.D. But, it only counts if you first spot the bird from the circle.
This is the fourth year Phyllis & I attended and the first year we did not freeze sitting on the shore line of Lake Wichita. The bad part was the lower number of birds we saw in the warmer weather. Species seen were; Mallards, Killdeer, Great-tailed Grackle, Common Grackle, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Barn Swallow, Great Blue Heron, Canada Goose, Red-winged Blackbird, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Rock Pigeon, Blue Jay, Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Northern Mockingbird, White-winged Dove, Chimney Swift, Yellow-shafted Flicker, Eurasian Collard Dove, Double-crested Cormorant, American Robin, Red-tailed Hawk and Turkey Vulter. The photo shows us in a quandry, do we ID the Mallard, or is the Mallard trying to ID us? She waddled up the path as we were leaving and walked right into the middle of the group.
