Nalle Bunny Run 2018-06-16

Four people joined me for the monthly group walk on Hill Country Conservancy's Nalle Bunny Run wildlife preserve yesterday morning. We started at 8 AM and enjoyed partly cloudy skies until about 9:30 when the sun finally came out and made it fee like summer. Birds were active, and the air was full of songs and calls from Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Northern Cardinals, Carolina Wrens, White-eyed Vireos, and White-winged Doves. But they were much more easily heard than seen. There was one Painted Bunting we heard singing and in the deciduous woods habitat area we started catching glimpses of it foraging. With very little coaxing from a recorded song on my iPhone, it came in to investigate and gave the group good looks. I got this poor photo:

Painted Bunting

Despite the poor quality of the photo, I was very happy that the group got to see this colorful Texas summer resident.

Two fun mammal observations were hearing White-tailed Deer warning snorts, and then seeing this Rock Squirrel by the irrigation pipes on the sandy prairie area:

Rock Squirrel

My favorite observation of the morning was along the east fence line. At the edge of the woods there, I saw a large black and yellow dragonfly flying around. It landed nearby and I got this photo:

Swift River Cruiser - 2

It turned out to be a species I haven't recorded on the Bunny Run before: a Swift River Cruiser. It's very similar to the Royal River Cruiser which I recorded here last August at almost the same exact location. (See this iNaturalist observation.)

Here's our complete bird list on eBird.

Here are a few more photos on Flickr.

And see the attached observations.

Posted on 17 June, 2018 15:52 by mikaelb mikaelb

Observations

Photos / Sounds

What

Dusky Dancer (Argia translata)

Observer

mikaelb

Date

June 16, 2018 09:44 AM CDT

Description

Taken on monthly group walk on Hill Country Conservancy's Nalle Bunny Run wildlife preserve.

Photos / Sounds

What

Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris)

Observer

mikaelb

Date

June 16, 2018 08:59 AM CDT

Description

Taken on monthly group walk on Hill Country Conservancy's Nalle Bunny Run wildlife preserve.

This male Painted Bunting was actively foraging in the tall cedar elms of the deciduous woods habitat area. I played a recorded song on my phone and it came in to investigate, giving the group good looks at this colorful central Texas summer resident.

Photos / Sounds

Observer

mikaelb

Date

June 16, 2018 10:12 AM CDT

Description

Taken on monthly group walk on Hill Country Conservancy's Nalle Bunny Run wildlife preserve.

Photos / Sounds

What

Rock Squirrel (Otospermophilus variegatus)

Observer

mikaelb

Date

June 16, 2018 09:21 AM CDT

Description

Taken on monthly group walk on Hill Country Conservancy's Nalle Bunny Run wildlife preserve.

Photos / Sounds

What

Swift River Cruiser (Macromia illinoiensis)

Observer

mikaelb

Date

June 16, 2018 09:41 AM CDT

Description

Taken on monthly group walk on Hill Country Conservancy's Nalle Bunny Run wildlife preserve.

Comments

No comments yet.

Add a Comment

Sign In or Sign Up to add comments