Booby prize

Well it's cold and windy again. But the sun was shining a little so the drive across the state was mostly enjoyable. But it has been lot of driving. I'm not complaining. I like to drive, in fact I kind of love to drive. It helps me to clear my head and relax and after last year I really needed that. My buddies and I have laughed our asses off and I'm a little sorry we are running out of time on this trip but we're going to make the best of the days that remain. And we still have targets to hit. 

We pulled into Travis Lake State Park mid-afternoon and scanned the entire area. Every dock and boathouse roof, each snag and stump, every rock with nothing more than coots and a few common loons diving in the smooth lake. A single cormorant was perched on a log. A pair of osprey squeaked overhead and chip notes of sparrows in the grasses kept us busy but the celebrity we were seeking was not being seen. There was no one else around to ask for help either and after about an hour of walking around in 20 degree weather we were about to give it up. I swung around to pick up Jacob who had walked farther down to the edge of the grasses. Just then a large bird soared into view. "Booby!" 

This brown booby has been hanging out at the inland lake for quite some time apparently enjoying the area. We watched it glide over the water and out to the opposite side of the lake before looping back and perching on a stump. We took a bunch of photos and the bird again flew off around the bend in the sandbar not to be seen again. Score! 

We then headed over to Balcones Canyonlands NWR. Again cold and windy but we managed to add more birds to the year: spotted towhee, chipping sparrows, fox sparrow, Harris's sparrow and western scrub jay. We didn't spend a lot of time here and birded primarily from the van because it was windy and very chilly but still a productive stop. 

Our final spot of the day was a set of ebird coordinates where longspurs had been seen. The McCown's variety to be exact. We searched the "mega-field" with no luck but did manage to finally pull a western meadowlark as it called it's "churt " calls from a fence nearby. 

We were also amazed to see many, many eastern meadowlarks, flocks of brown headed cowbirds and Brewer's blackbirds. Oh yeah, and a little brown bird that popped off the side of the road: 

Burrowing Owl

Tomorrow will be another long day. It's almost 9 hours until our next bird. Until then, sleep is in the very near future. 

Hasta mañana amigos.