TRAVIS COUNTRY BIRD WALK - JUNE 13, 2015

Eight people came together this morning for the last Bird Walk of the spring at Blue Valley in Travis Country.  Spring Bird Migration is now over so we didn't see any of the migrants that were present earlier in the spring, but we did see 14 different resident species around Travis Country Lake.

Following is a list of the bird species we saw today:

1. American Robin

2. Common Grackle

3. White-winged Dove

4. Northern Mocking Bird

5. Green Heron

6. Bewick's Wren

7. American Crow

8. Inca Dove

9. Eastern Wood Pewee

10. Barn Swallow

11.Great Crested Flycatcher

12. Turkey Vulture

13. Black Vulture

14. Red Tailed Hawk

15. Northern Cardinal

Green Heron

My favorite bird of the day was our resident Green Heron (above) that can be seen most days along the edge of the lake at Blue Valley. The Green Heron is a resident, largely non-migratory, of North and Central America, also known as the Green-backed Heron.

I would like to thank each of you for your participation in our TC Bird Walks this year.  Hopefully you enjoyed the outings and gained in your understanding of the Birds of Travis Country. A special thanks goes out to Sebastian and Sandra Casarez who traveled from Hutto for each bird walk to assist us in spotting and identifying our birds. Sebastian appears above with Glen & Tracy Novinger.

BIRD NESTING IS AT ITS PEAK IN TRAVIS COUNTRY!

The Bird Nesting Season in Travis Country is at its peak.  Even though this is our first year for the TC Nest-box Program, we have had a very successful first season.

We have a total of 34 Bird Nest-boxes plus 1 Bat House installed in Travis Country and of these there are 12 nests with eggs or chicks in them.  In addition, there is a Mocking Bird nest in a tree in the Wild Flower Preserve  and a Greater Roadrunner nest in a tree in the Greenbelt along Magdelena Drive.  At the present time we don’t yet have bats in the Bat House in the Wild Flower Preserve.

Here is a list of the active nest-boxes and what is using them.

No. of Nests                Occupant

5                                  Berwick’s Wrens

6                                  Black-crested Titmouse

3                                  Eastern Screech Owl

1                                  Mocking Bird

1                                  Greater Roadrunner

3                                  European Starling

1                                  Squirrel

6                                  Ants

1                                  Possum

27                               Occupied Nests

So! We are dealing with the Possum, the squirrels, and the ants.  They were uninvited and unwanted.  But overall, we are pleased with the response for our first year with the nest-boxes.  

      Below are our favorite photos of the insides of the nest-boxes from last week.

    Black-crested Titmice, just ready to fly away from the nest.

    4 Newly hatched Eastern Screech Owlets

    5 Bewick's Wren Chicks

Please join us for our 3rd Bird Walk on Saturday, May 9, at 9am, leaving from the Blue Valley parking lot by the Community Office.

Glen Novinger

BATS ARE OUR FRIENDS !

Bats are like a cuddly puppy.
Once you have met one, you will love them.
Coming to your neighborhood each night to remove your mosquitos.

FIRST TC BIRD WALK A SUCCESS !

The First TC Bird Walk was  a success with 20 people attending. We saw 25 species during a slow ramble around Blue Valley and Carrington Prairie. The bird list for the morning is below the picture.

 

Number of Species: 25

American Robin Bewick's Wren Black Vulture Black-crested Titmouse Blue Jay Carolina Chickadee Carolina Wren Cedar Waxwing Chipping Sparrow Common Grackle Cooper's Hawk Downy Woodpecker Eastern Phoebe Great-tailed Grackle House Finch Ladder-backed Woodpecker Lesser Goldfinch Mallard Mourning Dove Northern Cardinal Red-bellied Woodpecker Red-shouldered Hawk Ruby-crowned Kinglet Turkey Vulture White-winged Dove

Our favorite bird of the morning was a Red-Shouldered Hawk. A pair has been nesting in Travis Country each spring for the past few years.

I took the above photo of a Red-shouldered Hawk at 

the Driskill Hotel in Austin last week.

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NEW BAT HOUSE IN TRAVIS COUNTRY WILDFLOWER PRESERVE

A new Bat House was installed last week in the Wild Flower Preserve near the entrance to Travis Country. It is located 20 feet high on an abandoned light pole and the installation was only possible with the kind assistance of Tom Baker of Driftwood Builders Restoration and his two long ladders.  Driftwood Builders Restoration has re-roofed many of the homes in Travis Country over the past few years.

Bats are mammalS, like humans, and play an essential role in the environment. The Mexican Free-Tailed Bat which is common in Austin can catch 600 mosquitos per hour each night, as well as other insects.  Other bat species pollinate flowers, fruits, and cacti. Most cacti and bananas cannot reproduce without the pollination of their flowers by bats.

This picture shows the bat house under construction. It has 5 separate living spaces which are only 3/4 inch in width.  The bats are happy with this narrow living space and the narrow access keeps out most predators.

With the Bat House installed, Glen Novinger and Tom Baker are seen here with Cynthia Wilcox, Secretary of the Travis Country Community Service Association.

We are happy to hear that our Austin bats began returning from Mexico to the Congress Avenue Bridge during the past few days. We only hope some of them will choose to spend the summer months in the new bat house in the Wildflower Preserve.

TWO JUVENILE BARN OWLS RELEASED NEAR LOCKHART, TEXAS

After several years trying, unsuccessfully, to attract Barn Owls to my nest-box in Travis Country, I moved my box on March 12 to a 37 acre farm located 5 miles west of Lockhart.  The farm is owned by Sallie Delahoussaye, who operates an owl and hawk rehabilitation center. She has cared for 9 young orphan barn owls over the winter and as the spring weather arrives she is releasing them into the wild.  Satisfactory nesting for Barn Owls is always a problem in our continuously more urban society, so she was glad to have a nest-box into which to release them.

There are as many as 46 races of the Common Barn Owls around the world.  They have a body length of 14 to 20 inches and when full grown have a wing span of up to 42 inches.  But amazingly, the total body weight of a female, who is slightly larger than the male, is only 17 - 25 ounces, or only slightly more than a pound.

After installing the nest-box, here with Stephanie Boyd, a rehabilitation volunteer with Sallie Delahoussaye, the two juvenile barn owls were placed into the nesting area of the box so they would be familiar with the location.

Stephanie placed one of the owls into the access door of the nest-box where he was content.  But upon opening the door to place the second one, the first one flew away.  You can see the first one leaving the nest box, just a fraction of a second before he flew away. This fraction-of-a-second photo was expertly caught by my wife, Tracy.

How unfortunate that the habitat of Travis Country is not to the liking of these beautiful Barn Owls so that we could enjoy seeing them in our Neighborhood.  But then again, they require 80 grams of food a day.  This equates to 4 large mice or a small rat.  Then the amount required for each growing chick if even greater. So, maybe we don't need more mice & rats in Travis Country!

ROADRUNNER NESTING SEASON

It has rained 3 inches in the past 24 hours, but my resident Greater Roadrunners have been at work, in the rain, full time, catching insects in the Magdelena Drive Green Belt and guarding their nesting territory.  They raised 4 healthy insect, snake, and rodent scavengers last year and I trust they are equally successful this year. Next week should dry out and warm up and I expect the Roadrunner hen to lay her eggs.

Here is the female from last year, taken from 2 feet away while she made sure I didn't touch her fledglings.

    Photo by Glen Novinger - 2014

SPRING & SUMMER IS COMING & THE GREAT MOSQUITO CATCH IS ON

Bats are our Friends !

The Little Brown Bats can catch and eat 800 - 1000 mosquitos per hour for a total of 8,000 to 10,000 mosquitos in a night!

TC BIRD WALKS with GLEN NOVINGER

New in 2015 ! Join us for monthly BIRD WALKS.

Get to know the common birds and migrants in Travis Country.

BIRD WALKS will leave the Community Assoc. Office in Blue Valley

at 9:00am on the following Saturdays in 2015.

1.) March 14

2.) April 11

3.) May 9

4.) June 13

·    Bring binoculars and a bird book, if you have them.

·    Young adults of 12+ years welcome if accompanied by parent.

·    Please understand that dogs will not be welcome.

·      Bird Walk will last 1 to 2 hours.

Glen Novinger

Glen@Novinger.com

TC BIRD NESTING SEASON BEGINS !!

Opossum nesting in one of our Owl Nest-Boxes at the Community Garden !

When I went to clean the Screech Owl Nest-Box at the Community Garden yesterday, I was surprised to find a large and sleepy opossum in it.  For some time I have been surprised that we have not had a screech owl in that box.  Now we know why !   So I too my trash tongs, grabbed the opossum by the tail and dropped him into a cedar bush.  From there he left in a great hurry.  Big question now is if he comes back or we get the intended screech owl for their nesting season which should start any day now.  Screech owls are good for gardens because they enjoy small rodents for their nightly food supply.

2015 TRAVIS COUNTRY NEST-BOX SEASON

Since the launch of the TC Birds and Nest-Box Program in April of 2014, we have made great progress.  We now have 35 nest-boxes in place throughout the following greenbelt areas of Travis Country:

BLUE VALLEY 

COMMUNITY GARDEN

HILLTOP POOL

WILD FLOWER PRESERVE

CARRINGTON PRAIRIE

GREENBELT SOUTH OF SENDERO

GREENBELT NORTH OF SENDERO/MAGDELENA

As you go on your walks, watch for the nest-boxes.  They are all painted a green/grey color and each has a number on it. If you notice a problem or any damage to a nest-box.  Please let me know and I will rectify the problem right away. There are 6 different nest-box sizes, each for different species and sizes of birds. The boxes range in size from the smallest for wrens and warblers to the largest for Barred Owls.

All of the nest-boxes are now in place and ready for the beginning of the nesting season which will begin in February for Eastern Screech Owls and continue for the various species into July.

Watch for Bluebirds this year.  We have 3 BlueBird nest-boxes located along the trail in the Wildflower Preserve and are hopeful that will attract these beautiful birds to our neighborhood. The photo of a male Eastern Bluebird which appears below was taken by William H. Majoros.

Photo by William H. Majoros