The Pommelhouse Birdlist
American kestrel
American goldfinch
Baltimore oriole Note
Bell's vireo
Bewick's wren
Black and white warbler Note
Blackburnian warbler
Black-capped chickadee Note
Black-chinned hummingbird
Black vulture
Blue-gray gnatcatcher
Blue jay
Boat-tailed grackle Note
Brown thrasher
Brown-headed cowbird
Canada goose
Canyon wren Note
Cardinal
Carolina wren
Catbird
Cedar waxwing
Chickadee
Chimney swift
Chipping sparrow
Chuck Will's widow Note
Cliff swallow
Common grackle
Common yellow-throat
Common nighthawk
Curve-billed thrasher
Downy woodpecker
Eastern phoebe
Fox sparrow
Golden-cheeked warbler Note
Great blue heron Note
Great horned owl
Green heron Note
Hermit thrush
House finch
House sparrow
Inca dove
Indigo bunting
Ladder-backed woodpecker
Lesser goldfinch
Lincoln sparrow Note
Loggerhead shrike
Magnolia warbler
Mockingbird
Mourning dove Note
Myrtle warbler
Northern waterthrush Note
Painted bunting
Pigeon hawk
Purple finch
Purple martin
Red-bellied woodpecker
Roadrunner Note
Robin
Rose-breasted grosbeak
Ruby-crowned kinglet
Ruby-throated hummingbird
Rufous-sided towhee
Scarlet tanager
Screech owl
Scrub jay Note
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Slate-colored junco
Song sparrow
Starling
Swainson's hawk
Tennessee warbler
Titmouse
Turkey buzzard
White-winged dove
White-throated sparrow
White-crowned sparrow
Whooping crane Note
Wilson's warbler
Yellow-bellied flycatcher
Yellow-shafted flicker
Yellow-bellied sapsucker
Yellow-breasted chat
Yellow warbler
NOTES:
Baltimore oriole: it has been
quite a few years since I have seen one. They used to stop by every
couple of years or so. I think we no longer see them because our yard
is not as open as it was back then.
Warblers: We rarely saw
good warblers when we first moved here, because our oaks were not big
enough. Now we see great warblers when we look at the right time of
year.
Chickadees: I didn't mark
these guys or the titmice as residents, but they blow through the yard
very regularly, trailing a kinglet or two.
Grackles: These are a scary
occasional presence in recent years. They like Norma's huge live oak.
But whenever they come around, we pester them aggressively and they
move on. They are amusing birds, but pests when they take up residence.
Original birds: The first
birds we saw here were the canyon wren (on the back porch), a chuck
will's widow (in the ligustrum by the back door) and a one-legged roadrunner,
who ran across the yard every day. All have moved on as the neighborhood
has been built up.
Golden-cheeked warbler: A rare
bird, but not in Austin. A certain kind of birder travels here to bag
this one.
Great Blue Heron: Ever so
sadly, I have lost my videotape of the great blue eating all our goldfish.
The pond was full of fish. We had one that was a foot long. In the
video, you could see the flash of orange as he flicked his long bill
skyward and the fish slid down his throat. Wily tried to chase him,
but he was too big and scary.
He seemed to have a hard time taking off in the small clearing,
but he visited us every time we got a few more fish established, until
we gave up. We're going to try again this summer. But he flies from
one golf course to another, and his route takes him right over our
yard. I know he looks down with his sharp heron eyes and checks to
make sure we don't have any worthwhile fish.
Green heron: In the heyday
of our pond, the green heron cleaned up what the great blue didn't
bother with. Craig says he is going to put a sewerpipe in the bottom
when we refurbish the pond (hopefully this year). He says the fish
will be able to hide there.
Lincoln sparrow: This is
one of a number of birds I could have called a resident but didn't,
because although I know they are always around, I don't often see them.
Painted buntings are like this, and the Bell's vireo They require lucky
timing, binoculars and a little patience to verify. Well, not the painted
buntings. When they do come out into the open they are right outside
the back door, and so brilliant as to be unmistakeable.
Mourning dove: Interestingly
enough, the mourning dove has been replaced by the white wing dove
during our time here. I think it happened ten or fifteen years ago.
This I attribute to climatic change, as the white wing dove is the
dominant dove in South Texas. The mourning dove and the white wing
seem to occupy the same niche. The Inca dove, which are much smaller,
have been around all along.
Scrub jay: This is one of the
birds that has gone away because the neighborhood has changed. In 1983
we were one of only four houses on a cul-de-sac. Now every square foot
has a house on it, and a lot of the new houses, twice as big as ours,
are on zero lots. The scrub jay has moved on.
Northern waterthrush: I know
you won't believe those were whooping cranes we saw migrating one year,
but we both saw them, as did our neighbor, and after much deliberation,
we decided that was our best guess. If you are a birdwatcher, you are
probably skeptical about the northern waterthrush, too. So was I, until
my neighbor from across the street, a veteran birder, called me and
said, "You'll never guess what I just saw." I said, "A northern waterthrush?" He
was bobbing and weaving around the birdbath in the center bed!
Roadrunner: Just when
I thought these guys were gone for sure, one turned up in the yard
several days in a row. He stood his ground with Wily, so, being somewhat
of a chicken herself, she ignored him after that. I think roadrunners
must be still living nearby, though we don't see them in the neighborhood
anymore.
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