Two weeks ago, Spence and I skipped school to do some research at the State and National Archives in Austin and Ft. Worth. Lucky for us, Bolt lives in Duncanville, which provided a convenient place for us to stop between our trips. Bolt and I had been trying for a while this semester to get together and do some birding, so my staying at his house proved convenient for that purpose as well.

All three of us got up early on Saturday morning and got ready to head out to Joe Pool Lake. While we were still in the parking lot outside Bolt’s apartment, he pointed out some White-winged Doves, a first for me.

When we got to Joe Pool Lake, we discovered that the weather had turned surprisingly chilly. Despite the cold, we managed to see Coots, a Great Blue Heron, a Yellow-rumped Warbler, some Juncos, a Carolina Chickadee, a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, several Savannah Sparrows, and a Downy Woodpecker. We also saw a good number of birds I was more familiar with like Robins, Cardinals, and Turkey Vultures. We tried to walk across the dam, but the bitter, cold wind finally turned us back.

From there, we headed over to a small pond in a nearby subdivision. At first we thought there weren’t any birds on the water, but then we saw one! After straining at our binoculars and discussing what kind of neck and markings it had, we reached a conclusion: it was a beer bottle.

After that, it was off to Cedar Ridge Preserve. I was happy to go there because I had gone there several times this summer without much luck, so I hoped that with the help of Bolt, we’d be able to make some good sightings.

Unfortunately, the most exciting thing we spotted during the first leg of our journey was June’s house. She lives close the preserve, so we decided to go visit her. While we were at her house, I got to see some House Finches, which I had never seen before, at her bird feeder. After a pleasant visit, we went back to the preserve.

Our next few hours were very productive. We got several excellent views of a Northern Harrier. We also got close to a Bewick’s Wren several times. We never got a really good view, but by mentally piecing what I did see together, I think I have a good idea of what they look like.

When we got back to the entrance of the park, we also got to see a Brown Thrasher, but he was quite a ways back in some brush, so we didn’t get a good view. We also saw an Eastern Phoebe in a tree next to the entrance road.

From there, we made one final stop at a park to try to find some Monk Parakeets. We were successful in that and got to see some Cedar Waxwings as well.