9/01/06  Reported by Laura Sare

Yesterday, while looking to see if the Jager was still at Sundown Playa,
I saw a Ruddy Turnstone in some mud flats right beside the road. The Ruddy Turnstone was in winter plumage, and the previous
record of a Ruddy Turnstone in the Panhandle was from 1971.

Observation date:     9/6/06
Number of species:     16
Canada Goose     20
Mallard     3
Blue-winged Teal     17
Northern Shoveler     6
Green-winged Teal     20
Swainson's Hawk     1
Lesser Yellowlegs     3
Marbled Godwit     1
Ruddy Turnstone     1
Long-billed Dowitcher     3
Black Tern     19
Mourning Dove     11
European Starling     24
Western Meadowlark     1
Great-tailed Grackle     13
House Sparrow     1

 

6/10/2006 Reported by Laura Sare

Snowy Plover – Lake Pauline, Greenbelt Lake

White-rumped Sandpiper – Lake Pauline

Semi-palmated Sandpiper – Lake Pauline

Pectoral Sandpiper – Greenbelt Lake

Tree Swallow – Greenbelt Lake

 

4/30/2006 (Phainopepla)

2 adult male phainopeplas observed at Cross Bar Ranch on 30 Apr 2006 at 8:15 pm.  One male was first sighted perched in a small mesquite tree were it was observed gleaning insects from the ground and other nearby mesquites for several minutes.  It was then chased off the perch by another adult male.  The chase was observed for about 400 m until I lost sight of both birds.  

Rich Kazmaier

 

4/28/2006 (White-tailed kite)

I just wanted to drop you a note to tell you that I saw a white-tailed kite this morning 2 miles south and about 1 mile east of Wayside on highway 285. I added links below to a couple of photographs of the bird (it was fairly cooperative) and a map with the location of the sighting. According to Kenneth Seyffert, it is the first confirmed sighting in the Panhandle. If any of you attempt to locate the bird please let me know what you find.

Ray Matlack       

Photo1    Photo 2    Map of sighting location

Recent rare bird sighting from Barrett Pierce:

Franklin’s Gull:
8 on 3-19-06 @ Blue West area, Lake Meredith
2 on 4-8-06 @ Cactus Playa
1 on 4-18-06 @ Lake Meredith Dam
16 on 4-22-06 Blue West area, Lake Meredith

Foster’s Terns:
 14 on 4-16-06 @ Greenbelt
22 on 4-18-06 @ Lake Meredith Dam
16 on 4-23-06 @ Greenbelt

Semipalmated Plovers:
 1 on 4-16-06 @ Taylor Lakes NWR
2 on 4-16=06 @ Greenbelt
6 on 4-22-06 @ Blue West area, Lake Meredith
8 on 4-23-06 @ Greenbelt

Snowy Plover:
 2 on 4-8-06 @ Blue West area, Lake Meredith
17 on 4-22-06 @ Blue West area, Lake Meredith
1 on 4-23-06 @ Greenbelt

Piping Plover:
 1 on 4-22-06 @ Cactus Playa

Dunlin:
 1 on 4-22-06 @ Blue West area, Lake Meredith


4/22/06 (Western Grebe and Snowy Plover)

The field trip on the 22nd of April was a productive one.  Barrett Pierce reported a western grebe at Cactus Playa and a snowy plover at Blue West.

3/26/06 (White pelicans)

I went up to Palo Duro Lake in Hansford Co. today, 03-26-06 and saw nine White Pelicans. I saw three close enough to get a good  view of the fibrous plates on the upper mandible. I also saw a Mountain Bluebird.
 
Rudy

3/26/06 (Mountain Plovers)

Barrett Pierce reported that there were still 5 mountain plovers at Buffalo lake.

3/23/06 and 3/24/06 (Mountain Plovers)

Dan Walker observed at least 10 mountain plovers at Pantex on 3/23/06.  The plovers were on a prairie dog town among killdeer.  Trey Barron and Laura Baar observed about 6 mountain plovers on the burned area at Buffalo Lake.  The plovers were found among killdeer on the north end of the burned area.

3/20/06 (Western Grebe)

There is a Western Grebe at the Western Plaza lake behind Western Plaza mall. 

Laura Sare

 

3/10/06 (Black phoebe)

I found a black phoebe near a plunge pool on Crossbar Ranch (Potter County) on 10 March.

Ray Matlack
 

3/05/06 (Northern goshawk)

I had a Northern Goshawk in Hemphill Co. yesterday 3-5. It was on FM 2266, about halfway down the road to Lake Marvin in a wooded area. It was a male. It flew before I could get a photo, and since it is migratory I don't know how long it will hang around.

Laura Sare

2/26/06 (Pyrrhuloxia)

My girlfriend and I were birding at Palo Duro Canyon last Sunday, 02-26-06, and saw not one but two pyrrhuloxia. They were feeding on the ground with a group of white crowned sparrows, in the first camp area. Appeared to be a couple of adult females, they both had solid yellow bills. I've only seen these birds four times in our part of the world, always one at a time. I was very interested to see two of them together.

Regards

Terry Massey 

2/28/06 (Cactus wren)

Adam and I had a cactus wren on our deck 2 days during the great backyard bird count. It was only about 3 feet away, so we are both very confident that is what we observed. Unfortunately, we were so interested in looking we didn't think about taking a picture.

Sonya Berg

 
2/28/06 (Lincoln's sparrow)
I've been having a Lincoln's Sparrow in the mornings and evenings under my thistle feeder.  120 Wayside Dr., Amarillo
 
Observed it Feb. 20, 21, and 25.
 
If someone wants to come see it, call me at work 468-0539 or home 352-7463.
Susan Thompson

1/11/2006 (Great Black-Backed Gull and Red-Throated Loon)

I saw the Great Black-backed Gull again yesterday afternoon, 1-11-06, from the point at the Harbor Bay area of Lake Meredith in Hutchinson Co, TX. I first saw it on the water about 100 yards from shore. It joined a feeding flock of Ring-billed Gulls that worked across the lake and to the south. At about 5:30 PM, I lost sight of it in the heat waves and declining light.

Several Red-throated Loons were feeding off the Harbor Bay point and around in front of the boat ramp; and at 6:00 PM two Tundra Swans flew-in to feed in the shallows of Harbor Bay.

Barrett Pierce