yellow-billed cuckoo in tree

Leading a bird walk at Pearsall Park with Bexar Audubon Society

This morning I led a bird walk at Pearsall Park for Bexar Audubon Society. I’ve been looking forward to this bird walk for months and was excited to share the park with a bunch of new people. I was hopeful for good birds today to excite the first-time visitors but you never know what you’ll see.

eastern bluebird on barbed wire boerne texas cibolo nature center

Birding Summary

Birding in Boerne

160 acres in the heart of Boerne, Texas, the Cibolo Nature Center offers miles of trails through five distinct ecosystems. In 1988, Carolyn Chipman Evans, her husband, Brent Evans, and a handful of friends envisioned a place to connect their community with nature. Beginning with a segment of the Cibolo Creek and its neighboring land and wildlife, this group of advocates worked tirelessly to ensure the creek’s preservation.

long-billed thrasher on top of tree

Birding Summary

Practicing as a birding guide at Pearsall Park

With my first official gig as a birding guide coming up next weekend for the Bexar Audubon Society, I wanted to get some practice in leading friends through Pearsall Park where the bird walk is going to take place. The four of us arrived at 8 AM to nice, cool, partly cloudy weather.

jeff at bird fest mitchell lake audubon center 2022

Education, Featured

Migratory Bird Fest 2022 at Mitchell Lake Audubon Center

Migratory Bird Fest has been underway at Mitchell Lake Audubon Center from April 21 2022 to today, May 14, 2022. Bird Fest concludes with a community festival full of organizations and activities. After a morning of birding at Pearsall Park, we drove over to the Mitchell Lake Audubon Center to check out the activities.

Painting bunting at pearsall park

Birding Summary, Featured

Painted Buntings and Nesting Scissor-tailed Flycatchers

Some weekend mornings it’s tempting to stay home and relax, but it can be on those days when the greatest surprises await.

I dragged myself to my favorite Pearsall Park this morning on a cloudy, slightly-sprinkly day. The clouds and cooler temperatures were a welcome break from the blistering heat of late.

yellow-billed cuckoo with grub and overay of painted bunting spectrogram

Birding Summary

Recording and photographing birds at the same time

I’m not a multitasker, I never have been. But when thinking about birding, the desire to be able to both record birdsong and photograph birds on the same trip is very alluring.

The last time I recorded at the park, I had the recorder in one hand and the microphone in the other, the…entire…time… The only exception to this was when I finagled things into one arm while adding birds to my checklist.