COMMON AS DIRT

A couple days back Jonathan and I had decided to head down to La Chua trail on Paynes Prairie on Tuesday evening to just explore what may be lurking out there.  However, this good idea turned into a great one Tuesday afternoon when he spotted a silent Empidonax sp. out near the barn.  He alerted the proper authorities and later in the afternoon Mike took his recording equipment out and was able to get positive "pip" calls from 2 alder flycatchers!!!

Now this brought the total amount of alder's up to 4 in the county right now, with a distinct possibility of there being up to at least 6 individuals.  So, our expedition to La Chua had even more purpose and we were not disappointed.  With relative ease, we were able to relocate the 2 alders Mike had confirmed, getting decent looks and even better, lots of "pip" calls.  In fact, one of the individuals sang a decent portion of its song, solidly clinching the ID.  Stoked, we decided to see if we could find a willow somewhere or even more alders.

We decided to hoof it down Sweetwater Dike and also search for the painted bunting Lloyd had been frequently seeing since late last week.  On our way, we were treated to a sky chock full of barn and bank swallows, and probably a cliff in there somewhere.  We also encountered indigo buntings, blue grosbeaks, and a variety of warblers including northern waterthrush, prairie, and yellow.  As we neared the location where the painted bunting had been seen, Jonathan stopped as he thought he heard another alder.  Sure enough, we listened intently and heard the "pip"of yet another alder.  We thought there may have possibly been a second one, but we could only confirm there was one out there.  A third alder!!!  Even more stoked, we decided to start heading back as the night was slowly creeping in around us.

Just after starting back, I thought I saw something a little bit larger than a warbler, but rusty in coloration.  I told Jonathan to stop, and after a minute or so of searching the salt bushes, I saw I had been quite mistaken and had seen the male painted bunting Lloyd had originally found!  How sweet!  It was somewhat cooperative, but didn't come out to give a good photo, not that it mattered much since there was little useful light at that point.

Thrilled, we really started back to the car.  On our way back, we saw some black-crowned night herons flying in to the water control structures, joining the green herons, great blue herons, and snowy egrets to feed.  We also heard a great horned owl as we inched closer to the parking lot.  All said, it was a fantastic little evening jaunt on the La Chua trail.  The trail that never seems to disappoint.