By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
As I’ve watched birds over the decades, I’ve found that usually you have to go out and find them, but sometimes, every now and then, the birds will find you.
I haven’t gone out in the field much over the past month and a half because there’s been a lot of really good birdwatching closer to home, in my own backyard as a matter of fact.
There is a mulberry tree growing in the backyard of my apartment on Rhonda Drive and another in the yard just north of mine. For the past six to eight weeks, these trees have played host to an incredible variety of birds.
It started when the mulberries began fruiting.
The studio in which I do most of my writing faces the mulberries, and as I’d look out the window, I began seeing lots of activity in both trees.
I take my smoke breaks in the backyard and on one such break, I noticed a male Painted Bunting foraging along one of the mulberry tree’s central branches, stopping occasionally to eat a ripening mulberry.
I’ve seen Painted Buntings in my backyard before, but only during extremely dry periods, when they seem to come into town to take advantage of the many water sources humans provide.
Over the next few weeks, I began seeing more and more Painted Buntings, males and females. On one weekend day about two weeks ago, I counted more than 20 in my backyard tree alone. Amazing!
Along with the buntings, other birds also arrived to feast on the berries: Northern Mockingbirds, Hooded and Bullock’s Orioles, Great-tailed Grackles, Eurasian Collared-Doves, White-winged Doves, Bell’s Vireos, Brown-Crested Flycatchers, Great Kiskadees, Northern Cardinals and Western Kingbirds.
I began to take my binoculars and big camera out with me whenever I took a smoke break, and about a week ago, I saw a small, dark bird hopping around one of the mulberry’s lower branches. I looked at it through my binoculars and realized I was looking at a bird I’d never seen before, a male Indigo Bunting.
The little bird, whose plumage is a symphony of blue hues, stopped long enough for me to take a few photos.
It’s been an incredible experience to have so many interesting birds just a few steps from my back door and another reminder to me that you don’t always have to go far to see some really amazing things.
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Field Notes: A big thank you and hats off to City Communications and Marketing Director Anita Pruneda Mariner and her team for rescuing a male Painted Bunting that crashed into one of her office windows while fighting with another male Painting Bunting. One of the birds died on impact, but Anita and her team gathered up the stunned second bird and kept him in a towel-covered box until he recovered and was able to fly off. Thanks for caring, guys!
Several other local residents have also reported unusual bird sightings over the past month. Sally Anne and Eric Finkelstein had a Black-headed Grosbeak visit their backyard feeder in south Del Rio, and Warren Beitel reported a Scarlet Tanager at his home in the San Pedro Estates area near Lake Amistad. Thanks for letting me know about these visitors!
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Contact the author at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
