A Success and a Failure

Yesterday was the first day that I had the opportunity to go bird to start my new year list. The weather in Dallas has been well below freezing, which would mean trying to bird a lake would be miserable. My car has also been getting fixed, so that took some of the motivation away, too. Yesterday marked the first day of birdable weather. The only problem was that there was now a decision to make.

Tundra and Trumpeter Swans were reported at the Fort Worth Nature Center before Christmas, with the Tundras being the most reliable. In addition, a Red-throated Loon had been spotted easily at White Rock Lake in a very accessible area. I already had a trip booked to the Rio Grande after finals, so I hoped they would stick around, and the day before I came to Dallas they were both spotted. The chase was on, until a massive storm blew through. I searched once for the loon with no luck, and the Tundra Swans were not being reliably seen.

I wasn't planning on birding on January 4, but the nice weather and reappearance of both birds caught my eye. The loon was spotted on 1/3 and posted on bird alerts, but I didn't see it until yesterday. I had to make a choice at 2:30, do I go for the loon and make the 10 minute drive or do I look for the swan and make an hour drive, likely longer in heavy rush hour traffic? I went for the loon, with hopes that the American Black Duck that had been reported would also make an appearance.

My car being in the shop meant I had to wait until around 3:30 to head out to the lake, far from the ideal birding time. But any birding at White Rock is usually a great time. The lake is a magnet for waterfowl and gulls, and pretty much every time I have been in Dallas something rare is showing up. On my way to the spillway I saw monk parakeets hanging out at their power station nesting area. The first sightings of the day were cormorants, a Great Blue Heron, and interestingly a few Black-crowned Night Herons were sitting around, which is something I never saw last winter. The light was fading and I rushed up the spillway to try and get a glimpse of the loon/

American Coots on the spillway, clouds were out and the the sun was starting to set

Ring-billed Gulls on the spillway

The gulls typically congregate on the spillway, but there were not that many out there today. I had my fingers crossed for the Glaucous Gull reported on 1/2, but all I could find were Ring-billeds. Typically you can also find Bonaparte's Gulls reliably here, and one or two Franklin's gulls are present if you look hard enough with a Herring Gull sprinkled in.

American White Pelican

The loon did not show up, and with the light fading fast I wanted to rush to Sunset Bay to look for the duck. Someone was walking up to look for the loon, and they had confirmed that the American Black Duck was present 15 minutes prior, so I promptly sprinted to my car and make the 10 minute drive to Sunset Bay.

The American Black Duck is a common bird on the East Coast, but it's far southern range is northeast Arkansas and northern Mississippi, and it is listed as uncommon in the rest of Arkansas. Finding one is Texas is RARE, and the Texas Bird Records Committee has only accepted 9 previous records of the bird in the state. I got this in March at White Rock, but this would be a great bird to begin the year with.

I wish I had a cooler story about me finding it, but it was pretty easy to find, as it was hanging out just to the right of the dock. Seeing it next to female Mallards made it clear that it was in fact an American Black Duck, the 10th record in Texas.

American Black Duck with coots and a Mallard, notice how much darker it is

  

Black Duck with Mallard 

 Lesser Scaup and Northern Pintail were also present, as were 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls that I did not see, but overall this was a great first day of birding, logging 30 species to start the year. Once my car is ready I'll head down to Austin to visit my girlfriend. Conveniently a Townsend's Warbler has been reported close to where she lives, and we'll hopefully make a trip to either get that or head to Commons Ford one morning. I'll make one trip to White Rock in the meantime to see if that pesky loon shows up. Pray to the birding gods that the Tundra Swan sticks around until 1/8 or 1/9.