November 09, 2023

Josey Ranch Lake – November 2023

November 09, 2023/ Gwen Morrison

Josey Ranch Lake in Carrollton (Texas) was not as full of birds as usual although some of the winter migrants were there in small numbers: American Coots

Ruddy Ducks (with a Scaup in the same picture…size comparison)

Scaups

There was a Great Blue Heron, probably a resident, that seemed very interested in something high in the cattails. When I looked at my picture on my larger monitor, I noticed a place high on the wing that seemed devoid of feathers (i.e. pink ‘skin’ showing). I wondered what could have caused that.

Both resident mute swans were sleeping on the bank…surrounded by a few fluffs of feathers dislodged by their preening.

I didn’t stay long…too breezy and cold. I’ll spend more time at Josey Ranch next time I am in Carrollton.

November 11, 2021

Josey Ranch Birds

November 11, 2021/ Gwen Morrison

The lake at Josey Ranch in Carrollton, Texas is my favorite place to look for water birds. There were not very many this time…only a few of the winter birds have arrived. The two resident swans were still there, and they were both on the water preening.

A Great Egret was in the shallows near the cattail bed. I didn’t see it get any fish was it was strutting around

And flying short distances to continue searching. By the time I left, it was standing almost hidden by the cattails…looking out toward the lake.

There were mallard pairs – probably year-round residents.

The American Coots were the most numerous birds. They were interacting with each other…seemingly having spats…taking off running across the water to separate themselves.

There were a few Ruddy Ducks…with their upright tails.

The first Northern Shovellers had arrived. One male looked scruffy (and angry) to me!

As the season progresses, there will be bore Ruddy Ducks and Northern Shovellers…Scaups will also appear. In the previous winters, there always seem to be a few Bufflehead as well. I saw a cormorant in the air but didn’t see any in the lake this time.

June 01, 2021

Ten Little Celebrations – May 2021

June 01, 2021/ Gwen Morrison

After being at home in Maryland for over a year, May was spent is 2 different environments – Texas and Missouri. The celebrations this month are like other months…with the change in setting making them unique.

Little blue heron. Seeing a juvenile little blue heron (at Josey Ranch Lake) was unexpected…such a beautiful bird to celebrate.

Cherry crisp for breakfast. I had intended to make the dessert for a after-the-fact celebration of my Dad’s 90th birthday. Instead we ate it for breakfast (warm and fresh from the oven) with ice cream….with a side of little sausages to the side for protein. Yummy!

Tree trimming. My parents got their trees trimmed prompted by a broken branch that needed to be cut before it fell. The crew did an excellent job and left them the larger branches cut into fireplace lengths to dry for next winter. Plus - there are some even larger pieces that will make excellent stands for pots in my sister’s yard. The city yard refuse truck came and took the first big pile of small branches about mid-way through the trimming and took the rest the next week. We all celebrated that the job was done quickly and was interesting to watch.

Mother’s Day. I celebrated my mother (that I was visiting) and my own motherhood (with my daughter later in the month). The mother-daughter thread is a precious one.

Shampooing hair. I celebrated when my mother still shampooed her own hair – realizing that as we get older, celebrating what we can still do is healthier than grieving for things we cannot.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Doesn’t everyone celebrate when the cake is flipped…the pan lifted off…and it looks so great on the plate? I made it for a belated birthday for one of my sisters.

Rebuilt swan’s nest. The swans’ nest at Josey Ranch Lake was flooded by a deluge of rain…. they were frantic immediately afterward but quickly rebuilt. I celebrated the resilience of nature.

Getting to Springfield. After driving in mist/rain and road constructions between Carrollton TX and Springfield MO, I celebrated getting to my destination: my daughter and son-in-law’s house they had purchased the day before.

Pineapple whip. My daughter and I enjoyed the Springfield unique treat on a hot afternoon. I got mine in a cup swirled with blueberry whip. Tasty! A great way to celebrate a break in the moving activity.

Competent movers. The move was only a few blocks….and most of it was done via loads in our cars. The larger furniture was moved by a crew of three. I celebrated that we were able to make the arrangements quickly, that they were on time, worked quickly and competently….and that I didn’t have to help move any of those heavy pieces!

May 30, 2021

Josey Ranch Swan Rebuilds

May 30, 2021/ Gwen Morrison

I went back to Josey Ranch Lake (Carrollton, TX) a few days after seeing the drowned swan nest – and discovered that the pair had rebuilt – higher this time – and one was sitting on the nest (maybe they already had a new egg)!

The other swan was out on the lake – showing off a bit.

My 90-year-old father was with me…enjoying looking through binoculars to see the swans and other birds as well as wildflowers. There were pigeons and grackles and mallards that are always around. The mallards were on the bank dabbling in the muddy areas of the grass. A male red-winged black bird made a lot of noise in a tree….making him easy to locate. Dad discovered that it was easier for him to hold the binoculars steady when he was sitting on one of the park benches.

The little blue heron was in the same place I had seen it last time and it appears that it is injured (wing)…benefiting from being close to the swans’ nest (the swans will drive away most predators) but it won’t last long if the injury won’t heal.

I saw a bird flush as a jogger went by and managed to zoom in to where it landed on a grassy berm. A killdeer! My dad couldn’t find it with the binoculars; the birds blend in very well. Once I looked away…I didn’t find it again with my camera either!

Getting ready to leave Texas….glad to see the swans on a new nest!

May 26, 2021

Josey Ranch Lake After a Heavy Rain

May 26, 2021/ Gwen Morrison

I headed over to Josey Ranch Lake (Carrollton, TX) late in the day when the heavy rain finally stopped. Lots of water was still running off into the storm drains on the streets during the short drive; I avoided the curbside lane when I could. My goal was to see if the nesting mute swans at the lake had a cygnet.

When I got there, one of the swans was out on the lake – doing a lot of preening.

As I got closer to the area of cattails where the nest was located, there was a sheen of water running over the sidewalk and part of the boardwalk was under water. The white blob in the cattails is the second swan.

I zoomed in on the blob. The camera focused on the cattails, but the second swan is identifiable. There is a second bird in the picture too…more about that one later.

I walked further around on the paved bike path, stepping around the drifts of silt and trying not to splash water into my shoes. I found a little better vantage point to watch the second swan. The bird was picking up soggy sticks and dried cattail leaves…trying to pile them up again…frantically moving about as the vegetation sank into the water. Oh no! There must have been about 6 inches of water where the nest had been. The nest had been flooded. No cygnet…no egg…no nest.

The bird that had been on the lake moved onto the bank still preening. The two birds were responding to the stress of the nest flooding very differently. I wondered which one was the male and which was the female. Was it early enough in the season that they will build another nest and try again?

Now for the other bird that was near the swans’ nest – a juvenile Little Blue Heron that I had seen previously at the lake. It was standing in the cattails…observing the scene. It had more blue feathers since I saw it a few weeks earlier. The color of the beak and eye ring looks very striking on this young bird. As I looked at my pictures of the bird on my larger monitor, I wondered if the bird had a damaged wing or if it was simply wet. I’ll have to go to the lake again before I leave Texas to find out.

There were a few Mallard Ducks. It appears they already have 4 young with them….juvenile size rather than ducklings! They were on the shore rather than in the water the whole time I was there.

Rounding out the birds I noticed but didn’t take time to photograph - pigeons and grackles. There were people venturing out for exercise; some had already made it around the lake and commented about the water gushing from the dam on the other end. Others arrived while I was there. It was a quick outing. I was sad about the swan’s nest…. felt privileged to observe the birds’ response to their tragedy from a distance.

April 26, 2021

Birds at Josey Ranch

April 26, 2021/ Gwen Morrison

The day was cold and gray but there were a few interesting birds I saw at Josey Ranch (Carrollton, TX). The Boat-trailed Grackles are there every time I’ve visited. The males were constantly posturing and chasing each other. There was a female gathering nest material in front of the library.

There were not many ducks this visit but a group of Canada Geese were making their way from the grassy area to the water and they seemed to be getting drinks as soon as they reached the water (note the head tilt of the bird in the foreground…swallowing the water).

One goose had a feather sticking straight up on its back – a distinctive look!

Great Egrets are frequently sighted around the lake.

One special treat this year – last year’s cattail foliage is flattened rather than still upright which makes the Mute Swans’ nest visible right now (until the new grow gets high enough to hide it). They were both at the nest when I was there. These are not native birds to North America….but they are widespread here and have been at Josey Ranch for years.

A surprise for me was the juvenile Little Blue Heron that was just beginning to develop adult plumage. It was the most actively feeding bird while I was there, but I didn’t see it catch anything!

Another bird I have seen occasionally at Josey Ranch previously was a Yellow-Crowned Night Heron. If I had not seen it fly into the a stand of cattails, I wouldn’t have see it since it was standing still and seemed to blend with the gray of the day.

Overall – a good group of birds to see in less than 20 minutes!

February 12, 2020

Birding at Josey Ranch Lake – Part 1

February 12, 2020/ Gwen Morrison

When I was in Carrollton, TX last week, I walked around the lake at Josey Ranch (near the public library on Keller Springs) on three different days. There are quite a few wintering birds there. Today I am posting about the birds I saw all three days.

The Great-tailed Grackles are there year round. There distinctive yellow eyes and the “beak to the sky” male behavior is very distinctive.

The Rock Pigeons are always around too. They’re are so widespread in North America that we forget that they were not native (introduced in the early 1600s). There are many people that bring bread to feed the birds. There was a huge amount of what looked like whole wheat rolls that had been dumped on a slope leading down to the lake – hence cluster of pigeons in one of these pictures…with a coot looking on.

The Mallards are always at the lake as well. The have a hard time eating the big rolls but enjoy the crumbs left by the pigeons.

2020 01 IMG_3116.jpg — There are some resident Mute Swans. I decided to try something a little different when one got out of the water close enough for my zoom lens to allow a picture of the feet. The webbed feet are very large and wrinkled looking….they support a huge bird.

I also managed to get foot pictures of the America Coot. They have lobes on their feet rather than webs…and the color of the feet is green yellow with dark markings! They too are in the lake every time I go.

There is usually a solitary Great Blue Heron at the lake. Maybe it is the same one…or maybe not.

There was a heron that seemed to be confronting a Great Egret one morning.

The egrets are more numerous for some reason. Some of the egrets might migrate north and east to breed. I managed to photography one scratching its face with his foot.

Now for the birds that are only at Josey Ranch for the winter. The small Bufflehead is a diving duck – which makes it much more difficult to photograph. The male has more white…the female has a small white streak below the eye. On sunny days – a sheen of green can be seen on the male’s head. These birds nest in western Canada and Alaska.

The Double-Crested Cormorant also nests further north. There are generally only one or two of these birds at Josey Ranch. They are fish eaters….no interest in bread at all.

And then there are the gulls that are often perched on the dock. Most of them appear to be Ring-Billed Gulls although one appears to be a juvenile Herring Gull (bigger and with a black beak). Both are only around during the winter.

The Lesser Scaup is also around only in winter. They breed further north in the US and Canada.

The Northern Shovelers are around only in the winter. They breed to the north and west into Canada and Alaska. There did not seem to be as many of them this winter. I’ll see If they are more numerous when I go in March.

Last but not least – there were the American Wigeon. Note what a difference the sun makes. The bright green streak on the head only shows up on sunny days!

Tomorrow I’ll continue with the more unusual birds I found at Josey Ranch.

July 17, 2019

Josey Ranch Lake – July 2019

July 17, 2019/ Gwen Morrison

Last April when I walked around Josey Ranch Lake, there were grackles, coots and cedar waxwings.

The coots and cedar waxwings were gone, but the grackles were around – and noisy. The Great-tailed Grackles are probably the most noticeable bird at Josey Ranch Lake (along with pigeons) but what made them more interesting this time were fledglings – new enough that their parents were still feeding them occasionally. Note that the adults have yellow eyes that is indicative of Great-tailed Grackles rather than Boat-tailed Grackles (dark eyes). The juvenile grackle has dark eyes…but since a yellow eyed adult was feeding it, I expect it is a Great-tailed juvenile.

There were white feathers on the grass.

2019 07 e IMG_9575.jpg — And three kinds of white birds that I saw in the short time I was there: 1) a Great Egret. At first it was fishing in the water then strutted out onto the concrete walk. Those toes are long…and the feathers were ruffling in the breeze!

A resident 2) Mute Swan was on the lake. I didn’t see one in April, but they were probably there. I’ve seen one juvenile years ago, but I don’t think there have been any cygnets in the past few years.

A 3) Snowy Egret preened and hunted in the shallows. The wind ruffled its feathers. It stayed in the water, so I didn’t see its yellow socks, but the beak and size are distinctive enough for the identification.

As I walked around the lake, I noted spider webs and shelf fungus. The cloudy day was not the best for photography, but the morning was my only chance to be there.

The high point of the morning was an accidently sighting of a Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron. I wondered if it was the same one I had seen there in June of 2018. This one was in one of the smaller ponds near the lake. I was looking through the vegetation to see if there were any ducks on the pond when I saw it…the only bird in the pond. It didn’t seem to notice me. It was casually hunting the area; I didn’t see it catch anything.

May 22, 2019

Cape May Point State Park – Part 1

May 22, 2019/ Gwen Morrison

After arriving in Cape May and picking up our packets from the Cape May Spring (birding) Festival, we headed over to the Cape May Point State Park to walk around the wetlands. It was a good intro to the area. It was a sunny afternoon and still cool enough to be comfortable walking around.There was a Great Egret surveying the water.

Nearby there was a Mute Swan nesting.

The mate was out on the water. They aren’t native birds…and too big to ignore. I heard later from several guides that nesting swans can be vicious. Good thing this nest was on an island – not where anyone would be walking.

A non-bird find: a painted turtle just to the side of the trail. I zoomed in for a closer look. He emerged a little from his shell. The shell looks like it has algae on it…hopefully it is not actually growing on the shell and going to cause a problem.

More birds we saw in the State Park in tomorrow’s post….

December 21, 2018

Josey Ranch Birds – Part II

December 21, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

There was finally another sunny day in Carrollton TX and I headed over to Josey Ranch Park again. I was lucky enough to arrive about the same time two women arrived with food for the birds. Two swans were at the boardwalk before the women could make their way from the parking lot to the boardwalk; the swans must recognize the signs of a forthcoming meal. The pigeons and seagulls flew in quickly.

After the crowd of birds gathered to enjoy the feast – the coots seemed to be arguing – chasing each other and churning the water. The northern shovelers in the background did not hurry over like the other birds.

How many birds can you identify in this picture? (see the bottom of this blog post for the most prominent ones). This is a good picture to see the relative size of the birds as well.

There are not very many mallards at the lake this time of year. The light changes the green coloring of their head; sometimes the feathers look black!

Lesser Scaups are more prevalent.

The Great Egret is there every time ago – must be a resident.

Pigeons are on the roof of the nearby senior center and library except with there is food! Iridescent neck feather and red eye – oh my!

The Northern Shovelers are not quite as numerous as the Lesser Scaups and they seem relatively used to people being about.

I managed to get a seagull taking off from the lake – watch the one to the center right.

Birds in the ID quiz picture: swan (partial) on the far left, Canada geese in the upper third, ducks with large bills and rust colored sides are male Northern Shovelers, ducks with light sides and brown heads (yellow eyes) are male Lesser Scaups, coot in lower right (black with pointy beak), pigeon (partial) on bottom margin, gull? Inflight in the upper left.

December 19, 2018

Josey Ranch Birds – Part I

December 19, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

After the sadness of seeing the dead crow, I headed over to the Josey Ranch Lake to see the birds that were still very much alive. The day was still cloudy…but the birds didn’t seem to care.

There were Lesser Scaup – which I had seen during precious visits to Carrolton during the winter and early spring (February 2015, January 2017, and March 2017).