More Fall Photos

Yesterday this Prothonotary Warbler was at the pond, also about a million mosquitoes. I managed to get a few crummy pictures while being slowly drained of blood.

Amazingly, depite the long drought our pond has not gone dry. From what neighbors have told me, an artesian spring once fed into the pond (thus the name of our subdivision, Artesian Acres), but local municipalities have lowered the water table and the spring has dried up. I figure there must still be some seepage, otherwise the pond would have gone completely dry this summer. We actually had rain here this morning, an event which has become something of a rarity.

Some of my "FOF" sightings:
Merlin - 9/25, Sabine Woods
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 10/2, Artesian Acres/Sabine Woods
Northern Flicker 10/2, Artesian Acres
Eastern Phoebe 10/16, Artesian Acres/Sabine Woods
House Wren 10/15, Artesian Acres
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 10/2, Sabine Woods
Orange-crowned Warbler 10/16, Sabine Woods
Yellow-rumped Warbler 10/16, Artesian Acres
Swamp Sparrow 10/16, Sabine Woods

It's interesting that the bulk of our winter passerines (kinglets, sparrows, etc.) arrive much later in coastal Texas than they do in coastal California.

Other noteworthy fall sightings include a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher seen flying south past our backyard on 10/15, and a Western Kingbird hanging out with Scissor-tails near Sabine Pass on 10/16.

Here are a few photos taken at Sabine Woods this fall:

Hooded Warbler , 10/2/11.

Black-and-white Warbler, 10/2/11.

Magnolia Warbler, 10/2/11.

This "mystery grosbeak" (with Wilson's Warbler in the top photo - incidentally, this has been an exceptionally good fall for Wilson's on the UTC) was at Sabine Woods on 10/8/11. Not sure if this one is Black-headed or Rose-breasted.   If you have any thoughts, or just want to hazard a guess, please let me know.