Wild Fire & Ringed Kingfisher

Sunday afternoon I decided to head out to the park as the day turned out too nice to skip. As I walked to the Hackenburg Creek site at 3:30 PM, I saw across the river and up stream a wildfire consuming the crown of a live oak tree.
Arriving at the nest box site I sat within view of both boxes 7 & 8 for about 10 minutes and saw no activity. I then sat by the river for about an hour hoping for some good bird sitings. I did see 5 Turkey Vultures swirl down to the far river's edge one at a time to hydrate themselves. Two vultures actually walked into the water up to their bellies to cool off on this warm 78 degree February day.
I watched a plane circle the fire for about 20 minutes before a large water tank helicopter showed up on the scene. This yellow machine spent the next two hours sucking water from the river and dumping buckets onto the fire. It was successfully put out by 5:30 PM.
During this time I returned to the grove of trees pursuing what birds were flitting around the bushes. Then I heard this harsh rattle down by the river. I recall Mikael telling me the Ringed Kingfisher's rattle is different then the Belted. So I quickly ran down to the river and observed a large kingfisher with a red belly fly upstream. I planted myself at the stream edge and waited as the helicopter was still hauling water to the fire and I could not imagine this bird would stay long upstream. Only two minutes later this bird flew right past me 30 feet away. It was a male Ringed Kingfisher, with a rusty red belly and white collar. In the U.S. this bird can only be found in Texas and its range goes all the way to southern South America.

Fox Sparrow Siting

The bird blind was a bit slower this morning but the highlight there was a Fox Sparrow. After leaving the blind I hiked down to the Pedernales River from the campgrounds and put up nest boxes 3 & 4. Nest box 4 faces east toward the river and is on a very tall 3 foot diameter live oak on the forest edge. This tree had fresh raccoon scats at its base. It will be interesting to see how the predator guard holds up should a bird decide to nest in this box. Nest box 3 is attached to a 2' diameter sycamore tree about half way up Twin Falls Creek.
I also viewed nest boxes 1 & 2 and found no bird activity there. On my hike in along the creek I saw a pair of Ladder-backed Woodpeckers and heard Carolina Chickadees singing. Carolina Chickadees are also cavity nesters that may potentially nest in these nest boxes. Two Common Ravens flew overhead heading down stream along with the usual soaring Turkey and Black Vultures. Today was the third week in a row I sited Eastern Bluebirds, near the park entrance.

Nest Box Building & Installation

Ten nest boxes were built, with the help of Louis Larrey, of picket fence cedar and a 1-1/4" diameter opening. All but one box have predator guards added around the box entrance. Two nest boxes were attached to metal fence poles for placement at the Twin Falls site. All other boxes were attached to large shade trees. Each nest box has a number burned into the front of the box identifying it.
Saturday, February 16, 2008, nest boxes 7 & 8 were put up at the Hackenburg Creek site. Near the mouth of this creek a grove of mature Cedar Elm trees grow up on a terrace from the Pedernales River. To these trees volunteers Louis Larrey and Christian Carr attached the boxes. We then hiked up the creek in search of potential pools to place more nest boxes. The section of the creek we hiked was a ravine probably too narrow and steep for Prothonotary's. We ran out of time exploring further up stream as thunder and rain became eminent. We just made it back to the car before it down poured.
Sunday, February 17, 2008 Mikael Behrens helped me carry tools over 1/4 mile to the Twin Falls site where he pounded into the ground metal poles adjacent to the two large pools. Attached to these poles are nest boxes 1 & 2. Both of these boxes will be visible from the platform found along the Nature Trail accessed from the campgrounds. On our hike out we noted raccoon tracks along the creek. We also discovered a Hermit Thrush making an alarm or call note. We were lucky to get a visual on this one. This species is often seen during the winter months in Texas. It has a beautiful flute like song.