Pedernales Falls State Park Prothonotary Warbler Nest Box Study: Green Kingfisher & Winter Wren

Prothonotary Warbler Occurrence In Texas

Central Texas draws the western line for the Prothonotary Warbler range. This species occupies much of eastern North America up to the southern boarder of Ontario Canada.
Prothonotarys' nest in natural cavities but also readily use nest boxes located on or near water. Flooded swamps represent ideal habitat but they will also nest along rivers or small bodies of water.
In May 2007 I saw a brightly colored male Prothonotary Warbler at Pedernales Falls State Park bird blind. After some research I learned male birds have been seen building nests in neighboring counties to Blanco County. Further research revealed a pair of Prothonotary Warblers successfully nested at Heard Wildlife Sanctuary in McKinney, Texas.
In December 2007 I decided to undertake a nest box study at the park. January through February 2008 I hiked the entire Pedernales River and tributaries within park boundaries, in an effort to choose the best sites. Habitat selection proved a challenge do to high flood levels along the river.
Five sights were eventually selected where two nest boxes each were placed. Most boxes were attached to trees however two were attached to metal poles. These boxes were monitored from March through June 2008 on a weekly basis. A Breeding Bird Study was conducted at each nestbox location in 2008 and will be continued in 2009.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Green Kingfisher & Winter Wren

Today all nest boxes were surveyed with no activity observed at any of the boxes. It is still the early part of spring bird migration. Today the highlights were a Winter Wren at Hackenburg Creek along the Pedernales River and farther downstream at East Park Boundary a Green Kingfisher. The Winter Wren was discovered by Tom Seabolt. It is a northern breeding species of old growth coniferous forests. I found a handful of winter wrens on territory in Michigan's U.P. back in the 1990's where I conducted breeding bird surveys. They are also found across most of Canada. This species likes to frequent exposed roots of large trees like the cypress trees along the Pedernales River where we observed this bird today.
The Green Kingfisher flew low over the water on the Pedernales River. It is the size of a robin but very robust with a white neck and a dark green head and back. This bird is found throughout Mexico and is expanding its range into south central Texas and southern Arizona. Park officials have reported the Green Kingfisher over the past few years.
At Twin Falls I heard and saw a Waterthrush. This bird remained in the drainage singing for over an hour. Though the song sounded more sing songy like a Northern Waterthrush the habitat spoke more toward a Louisiana Waterthrush. This bird chose to sing high up in the trees which provided a nice clear resonance against the ravine walls.

White-eyed Vireos were back in numbers today plus the first sitings of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers were made. On the drive home I saw my first of the year Scissor-tailed Flycatcher along county road 3232.
On the amphibian level, frogs were heard all along the Pedernales River today probably do to the overcast skies. This photo, by Tom Seabolt, is probably what we heard. It is a Rio Grande Leopard Frog.