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Sightings from San Felipe Creek
Published August 17, 2008
On Saturday morning, I got up early and headed for a birdwatching site I haven’t visited in a while: the small city park between the Sonic restaurant and the creek.
During Del Rio’s long, hot summers, outdoor activities are best carried out early in the morning or after sunset, and that is twice as true in August, which is usually our hottest month.
At 7:30 on Saturday morning, it was actually pleasant outside, almost cool, with a slight breeze blowing from the southeast. I parked the Firebird in one of the pull-ins at Sonic and ordered a Diet Coke so I wasn’t parking for free.
After receiving my drink, I headed toward the water.
Apart from the ever-present Great-tailed Grackles and a small flock of Red-winged Blackbirds, one of the first birds I saw was a Ringed Kingfisher.
This bird’s size – a kingfisher the size of a crow! – makes it almost unmistakable, and I was glad to see it because to me this is an indicator species of the health of the creek and the areas around it.
I found a place to sit and just watched the early morning unfold.
On the far bank, a brown-furred creature slipped into the water and began swimming upstream against the current. At first I thought it might be a nutria, but as it got closer, I realized it was too big.
I wondered if it could be an American Beaver. I know they live along the creek, but I’d never actually seen one here in Del Rio. I kept looking at it through my binoculars, hoping to catch a glimpse of the animal’s tail, although, by the time it passed my position on the bank, just its size alone had me 90 percent convinced that it was a beaver.
Beavers, which are the largest rodents in North America, have large, flat tails, while the tails of nutria look more like a rat’s.
My confirmation came when the beaver realized I was there. It slapped the surface of the water with its broad tail, a trait characteristic of the American Beaver, then dove to safety under the water’s surface.
The beaver’s alarm startled a small bird on the far bank. As it flew to a slightly higher perch, I put my binoculars on it and found that it was a Green Kingfisher.
It’s always a thrill for me to see these two kingfishers: the Ringed, the largest species of kingfisher, and the Green, one of the smallest, and it’s not often that I get to see them in them nearly simultaneously, on the same short stretch of water.
Another notable sighting from this little park along the creek was a Yellow-headed Blackbird. It was uncharacteristically alone and perched high in one of the old pecan trees in the creek, out on a bare branch.
The sighting of the blackbird is a little unusual because, according to my Sibley’s, at least, we’re only supposed to have these birds in the winter. I guess he didn’t get the memo.
I also scoured the brush between the little park and the golf course. I heard White-eyed Vireo, Bell’s Vireo and Common Yellowthroat, but none deigned to show themselves, despite dedicated “pishing” and hand-kissing.
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Contact the author at karen.gleason(at)delrionewsherald.com
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