Lunch with the Birds

Today I participated in the last "Lunch with the Birds" at Russ Pittman Park. Don't let the name fool you, there was no actual lunch eaten. Luckily, I was already warned of it. The person who invited me was a woman that I had met while cleaning the Chinese Privet at High Island.

This was the second time I've been to Russ Pittman Park. There were a lot of mosquitoes, but I didn't want to use any bug spray because I had to go back to work. Pam had mentioned to me that putting dryer sheets in your pockets will repel mosquitoes, so I gave that a try. I'm telling you right here and now it didn't work!

Mosquitoes aside, it was a BEAUTIFUL day. It was about 76 degrees with a cool breeze. It was great going with a group of experienced birders who could also identify small song birds better than I could. I picked up two new birds: a Blue-headed Vireo and a Yellow-rumped Warbler. Regulars to the park said that the best time to visit the park was during northerly cold snaps in the spring, which cause a massive fallout. They see more hummingbirds and warblers than any other park in the city. I'd have to say it's the best birding spot I've ever seen inside the loop. I'm going to have to take more long lunches here :)

At the end of it all, I finally am starting to feel more confident about my spotting and identification abilities. I'm going to need it this weekend when I go down to south Texas!