Globs in the Distance
We resolved to leave Hagerman, in a leisurely manner of course, to go to nearby Denison for lunch. David recalled a city park surrounding Loy Lake, in which he and Jason once witnessed a Barrow's Goldeneye. We would swing by there, head into Oklahoma as long as daylight allowed, and then head home.
The first glitch in the plan was a pleasant one; we stopped for one last scan of the lake in which we saw thousands of floating ducks in the distance. After we had the scope trained on them, however, instead we could see hundreds of floating ducks in the distance.
I strained to see anything that would help me, though it looked like nearly every other raft of ducks I've ever looked at: half something with white on it, half plain brown. Finally I thought I saw the dark head and white sides of a Lesser Scaup, and David confirmed that was probably what it was. He also pointed out a Ruddy Duck, of which I could only see the existence rather than any characteristics.
Soon the nearby sounds made the tree a few feet away much more interesting than the distant water birds. David saw an Orange-crowned Warbler, and as Courtney and I searched after it, he spotted a Golden-crowned Kinglet. This one stayed relatively still, and its bright yellow crest was unmistakeable. Numerous chickadees, yellow-rumps and a Downy Woodpecker also inhabited the tree. As a crowning surprise, from behind it swooped a kestrel on the hunt.
As we proceeded out of the park, we honed our plans for Denison: lunch first, then a quick trip to the park. We used our special Texas A+M map to determine our course; it was difficult, as the map had very few actual street names and we encountered Highway 75 several miles before it could be reasonably expected. After a quick repast at Arby's, David in true masculine spirit decided we would wander through town until we found the city park. Ask for directions? Pfffh.
The quick trip to the park turned into a longer detour than we had hoped; in fact, it was probably an hour later by the time we got to Lake Texoma, creatively titled considering its location on the Texas-Oklahoma border. We stopped short of the dam to give the water a once-over.
The only water birds in sight were cormorants, but a large group of vultures, Black and Turkey, perched on a pole overlooking the water. They took turns circling above, giving us a closer-than-usual view of the subtle differences between them. I reflected on my first birding lesson, which consisted of this distinction. That was on a gray day and the birds were further away; of course, it was mainly the fault of the untrained eye that I couldn't see any difference whatsoever in the length of their tails.
After a short jaunt down the stairs and down the Red River, we climbed back to cross the dam to a new state and a new playplace.
Come back again for the final episode of the October 22 trip: Duck!
The first glitch in the plan was a pleasant one; we stopped for one last scan of the lake in which we saw thousands of floating ducks in the distance. After we had the scope trained on them, however, instead we could see hundreds of floating ducks in the distance.
I strained to see anything that would help me, though it looked like nearly every other raft of ducks I've ever looked at: half something with white on it, half plain brown. Finally I thought I saw the dark head and white sides of a Lesser Scaup, and David confirmed that was probably what it was. He also pointed out a Ruddy Duck, of which I could only see the existence rather than any characteristics.
Soon the nearby sounds made the tree a few feet away much more interesting than the distant water birds. David saw an Orange-crowned Warbler, and as Courtney and I searched after it, he spotted a Golden-crowned Kinglet. This one stayed relatively still, and its bright yellow crest was unmistakeable. Numerous chickadees, yellow-rumps and a Downy Woodpecker also inhabited the tree. As a crowning surprise, from behind it swooped a kestrel on the hunt.
As we proceeded out of the park, we honed our plans for Denison: lunch first, then a quick trip to the park. We used our special Texas A+M map to determine our course; it was difficult, as the map had very few actual street names and we encountered Highway 75 several miles before it could be reasonably expected. After a quick repast at Arby's, David in true masculine spirit decided we would wander through town until we found the city park. Ask for directions? Pfffh.
The quick trip to the park turned into a longer detour than we had hoped; in fact, it was probably an hour later by the time we got to Lake Texoma, creatively titled considering its location on the Texas-Oklahoma border. We stopped short of the dam to give the water a once-over.
The only water birds in sight were cormorants, but a large group of vultures, Black and Turkey, perched on a pole overlooking the water. They took turns circling above, giving us a closer-than-usual view of the subtle differences between them. I reflected on my first birding lesson, which consisted of this distinction. That was on a gray day and the birds were further away; of course, it was mainly the fault of the untrained eye that I couldn't see any difference whatsoever in the length of their tails.
After a short jaunt down the stairs and down the Red River, we climbed back to cross the dam to a new state and a new playplace.
Come back again for the final episode of the October 22 trip: Duck!
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