Uganda's national bird

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Originally uploaded by ian.shelburne

This is a grey crowned crane, the national bird of Uganda. Cranes in general are spectacular birds, but the crowned cranes (both grey and black) are stunning even in this excellent league. This one lives in the Abilene Zoo, and was enjoying the early-spring sunshine last Saturday after an unusually cold and moist winter.

Sharp-shins spotted soaring

In the midst of a morning run in magnificent 48-degree-F. sunshine today, I had a couple of sharp-shinned hawks (Accipiter striatus) come a-soaring overhead, apparently enjoying the clear, warming weather after the clouds and some bluster of yesterday. It was easy to see the size differential between the larger female and her mate.

I also flushed a small flock of rufous-sided towhees (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) in an alley -- the first of these I've seen this season.

Blogging this reminded me of several other notes that I've been intending to post in recent weeks but have been forgetting. So here are a couple of those:

Seeing the sharp-shinned hawks this morning made me think of the Cooper's hawk (Accipiter cooperii) that I saw briefly a week or so back as I was walking toward the ACU campus -- a fine predator if there ever was one. A day before or after that, on the same city block, I had an excellent look at a golden-fronted woodpecker on a mesquite trunk (Melanerpes aurifrons), a particularly attractive member of its family.

We've had good numbers of red-tailed hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) in the neighborhood, and have been seeing kestrels (Falco sparverius) for the past few weeks, too.

On an overnight visit to Robert Lee in Coke County, Texas where my great-grandparents lived, we came across these birds that I thought worthy of note:

Curve-billed thrasher (Toxostoma curvirostre)

Brown towhee (Pipilo fuscus)

Greater roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus)

Inca dove (Columbina inca)

Several days ago there was a pair of Bewick's wrens (Thryomanes bewickii) clambering about amongst a pile of miscellaneous items on the small covered porch behind our house. Evidently they were terrorizing whatever arthropods had been taking refuge in the nooks and crannies -- a worthy service, as far as I'm concerned!

Seen on a mesquite

As we're getting settled in Abilene, Texas, I'm getting accustomed (again) to the slimmer set of avifauna that prevails in these parts as compared with southeastern Uganda. There have been some changes in bird populations here since the last time I spent much time in Abilene. White-winged doves were not present, at least per my observation, in Abilene in the late 1980s. Now they are the most numerous dove species here. Eurasian collared doves have also become common residents over the past several years. The mourning doves and Inca doves that are long-time indigenous species are still around, but they seem to be fewer than before.

A few minutes ago I was treated to the sight of a golden-fronted woodpecker (Melanerpes aurifrons) working the gnarled trunk of a mesquite tree in our neighbors' front yard. This was the first one I've seen in this neighborhood since moving here a few weeks ago, so definitely not an everyday sighting.

I caught sight of a Swainson's hawk (Buteo swainsoni) briefly overhead as I was standing in front of the house yesterday -- another one that we don't see on a daily basis inside the city limits.

Day-walking

Driving across Abilene yesterday afternoon, passing through a park in the central part of the city, we came upon a yellow-crowned night heron out for a day-time stroll. It had been uncharacteristically rainy for this time of year, so I suppose the normally nocturnal bird was taking advantage of the cooler, overcast weather to squeeze in more eating hours than it usually gets.

Additions

OK, here are a couple of species that I overlooked or need to add to the list, having come across them in the last few days.

* Rose-ringed parakeet (in Houston; presumably this introduced species is expanding its range in urban areas)
* House sparrow
* House finch
* Red-headed woodpecker

I've heard some individual meadowlarks calling, so it's been possible to peg those, at least, as the Eastern variety.

I met with a large thrasher yesterday but need to do further investigation to determine which of the family it was.

Change of hemisphere

Since May 26 we have been in Texas, so the available avifauna is quite distinct from what we are used to in Mbale. Our travels around the state since arriving in Houston have not left much time for focused birding, but I have appreciated the "in-passing" encounters with several of the species that one can expect to see in these parts at this time of year. Here are a few that have crossed my path recently.

* Northern mockingbird
* Laughing gull (Gulf Coast at Galveston)
* Blue jay
* Northern cardinal
* Swainson's hawk
* Red-tailed hawk
* Barn swallow
* Cliff swallow
* Great-tailed grackle
* Common grackle
* Eurasian collared dove (ringed turtle-dove)
* Inca dove (in Abilene)
* Mourning dove
* White-winged dove
* Chimney swift
* American crow
* Yellow-billed cuckoo
* Cattle egret
* Mississippi kite
* Song sparrow
* American robin
* European starling
* Eastern bluebird
* Red-winged blackbird
* Green heron
* Black-crowned night-heron
* Yellow-crowned night-heron
* Killdeer
* Black vulture
* Turkey vulture
* Purple martin
* Loggerhead shrike
* Western tanager
* Meadowlark (unsure whether Eastern or Western; I need to get more field experience distinguishing these two)
* Scissor-tailed flycatcher
* Common nighthawk

I haven't been writing these down as I see them, so I'm sure I'm forgetting some. I'll add others as they come to mind.

Konge Hill

While enjoying the excellent hospitality of friends and coworkers Mark and Jamie Long atop Konge Hill on the southeastern edge of Kampala city, we had the pleasure of seeing some noteworthy birds.

High in a beautiful parasol tree (Polyscias fulva) in their front yard (looking out on to Lake Victoria) a pair of African hobbies (Falco cuvieri) are nesting. They are artists of the air, maestros even among their aerobatic falconid kin. We watched one bringing prey to the other, sometimes exchanging it talons to talons in the air.

There were also a couple of African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) that came through several times, snacking on the little reddish fruit adorning the branchlets of a Benjamin fig tree (Ficus benjamina).

Another striking species that we do not see in Mbale but were greatly pleased to observe throughout the afternoon that we spent at the Longs' house is the double-toothed barbet (Lybius bidentatus) -- a remarkable bird with its scarlet, black and white plumage and heavy-duty double-toothed bill. These were harvesting the figs as enthusiastically as the parrots.

Back home in Mbale, yesterday was the first time in many months that I've heard the call of the greater honeyguide (Indicator indicator -- how's that for understandable Latin!) . I actually caught a glimpse of what was definitely a honeyguide a bit later in the day, but could not be sure of the species. It may have been a female or juvenile greater honeyguide, if I were to hazard a guess.