Marathon birds, mid-March

A few days of strategic birding around Marathon from March 19-22 turned up this batch of birds, missing a few of the usual suspects but 64 species nonetheless:

Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Bufflehead
Ruddy Duck
Wild Turkey
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
American Coot
Killdeer
American Avocet
Wilson's Snipe
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
Inca Dove
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
American Kestrel
Eastern Phoebe
Say's Phoebe
Vermilion Flycatcher
Chihuahuan Raven
Common Raven
Barn Swallow
Cave Swallow
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Rock Wren
Marsh Wren
Bewick's Wren
Cactus Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Northern Mockingbird
Curve-billed Thrasher
European Starling
Chestnut-collared Longspur
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Canyon Towhee
Cassin's Sparrow
Brewer's Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Black-throated Sparrow
Lark Bunting
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Pyrrhuloxia
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Brewer's Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

All things considered, the 'normal' Marathon birding routine (Post Park, the Gardens, etc) will probably do quite well with the addition of the Marathon settling(?) ponds. They are on private property and inaccessible without landowner permission; it is well worth the permission to add waterfowl for Brewster Co lists! The Marathon 'patch' (7.5 mile circle) was boosted from 207 to 214 species with the inclusion of the ponds - not a bad boost at all, considering those numbers only date back three years!

In yard news, the Double Bacon Ranch property list is at 126 species, though Song Sparrow may have slipped recording - 127 would not be bad at all for 2.5 years in a little corner of a dry town.

Marathon is still waiting on Swainson's Hawk and Scott's Oriole for the spring, but southern Brewster Co is reporting both, so we can't be too far behind!


(This entry is backdated for chronological accuracy.)