Bird count along the Bosque River Trail August 19, 2026. Green, white, and blue.
Weather - clear, light wind in short gusts, temp ~80 degrees at 7:00am. Temp this afternoon supposedly 102 degrees.
Bird count - average number of bird types.
Herons - Today I saw a Green Heron, two Great Blue Herons, and a Great Heron (white). The Green Heron seems to have taken up residence in the park, north of the dam. This part of the Bosque still contains a lot of water because of the dam. The first Great Blue Heron I saw was standing on a pile of dirt that city workers had pushed into the river. The Great Heron was flying west over the trail where the trail heads up towards Minter Street. The white Heron was pointed out to me by a friend who was riding his bike along the trail.
Starlings - There were a lot of Starling flocks flying over the park when I first arrived.
Cardinals - only two spotted today. This may be a record low.
Noticeably absent - Scissortail Flycatchers and Western Kingbirds
Snake - I watched a snake in the puddle by the bridge again today. The snake spent the entire time I watched it (probably 15 minutes) hunting fish in the puddle. It did this by twisting its body and swimming rapidly around after the fish. Sometimes it dove completely under the water. The snake’s convolutions were so violent that it stirred up so much mud that I couldn’t see the fish clearly. The snake seemed to ignore the small Catfish. I think the snake was after Perch.
Dragonfly - The variety (in terms of color) of Dragonflies along the BRT is pretty amazing. I have seen blue, red, yellow, and black Dragonflies. Today I saw a Dragonfly with a white abdomen. It had diaphanous black wings. I managed to get some pictures of it.
Types of birds - 21-20 Number of birds - 121
Number Type
24 Grackles
21 Starlings - a flock of five and a flock of 15
20 House Sparrows
17 House Finches - one flock of 15
8 Robins
5 White Winged Doves
3 Mississippi Kites
2 Great Blue Herons
2 Eastern Phoebes
2 Cardinals
2 Chickadees
2 Bluebirds
2 Mourning Doves
2 Barn Swallows
2 Doves - type unknown - flying
1 Turkey Vulture
1 Green Heron
1 Red Bellied Woodpecker - in the hayfield tree
1 Hummingbird - type unknown
1 Bluejay
1 Mockingbird
1 Belted Kingfisher - heard but not seen