Bird count along the Bosque River Trail July 24, 2026. Turtles eat grapes.

Weather - partially to mostly overcast, tropical storm in the gulf, no wind, temp ~80 degrees at 6:45, muggy, humid. There were several showers of light misty rain.

Turtles - today I learned that turtles eat grapes. I stopped at a high bluff overlooking the river. Much to my surprise I saw 13 turtles clustered in a small area in the river. Most of the time I see no turtles at this spot. Sometimes I see one or two, so 13 is very unusual. I tried to figure out what the turtles were doing. As I watched i heard a distinct plop in the river. Then I heard another. I looked with my binoculars and saw a grape. A turtle swam up and ate the grape. I watched several grapes land in the water and every time they did a turtle ate the grape. The grapes were coming from a wild grape vine growing in a tree that overhung the river. I saw a squirrel in the tree and I realized it was knocking the wild grapes into the river.

Barred Owls - Today was a neat day. I saw a pair of Barred Owls. I took another side path to the river, and a large bird swooped out of a tree and flew up the river. A fraction of a second later another identical large bird did the same thing. The first bird continued down the river and I didn’t get a good look at it. But the second bird landed in a tree. I could see it through a gap in the trees along the river bank. The bird had its back to me, but it turned its head and looked directly at me. I saw that the bird was a large Barred Owl. It looked at me for a second then flew down the river after its partner. Very cool.

Mississippi Kite - These kites generally eat bugs, but today I saw one chase a dove that flew near where the kite was sitting. The dove managed to dart away from the kite.

Swallows - I saw two types of swallows today. Barn Swallows were one type. The second type of swallow had a noticeable light patch on its lower back. There were two of these birds and they were Cliff Swallows. This is the first time I have seen these birds.

Scissortail Flycatchers - These birds were plentiful and very active today. I saw a bunch of adults flying together with two young Scissortails.

Hummingbird - I saw another hummingbird in the wild flower garden. Again I can’t figure out what type of hummingbird it was. Its light green, and has a black and white stripe on the bottom of its tail. I think its either a Ruby Throated Hummingbird or a Black Throated Hummingbird.

Types of birds - 20 Number of birds - 111

Number‍ ‍Type

15 Scissortail Flycatchers - 13 adults and 2 young

15 Grackles

15 Starlings

12 House Sparrows

11 Cardinals

10 Robins

5 Mississippi Kites

4 Mourning Doves

4 Barn Swallows

3 White Winged Doves

2 Barred Owls

2 Western Kingbirds

2 Black Belly Whistling Ducks

2 Doves - type unknown

2 Mockingbirds

2 Cliff Swallows

1 Red Shouldered Hawk

1 Hummingbird

1 Eastern Phoebe

1 Great Crested Flycatcher

1 Killdeer