Photos Page 7

BIRDING AT LAKE GILMER AREA, March 27, 2004

Alan & Allana Swain

On Saturday, 27 March 2004 we participated in a birding tour of the Lake Gilmer area arranged by the NETFO (Northeast Texas Field Ornithologists) club. David Weaver and Harve Truskett were our guides. NETFO members attending were David and Harve plus Wanda Bosmans, Lisa Evers, Barbara Cavin, and Sandra Riley. We and Cheryle Beck were the only ones present from the Tyler Audubon Society. The weather was good except for some brisk winds. One of the areas birded, the “Mitigation Area” to “Mitigation Pond” was difficult to traverse as it was heavily wooded and hilly and there were no paths. It is not an area for the faint of heart or breath.

The participants met at the Dairy Queen in Gilmer and car pooled to the Mitigation Area and subsequent places listed below. The birds identified are indicated by area. An (H) prior to the name of a bird species indicates that the bird was not seen but identified by call or song. We were aided considerably by the skill of David Weaver in identifying bird calls or songs. A highlight of the trip was the sighting of an immature Bald Eagle at the “Mitigation Pond.” I took a photo of it and also of a later Yellow-throated Warbler, but the distance was too great even for my camera’s 10-power optical lens to show a clear photo of the birds.

One of the purposes of this bird trip was to watch arrivals settle down for the night in the various stumps in Lake Gilmer. Therefore, the birding began around 2:30 p.m. in the Mitigation Area and ended at Lake Gilmer at about 6:15 p.m. Afterwards most of us had dinner at La Finca Mexican restaurant. The food was good.

The birds listed below for each location were seen or heard by at least one member of our group. The group identified a total of 49 different species, not counting UNKs.

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Photos - Page 7

NETFO Field Trip to Lake Gilmer Area

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