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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

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  1. hookem2010

    Garden / Yard List 2024

    I continue to avoid my mess of a yard as I focus on the nearby parks around it, but I have added a couple new birds to the yard list 63) Brown-headed cowbird- a female provided identifiable views without bins as I was working on a housing project on the patio. They certainly fly over my house...
  2. hookem2010

    The 10% Club - Milestones

    I started birding in 2016, both a really good and bad time to begin this journey. eBird was well-established, so finding birds is easier than ever. As a 28 year-old, I was just starting to earn money to travel. On the flip side, populations are declining, my spouse, while interested in the...
  3. hookem2010

    Name a Bird You've Photographed

    Limpkin (cranes are closest relatives and they're both now Texas regulars) =78
  4. hookem2010

    Birding Round Rock, TX

    With a new job, a house requiring numerous projects, a toddler, and another one on the way, I've been focusing my birding largely within a 2-mile radius from home. I live in a quickly developing suburb, but fortunately, there are several islands of green scattered amongst the ever-expanding...
  5. hookem2010

    Garden / Yard List 2024

    While sanding cabinets on the back patio today, I was rewarded with all-time yard bird #63 in sandhill crane! A flock of about 60 got my attention with their calls while making their way north. I guess it was a good thing my electric panel was getting worked on and I couldn't use the power...
  6. hookem2010

    Garden / Yard List 2024

    As I continue to avoid my yard and opt for walks to the neighborhood park, I added loggerhead shrike for park bird #131. Locally common in my area, but typically in ag fields or larger parks with more substantial grassy areas, so a pleasant surprise. I also saw a pair of Cooper's hawks...
  7. hookem2010

    Most misidentified birds in your area

    I'm not sure if/how the hybrid zone has moved over time. I've only been here since 2021, although the ID challenge existed where I lived west of Fort Worth the preceeding 2 years. There certainly are "pure" black-crested within Austin city limits. They're just mixed in with a good number of...
  8. hookem2010

    Most misidentified birds in your area

    Tufted titmouse is somewhat regularly reported here in central Texas (Travis and Williamson counties). They seem to be uncommon, but regular, at the eastern edges of the county, although the nearest ones I've seen are another 30 miles east. However, newer birders, or those unfamiliar with the...
  9. hookem2010

    Your Most Recent "Life" Bird

    I'm heading there in August if you have any tips!
  10. hookem2010

    Garden / Yard List 2024

    Always good luck when I post on here. I pulled into my driveway this morning and was greeted by an adult sharp-shinned hawk perched in my backyard. Somewhat uncommon in my area, but always an ID challenge with Cooper's hawk for me unless I get great looks, as I did today. #62 all-time for the yard!
  11. hookem2010

    Garden / Yard List 2024

    One day when I get my act together and get my yard cleaned up, I'll spend more (any) time birding out there. In the meantime, I've focused on a 2-mile radius patch encircling my house, including several parks I patrol for work, with recent additions of eastern screech owl and American...
  12. hookem2010

    What’s your nemesis bird?

    Mallard was shockingly approaching nemesis territory for my new home county in central Texas. Finally got a pair of legitimate wild-type birds a year after moving here, and after seeing 215 other species.
  13. hookem2010

    What’s your nemesis bird?

    For american*** Lesser are also common at Commons 😉
  14. hookem2010

    What’s your nemesis bird?

    Assuming you're in Austin, there are a number of places to reliably get them over the next couple months. The area around the barn at Commons Ford is almost a sure thing.
  15. hookem2010

    Your Most Recent "Life" Bird

    #526- Thick-billed (formerly McCown's) longspur. Sweet first lifer of 2024, as this was a nemesis bird and one of only two "expected" birds in central Texas that is missing from my life list. Birding barren ag fields in the winter isn't my favorite thing to do, but the longspurs made my previous...
  16. hookem2010

    What’s your nemesis bird?

    Green-tailed towhee is a state nemesis no more! Only took me about a half-dozen attempts to connect this winter, with them popping up all over.
  17. hookem2010

    First bird of 2024

    Carolina wren singing as I walked out the door in the morning
  18. hookem2010

    Birding and football

    Tomorrow has potential to be a great day. My year list restarts, short as it may be by the end of the day, and college football playoffs finally kick off. My team is again relevant and in the playoff for the first time in its 10-year history. Hook 'em horns!
  19. hookem2010

    Last bird of 2023

    Killdeer, calling while grabbing some dinner after sundown.
  20. hookem2010

    What was your best found “patch bird”this year?

    2023 was a great patch year. We moved a little bit north to the suburbs of Austin, and my neighborhood park ended up being great for spring migration. I also did more patch birding than ever, as I was toting around a baby every day. A male cerulean warbler in April kickstarted the rarities...
  21. hookem2010

    How many lifers seen in a single day?

    42- On a guided tour in the Yucatan is easily #1 for me. Could have been more if I had done the tour earlier in the trip, before I had picked up a dozen or so lifers on my own around the resort 22- One of my first excursions out of my immediate area early on in my birding career, to Anahuac NWR...
  22. hookem2010

    2024 Targets

    2024 goals, hmmmm... 1) Actually make it to Colombia. I don't even know what expectations to set for the trip, but hopefully hitting 700 for my life list 2) Go somewhere with the family where I can add a handful of new ABA species 3) Get my current resident county list to #2 overall for my Texas...
  23. hookem2010

    2024 Targets

    Mysticete, if you make it to Austin, let me know and I can give you the low-down or show you some spots if you'd like.
  24. hookem2010

    What was your best birding trip?

    Sounds like you made that trip count, JC! Those are some amazing birds. I'm hoping for... 1) Blue-billed currasow- rare endemic 2) Keel-billed toucan- beautiful bird that I managed to miss on my single-day tour in the Yucatan 3) Northern screamer- what an odd-looking/sounding bird 4) Santa...
  25. hookem2010

    What was your best birding trip?

    I'm counting down the days to my first international birding trip (T-minus 232 days!) to the Santa Marta Mountains of Colombia with some friends. My only birding-specific trips so far have been to the upper gulf coast and Rio Grande Valley of Texas with the same guys a few years ago (only a few...
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