KPC's Big Sit, by Bob Honig

On Sunday, October 10, 2010 (or 10/10/10), the Katy Prairie Conservancy
participated in the annual Big Sit on, an international, noncompetitive birding event
coordinated by Bird Watcher's Digest in which observers stay within a 17-foot
diameter circle and count as many bird species as they can. We set up our circle at
the east end of the Manor Property in Waller County.
KPC thought that it would be nice to invite some like-minded organizations to
participate in the Big Sit with us. So, in that spirit, the Ornithology Group of the
Houston Outdoor Nature Club agreed to take the lead for the dawn/sunrise/early
morning session, and Houston Audubon Society did likewise for the end of the day
sunset/dusk session.
The list of species observed and participants is at the end, after the following pictorial
summary.

Fog had descended on the Katy

Prairie in the wee hours of the
morning …

(Cathy Willis photo)

… leaving the early morning Big Sitters chilly and straining to see the birds, …

(Cathy Willis photos)

 … and wondering when the
skies would clear.

Left to right: Kevin Poling, Bob Honig, Carla Jerro, Jerry

Stanislav, Linda & Joe Langlitz (Cathy Willis photo)

But clear it did, and the Sitters began

to see birds on the water, …

Left to right: Kevin Poling, Joe Langlitz, Jerry Stanislav,

Carla Jerro, Linda Langlitz (Cathy Willis photo)
 … among them Greater Yellowlegs, Killdeer, and Roseate Spoonbills.

(Cathy Willis photos)

Soon the Sitters were shedding

layers in the late morning warmth
(heat may be more accurate) while
recording a variety of water and
land birds, including a female
Vermilion Flycatcher.

Bob Honig (Cathy Willis photo)

And they were rewarded with an extremely

uncommon sighting for the Katy Prairie: a
Lark Bunting (this one a female), a very
rare winter visitor that is much more
common west of here.
It fed leisurely on a field road just over the
fence on the next property, allowing close
approach and providing a great photo op.

(Cathy Willis photo)

 Mid- and late afternoon, despite
the heat, still produced new
species, plus a very interesting
swallow – completely white except
for a dark throat (best guess: Cliff
Swallow, but can't say for sure).

Steve Gast (Candy McNamee photo)

A Diamond-backed Water
Snake added some excitement
as it slithered through the 17-
foot diameter Big Sit circle.

(Judy Boyce photo)

 A Belted Kingfisher kept us company the entire day.

(Cathy Willis photo)

As the Big Sit wound down,

the late shift was treated to a
gorgeous sunset …

Left to right: Bob Honig (at scope), Toni Huff, Candy

McNamee, Steve Gast, Joy Hester (Judy Boyce photo)
 … as a Great Horned Owl
perched in the distance while
ibis and other waterbirds flew
to their nighttime roosts.

(Judy Boyce photo)

(Judy Boyce photo)

PARTICIPANTS:
Coordinator: Bob Honig
Session 1, 6:30-11:30 a.m.: Jerry Stanislav; Kevin Poling; Linda & Joe Langlitz;
Cathy Willis; Carla Jerro.
(We took a mid-day break.)
Session 2, 2:30-5:00 p.m.: Jennifer Backo; Betsy Harwood; Marian Fennimore
Session 3, 5:00-8:00 p.m.: Toni Huff; Joy Hester; Judy Boyce; Candy McNamee;
Steve Gast

Katy Prairie Conservancy - Big Sit, 10-Oct-2010

54 species
Numbers after species indicate session(s) in which observed, as listed above.

1) Black-bellied Whistling-Duck – 3
2) Blue-winged Teal – 1,2,3
3) Northern Shoveler – 1,2,3
4) Northern Bobwhite – 1
5) Great Blue Heron – 1,2,3
6) Great Egret – 1,2,3
7) Snowy Egret – 1,2,3
8) Tricolored Heron – 2
9) Cattle Egret – 1,3
10) Black-crowned Night-Heron – 3
11) Yellow-crowned Night-Heron – 1
12) White Ibis – 1,2
13) White-faced Ibis – 1,2,3
14) Roseate Spoonbill – 1,3
15) Black Vulture – 1
16) Turkey Vulture – 1,2,3
17) Northern Harrier – 3
18) Red-shouldered Hawk – 1
19) White-Tailed Hawk – 1
20) Killdeer – 1,3
21) American Avocet – 1
22) Spotted Sandpiper – 1
23) Greater Yellowlegs – 1,2,3
24) Lesser Yellowlegs – 1,2,3
25) Long-billed Curlew – 1,2
26) Western Sandpiper – 1,2,3
27) Least Sandpiper – 1,2,3
28) Stilt Sandpiper – 2
29) Long-billed Dowitcher – 1,2,3
30) Wilson's Snipe – 1,2
31) Mourning Dove – 1,3
32) Great Horned Owl – 3
33) Chimney Swift – 1
34) Belted Kingfisher – 1,2,3
35) Eastern Phoebe – 1
36) Vermilion Flycatcher – 1
37) Scissor-tailed Flycatcher – 1
38) Loggerhead Shrike – 1,3
39) Tree Swallow – 1,2
40) Northern Rough-winged Swallow – 1,3
41) Cliff Swallow – 3
42) Cave Swallow – 1,2,3
43) Barn Swallow – 1,2,3
44) House Wren – 2
45) Blue-gray Gnatcatcher – 3
46) Northern Mockingbird – 1,3
47) European Starling – 1
48) American Pipit – 1
49) Lark Bunting – 1
50) Savannah Sparrow – 1,2
51) Dickcissel – 1
52) Red-winged Blackbird – 1,2
53) Eastern Meadowlark – 1,3
54) Brown-headed Cowbird – 3