Granger CBC gives me a new one

     When we do a bird-count, that too something like a CBC (Christmas bird-count) where multiple teams work on their allocated area, it is never about going after bird species that we want to see. I was however hoping to see American Woodcock and McCown's Longspurs. I got up at 4:25 am on Saturday, and drove 1 hr plus to our place of meet around Granger,TX. We went to a spot to listen to Owls and perhaps see Short-eared Owls during the first rays of light. We dipped on the SE Owls surprisingly. We drove to the first hiking spot and found a good number of sparrow species. Next, we went to Willis Creek Park. We scanned the lakes, and hiked a couple of spots. Here are the lists from the early-morning session s  http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S41503323 and http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S41503351. I believe, This checklist is from the county roads in the morning session at our area - http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S41503376. 

  Next, we headed to Granger Wildlife Management Area - San Gabriel Unit where we hiked -  http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S41503342. After that we hiked at Willis Creek Unit of Granger WMA - http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S41503334. Good birds, but no Woodcock. Temperature started going down, and wind was picking up. We headed to the town and drove around the streets for the completeness of the count, walked a bit along the road towards a bridge over a creek and headed back to our meeting spot where we car-pooled from. On the way back we drove along a county road looking for McCown's Longspurs (bird number 929), where we saw a flock feeding and taking off - http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S41512349. Being an ABA code 2 bird, you could say it is a specialty of central TX during winter.

Granger WMA

     It was a long tiring day. We would have easily hiked 6-7 miles in total. There were no breaks - I had energy bars while hiking or driving between spots. After a quick snack at a restaurant in Roundrock (used up one of the two expiring coupons), I came back home at about 7:15 pm, and had a good warm shower! I went to a friend's place for a good dinner to finish off the tiring day.

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