Prairie Creek Park

Based on some data collected since 1999, the normal date range for spring migration at Prairie Creek is April 23-

May 19, with the average peak on May 5-6. The average daily high count is 15 species of warblers. Thanks to

Cindy Ward for pointing out some observations on archived bird dates on this website.

Audubon Dallas Forum

2010 Spring Migration:

May 19  no migrants this morning

May 17-18 no reports. Weather forecast calls for 20-30% rain Tuesday through Thursday.

May 16: 9 warbler species this morning, but again, you have to work to find them. Counting all the birders

who have shown up and number of species of warblers, its approximately one person hour effort per warbler.

May 15: 8 warbler species this morning, generally in the pecans in the northern part of the park

A list from Caleb Frome, who participated in Dr. Peter Assman's bird trip to Bob Woodruff Park/Plano Outdoor

Learning Center. Thanks!

I went on the field trip offered on May 15th. Here is my list. The trip
also had American Redstart and Tennesee Warbler, but I missed them.

Caleb


Location: Plano Outdoor Learning Ctr./Woodruff Pk N.
Observation date: 5/15/10
Notes: A field trip led by Peter Assmann.
Number of species: 58

Mallard 20
Great Egret 2
Little Blue Heron 1 Flyover.
Cattle Egret 3
Turkey Vulture 1
Cooper's Hawk 2
Red-shouldered Hawk 2
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Rock Pigeon 15
White-winged Dove 2
Mourning Dove 2
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 3
Barred Owl 2 Heard only.
Chimney Swift 5
Black-chinned Hummingbird 3 On their "usual" perches.
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3
Downy Woodpecker 5
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 1 FOS.
Acadian Flycatcher 1 ID'd by call.
Willow Flycatcher 1 FOS. ID'd by call.
Eastern Phoebe 5
Great Crested Flycatcher 5
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 2
White-eyed Vireo 2
Red-eyed Vireo 5
Blue Jay 3
American Crow 2
Purple Martin 1
Barn Swallow 10
Carolina Chickadee 15
Tufted Titmouse 10
White-breasted Nuthatch 1 Seen and heard well.
Carolina Wren 5
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 10
Eastern Bluebird 10
Swainson's Thrush 3
American Robin 1
Northern Mockingbird 1
European Starling 15
Cedar Waxwing 40 A little late for mid-may.
Nashville Warbler 1
Northern Parula 3 Heard only.
Yellow Warbler 5
Magnolia Warbler 4
Black-throated Green Warbler 4 Seen and heard.
Blackburnian Warbler 3 One female and at lest two males.
Blackpoll Warbler 3 All females. Seen well by all and all agreed on
ID. Obviously warblers, with white wing bars, slight streaking on sides,
and no other distinguishing colors or characteristics.
Common Yellowthroat 1
Wilson's Warbler 1
Northern Cardinal 20
Indigo Bunting 1
Red-winged Blackbird 2
Common Grackle 2
Great-tailed Grackle 2
Brown-headed Cowbird 3
House Finch 2
American Goldfinch 1 Heard only. Very late for mid-May.
House Sparrow 5

May 13: 12 warbler morning with Canada and a Blue-winged Warbler spotted by Ross! CW,RR,RL, yours truly

were in one group. Any afternoon new species lets us know by mailing jflash1511@hotmail.com thanks!

May 12. Redstart, Mourning, and Wilson's warblers. Not birdy.  One Eleven Ranch had one female Canada (Ryan). White-eyed/red-eyed vireos, n. parula warbler, redstarts at Bob Woodruff Park

May 11: One report from Caleb Frome, generated from eBird (http://ebird.org). Thanks Caleb! Nice, a Hooded Warbler!

May 10, Monday:

Update: Alan and Perry counted 14 species of warblers at Bob Woodruff Park in Plano the same day, including a Yellow-throated, Canada, and Bay-breasted Warblers.

Update:  around 5PM Ryan Locke found a male Golden-Winged Warbler just south of the "Grotto". Other birds seen included Kentucky and Canada Warblers, not seen this morning, bringing the count to 14 warblers for today.

2 hour walk 8-10am Prairie Creek yielded 11 warbler species: Yellow, Common Yellowthroat, Magnolia, Yellow-Rumped, Wilson's, Black-throated Green, Tennessee, Ovenbird, Redstart, Chestnut-sided Warblers.   Like yesterday there was only one feeding group in the willows upstream of the waterfalls.  A male Scarlet Tanager, male Blackburnian warbler, and YB Cuckoo were near the Fall Creek bridge, south of the main parking area off Lookout.

May 9: last night's storm front improved birding this am.  Twelve warbler species during a 3 hour walk at Prairie Creek Park with GC and RR, including Black-throated Green, Redstarts, Mourning Warbler, and possible Canada.  At nearby One-Eleven Ranch Park on Rowlett Creek, 5 warbler species (Tennessee, Nashville, Blackburnian, Black-and-White,Yellow) during a one hour walk including 5 white breasted nuthatches and female Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

May 8: Two Audubon chapters converged at Prairie Creek. One outstanding sighting was a 7:00am

Swainson's Warbler.  Also seen were Magnolia and Canada Warblers.  Three warbler species from

perhaps 80 person hours. One group went afterwards to Spring Creek Preserve and then One-Eleven Ranch Park

in Garland to see Blackpoll/Orange-crowned/Nashville/Wilson's Warblers, White-Breasted Nuthatches, and Blue-Gray

Gnatcatchers.

May 7: "dead" 7:20-8:10 AM

May 6: fox squirrels 25+, noisy joggers on trail 3, warbers/vireos/tanagers zero(0)    7:15-7:45am

May 5: Pretty "dead" like the last 3-4 days

May 1: 8-11am.  Not many birds seen. Orange-crowned / black-and-white warblers/ovenbird reported by Greg and Ross.

Others seen included Nashville, Tennessee warblers, Swainson's Thrush, E. Phoebe, GC Flycatcher.  The peak in another

7-10 days? By comparison, 10 warbler species were seen in low numbers at Bob Woodruff Park by Peter Assmans' group.

April 23: Spring migrants are passing through but will probably peek around the first week in May. Seen this morning:

male summer tanager, several Nashville's, a Tennessee, several Yellow-rumped warblers and around 15 Swainson's

Thrushes. Female summer tanager spotted on April 17th.

April 20:  1/2 hour yielded only 3 Swainson's Thrushes, 1 GC Flycatcher. 

2009 Spring Migration:

Wednesday, May 13

Birds scanty today.

Tuesday, May 12

Birding is good again today with dozens of the same species seen yesterday....including Blackburnian, Bay-breasted,

Chestnut-sided, and Canada Warblers.

Monday, May 11

From 2:30-4:00pm we saw 15 warbler species...there were dozens and dozens. The pecan feeding groups were

composed mostly of Yellow and Wilson's warblers, with Black-throated greens and redstarts and a few Black-

and-whites.  This is unlike the earlier "fallouts" which were mostly Nashville Warblers and just a few of the other

species. It had rained during the night, the sun was out and birds were active and singing.

Bay-breasted Warbler

Yellow Warbler

Canada Warbler

Nashville Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler

Chestnut-Sided Warbler

Blackburnian Warbler

American Redstart

N. Waterthrush

Black-and-White Warbler

Magnolia Warbler

Mourning Warbler

Overnbird

Common Yellowthroat

Wilson's Warbler

Blue-headed Vireo

Warbling Vireo

Philadelphia Vireo

Red-eyed Vireo

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Swainson's Thrush

Gray-cheeked Thrush

This week has been slow, what we would call a 5 warbler day since May 5. Maybe tonight's rain will bring more birds in for Sunday,May 10.

May 5 A half hour walk yielded 6 warblers, not bad for a quick look. Birding should continue to be good with

all this unsettled weather

Nashville/Yellow/Black-and-White/Tennessee/Parula/Restart

Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher

May 4  14 species of warblers and 3 vireos added Blackburnian Warbler

to the list..

Nashville Warbler

Magnolia Warbler

Yellow Warbler (few)

Common Yellow-throat

Northern Parula (few)

Blackburnian Warbler (several)

Black-and-white Warbler

Ovenbird

Redstart

Worm-eating ? (reported)

Tennessee Warbler

Chesnut-sided Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler

Orang-crowned Warbler

Warbling Vireo

Philadelphia Vireo

Blue-headed Vireo

Swainson's Thrush

Catbird

Least Flycatcher

Great-crested Flycatcher

Painted Bunting

Indigo Bunting

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Rose-breasted Grosbeak (female)

May 3  birding is still good!!

May 2  another "fall-out"

Nineteen (19) species of warblers today (22 this week)and this morning

birds were in the hundreds as they moved through the pecans in the park and adjacent

residential yards. Expert birders RR, GC were present. PM:   Added two

more warblers this afternoon before the big rain at 3:15pm (along with Peter A.

and Peter B.)

Canada Warbler

Yellow -Rumped Warbler

Nashville Warbler

Yellow-breasted Chat

Tennessee Warbler

Magnolia Warbler

Redstart

Common Yellowthroat

Wilson's Warbler

Northern Waterthrush

Ovenbird

Black-and-White Warbler

Yellow Warbler

Common Yellowthroat

Parula Warbler

Chesnut-sided Warbler

Prothonotary Warbler

Orange-crowned Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler

Veery

Gray-cheeked Thrush

no Swainson's (?)

Painted and Indigo Buntings

Pine Siskin

Gold Finch

Warbling Vireo

Philadelphia Vireo

Blue-headed Vireo

May 1 Friday

Today seems slower than yesterday's "fall-out".

Adding to yesterday's list we have:

8:30-10:30

Blue-winged Warbler (male)  seen on the Dallas County side of the main trail bridge at 9am

Wilson's Warbler

Orange-crowned Warbler

RR also seen stalking migrants....

April 30  Thursday

Update:  Hurry to Prairie Creek today thru Saturday......we had a great list this morning (Dr. Bob Stone, Cindy Ward). Depending on weather conditions, today may or may not be a peak. The pecans along

Prairie Creek Drive are good for finding the high flying warblers...the woods for overbirds/swainson's/and thicket loving mourning/prothonotary warblers/thrushes/etc.

update:  pm additions to Prairie Creek April 30...it turned out to be a Great birding day at Prairie Creek,

with birds active until about 4-5pm.  This is not a complete list of all birds, just birds of interest during migration...

Prothonotary Warbler

Golden-winged Warbler (female) upstream of the main trail bridge

Mourning Warbler

Yellow Warbler

Redstart

Yellow-breasted Chat (few)

Indigo Bunting (few)

Painted Bunting (few)

Summer Tanager (female)

Brown Thrasher (few)

8:00am-10:00am

Golden-winged Warbler (male) saw at 8:30am and 3:32 pm near waterfall area....once in pecans,

                                                     afternoon sighted by concrete path other side of falls.

Nashville Warbler (abundant)

Tennessee Warbler (several)

Black-and-white Warbler (abundant)

Chestnut-Sided (few)

Common Yellowthroat (few)

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's) - "Myrtle" seen 4/20

Black-throated Green (several)

Eastern Phoebe

Eastern-Wood Pewee

Solitary Vireo (several)

Red-eyed Vireo

Rose-breasted Grosbeak (both sexes)

Ovenbird (several)

Swainson's Thrush (many)

Baltimore Oriole (several)

Orchard Oriole (few)

Catbird (several)

April 30

based on posting the last couple of days...it looks like Bob Woodruff Park has yielded 9 warbler

species, Prairie Creek only 3, no reports for Audubon Park or Spring Creek Preserve. Storms should make

conditions more favorable for birding today and over the weekend.

April 20   An hour and a half birding yielded a few neotropical migrants at Prairie Creek:  Gray-cheeked Thrush, Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler (most vibrant I've seen), and Nashville warbler.  Bobcat

reported at Rose Hill Park.

Derek's 2004 Bird List for Prairie can be downloaded and printed from URL: http://nctexasbirding.com/pcp.htm

Prairie Creek is a tributary to Spring Creek located just west of 75 Central in Richardson, Texas. The forest vegetation is similar to Spring Creek Forest but the riparian corridor is much narrower and is adjacent to residential homes.  Groves of pecan along with willows along Prairie Creek provide food as well as cover...attracting  neotropical migrants from  late April through most of May.   There is also no prairie at Prairie Creek...it was probably originally converted to ranchland years ago.  It is interesting in that it harbors many species of birds during spring and fall migration. Several species are on the Audubon Watch List (http://www.audubon.org/chapter/tx/tx/watch.html).

 "The Grotto" - right

Left: Searching for spring warblers, vireos, and orioles in the pecans along Prairie Creek Drive

Prairie Creek Park is the best warbler spot around Dallas. So far the warbler list is up to 31 species, including a few rare ones (Blackpoll, Cerulean, Blue-winged, Golden-winged, Kentucky, Prairie). On a good day after a night rain, 12 to 18 warbler species can be found.  Mainly check the pecans, because warblers feast on caterpillars on the leaves & catkins. The creek banks have a lush understory to attract Common Yellowthroat, Mourning Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Canada Warbler, and Northern Waterthrush.  Other species seen here include Brown Thrasher, Chuck-will's-widow (I’ve accidentally flushed them from the leafy ground along the creek), Red-breasted Nuthatch (not expected), Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Baltimore Oriole, Eastern Screech-Owl, Catbird, Swainson's Thrush, Blue-headed, Warbling, and Red-eyed Vireos, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Olive-sided Flycatcher, and Eastern Wood-Pewee. More unusual are Veery, Gray-cheeked Thrush, and Scarlet Tanager.

The best times to visit are late April to mid May for spring migration and September for fall migration. I wouldn't recommend this park during winter or summer.  Prairie Creek Park is located northwest of the intersection of Collins Blvd. and Campbell Road in Richardson, just west of highway 75 (Central Expressway) near Baylor/Richardson Medical Center.  You can park just about anywhere along the side of the road (Prairie Creek Drive East and West).  I think the best bet is to park in the small lot at the T-intersection of Prairie Creek Drive West and Lookout Drive, which is 0.9 miles from the intersection of Campbell Road and Prairie Creek Drive.  Check the pecans there around the parking lot for warblers, then walk south to the wooden bridge, cross the creek, and turn left onto the trail along the creek for thrushes and understory warblers..