Brooks County Blitz, 1/26/11

Last Wed. John Heaney and I decided to make a run up to Brooks County to work on a county list. The morning was spent west of Rachal digging up some sparrows. Dry conditions made for some tough birding. By the time we got to the Hwy 77 rest area at 2 PM we only had 50 species. But then things warmed with a Pine Warbler and Summer Tanager. The ephemeral ponds along the highway finally gave us some ducks and a couple of surprise Say's Phoebes. A Song sparrow hopped up in Los Olmos Creek for a good Brooks County find. We finished the day with a respectable 86 species. A return trip in the spring should push us over the century mark and first place is only 104.



Greater White-fronted Goose 5
Gadwall 3
Mottled Duck 2
Blue-winged Teal 6
Northern Shoveler 2
Northern Pintail 6
Green-winged Teal 6
Canvasback 5
Lesser Scaup 5
Wild Turkey 8
Pied-billed Grebe 3
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 1
Cattle Egret 1
White-faced Ibis 7
Black Vulture 25
Turkey Vulture 12
Northern Harrier 3
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Cooper's Hawk 1
Harris's Hawk 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
White-tailed Hawk 4
Red-tailed Hawk 10
Crested Caracara 15
American Kestrel 12
American Coot 1
Sandhill Crane 140
Killdeer 5
Black-necked Stilt 5
Greater Yellowlegs 1
Lesser Yellowlegs 2
Least Sandpiper 8
Wilson's Snipe 1
Rock Pigeon 20
Eurasian Collared-Dove 5
Mourning Dove 25
Common Ground-Dove 3
White-tipped Dove 1
Greater Roadrunner 2
Eastern Screech-Owl 1
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 10
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 5
Eastern Phoebe 10
Say's Phoebe 2
Vermilion Flycatcher 1
Ash-throated Flycatcher 1
Great Kiskadee 3
Loggerhead Shrike 7
White-eyed Vireo 2
Green Jay 15
Black-crested Titmouse 5
Verdin 4
Cactus Wren 1
Carolina Wren 1
Bewick's Wren 5
House Wren 10
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 5
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 10
Northern Mockingbird 20
Long-billed Thrasher 5
European Starling 15
American Pipit 1
Sprague's Pipit 1
Orange-crowned Warbler 15
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 15
Pine Warbler 2
Olive Sparrow 3
Cassin's Sparrow 2
Clay-colored Sparrow 7
Field Sparrow 2
Vesper Sparrow 8
Lark Sparrow 12
Savannah Sparrow 20
Grasshopper Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 1
Lincoln's Sparrow 6
Summer Tanager 1
Northern Cardinal 20
Pyrrhuloxia 25
Red-winged Blackbird 2
Eastern Meadowlark 30
Great-tailed Grackle 20
Lesser Goldfinch 2
House Sparrow 20