West Texas, 10/21-24/09

I had been thinking about making a run out to Big Bend to look for western Empids and maybe a late Lazuli Bunting along the river and then I heard about the Lewis's Woodpecker in Ozona so I packed up the car and took off on Wed. Well I struck out on all of them but still found some good stuff.

After missing the Lewis's Woodpecker (he may still be there as the town is full of loaded pecan's) I decided to rub salt in my wounds by starting a Lewis's Woodpeckerless Crockett County list. I wound up with 35 species in a couple of hours including a SAGE THRASHER on Hwy 290 west of Ozona. A half mile east of the Pecos on 290 I was surprised too find this cute little BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER. And under the bridge over the Pecos on the Crocket County side was a GREEN KINGFISHER. Not sure how often they are seen out there.



Got back on I-10 at Sheffield as a cold front was passing through. I drove through a bit of rain and after a bit could see clear skies ahead. Then in my rearview mirrow I saw the most incredible rainbow. And ahead of me was the most incredible sunset. Certainly a good omen.





Spent the night in Fort Stockton and headed out early to Lake Balmorhea with visions of scoters, jaegers and rare gulls in my head. Well, I didn't find any of those either. But I was pleased to see this cool CRISSAL THRASHER near the wash on the west side of the dam. It's been many years since I've seen one.



The most unusual thing I found was two very late BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS. Excuse the pic as the birds were 100 yards away.



Ross's Goose 2
Gadwall 10
American Wigeon 10
Mallard (Mexican) 2
Northern Shoveler 10
Redhead 5
Ring-necked Duck 3
Lesser Scaup 10
Ruddy Duck 63
Scaled Quail 6
Pied-billed Grebe 6
Eared Grebe 2
Western Grebe 1
Clark's Grebe 1
Western/Clark's Grebe 110
Neotropic Cormorant 1
Great Blue Heron 5
Great Egret 2
Snowy Egret 12
Osprey 3
Northern Harrier 2
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 2
American Kestrel 1
American Coot 250
Black-bellied Plover 2
Killdeer 24
Spotted Sandpiper 6
Greater Yellowlegs 4
Long-billed Curlew 5
Least Sandpiper 2
Long-billed Dowitcher 1
Ring-billed Gull 4
Greater Roadrunner 3
Belted Kingfisher 4
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) 10
Say's Phoebe 1
Vermilion Flycatcher 3
Loggerhead Shrike 1
Chihuahuan Raven 3
Barn Swallow 400
Verdin 2
Bewick's Wren 3
Marsh Wren 13
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
Black-tailed Gnatcatcher 3
Northern Mockingbird 2
Crissal Thrasher 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 4
Common Yellowthroat 2
Green-tailed Towhee 1
Spotted Towhee 1
Canyon Towhee 2
Vesper Sparrow 1
Black-throated Sparrow 5
Lark Bunting 30
Savannah Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 6
Swamp Sparrow 2
White-crowned Sparrow 5
Pyrrhuloxia 5
Red-winged Blackbird 20
Eastern Meadowlark 12
Brewer's Blackbird 15
Great-tailed Grackle 30
Brown-headed Cowbird 5
House Sparrow 2

I raced through the Davis Mountains as I wanted to get to Big Bend before dark. East of Fort Davis on Hwy 118 I stopped to bird the long pond along the highway and was surprised to see two TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRES pass overhead. I quickly let out a pish and one of them stopped briefly allowing me to see the eyering and wingpatches.

Spent the night in Cottonwood Campground in Big Bend Nation Park. I was awakened by a loud pair of GREAT HORNED-OWLS and the purring of an EASTERN SCREECH-OWL. The campground turned up a lot of good birds. Here's a BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER.



In the tree tobacco was my mystery hummer that I originally thought might be a Costa's but has been called an ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRD by the two people who have responded to my ID request. I'm still open as to the ID. The very straight bill and pale eye-arc would point to Anna's, but at the time I thought it was too small.



Then by the campground registration board along the river was this unexpected BROWN THRASHER (or is it a Long-billed?) I thought it was too rusty and the "smack" call seemed thinner than what I am used to hearing from the Long-bills down here in Weslaco.



Then about 50 yards upstream I saw a GRAY CATBIRD. There were also several CAROLINA WRENS. Their song is a little different from what I am used to hearing in the RGV.



Driving up river to Santa Elena Canyon I stopped and pished a lot in the patches of tall Johnson-like grass and in the groves of salt cedars and mesquite. Here I found my second mystery bird which I think is a BAIRD'S SPARROW. I never saw it from the front and the habitat didnt' seem right but the back looks good. The broad pale edgings and rufous on the flight feathers and the two white lines in the back are significant. Looking through a lot of photos on the internet Baird's seems to fit best. It may have been a migrant passing through. A MERLIN passed overhead and gave good looks.



Then at the picnic area for Santa Elaena Canyon, behind the next to last picnic table as you loop counterclockwise around the bathrooms, was this sharp RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER. He had some wells drilled and looked like he might be there for the winter.



As I headed back to park headquarters I was shocked to see the lonely female MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD. It was just a bit east of the turnoff to the Basin.



I decided I needed to head for home and thought I would make a quick run over to Fort Pena Colorado park (The Post). There was nothing unusual there but just south of Marathon at the turnoff to the cemetary were six more MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS. I had two more a bit down the road and two more on Hwy 90 just east of Marathon.



Here's my Cottonwood Campground list.

Mallard (Mexican) 4
Great Blue Heron 1
Cooper's Hawk 2
Sandhill Crane 2
Spotted Sandpiper 1
White-winged Dove 1
Mourning Dove 2
Inca Dove 4
Greater Roadrunner 3
Eastern Screech-Owl 1
Great Horned Owl 2
Common Nighthawk 1
Anna's Hummingbird 1
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 3
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 3
Black Phoebe 1
Vermilion Flycatcher 2
Chihuahuan Raven 7
Barn Swallow 2
Verdin 1
Carolina Wren 3
Bewick's Wren 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 3
American Robin 5
Gray Catbird 1
Brown Thrasher 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 20
Black-throated Gray Warbler 1
House Finch

Here's my list from Cottonwood Campground to Santa Elena Canyon

Great Blue Heron 1
Turkey Vulture 1
Northern Harrier 2
Merlin 1
Spotted Sandpiper 2
Mourning Dove 1
Greater Roadrunner 3
Red-naped Sapsucker 1
Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) 3
Black Phoebe 1
Say's Phoebe 3
Ash-throated Flycatcher 1
Loggerhead Shrike 2
Chihuahuan Raven 2
Rock Wren 2
Canyon Wren 1
Carolina Wren 2
Black-tailed Gnatcatcher 5
Orange-crowned Warbler 3
Yellow-rumped Warbler 15
Green-tailed Towhee 3
Vesper Sparrow 1
Black-throated Sparrow 5
Baird's Sparrow 1
Swamp Sparrow 1
White-crowned Sparrow 5
Dark-eyed Junco 3
Northern Cardinal 8
Pyrrhuloxia 3

Here's my Crockett County list

Wild Turkey X
Turkey Vulture X
Cooper's Hawk X
Red-tailed Hawk X
American Kestrel X
Rock Pigeon X
Eurasian Collared-Dove X
Mourning Dove X
Belted Kingfisher X
Green Kingfisher X
Golden-fronted Woodpecker X
Ladder-backed Woodpecker X
Northern Flicker X
Vermilion Flycatcher X
Loggerhead Shrike X
Verdin X
Bewick's Wren X
Ruby-crowned Kinglet X
Northern Mockingbird X
Sage Thrasher X
European Starling X
Orange-crowned Warbler X
Yellow-rumped Warbler X
Blackburnian Warbler X
Spotted Towhee X
Canyon Towhee X
Chipping Sparrow X
Vesper Sparrow X
Lark Sparrow X
Black-throated Sparrow X
Northern Cardinal X
Pyrrhuloxia X
Yellow-headed Blackbird X
Brown-headed Cowbird X
House Sparrow X

Looks like it may be an interesting winter in west Texas.

Bald Eagle at Anzalduas County Park, 10/18/09

Gee, that's a subject line I never thought I'd write! This morning while birding with a my friend Mike Wertz at Anzalduas County Park (in Hidalgo County south of Mission) I spotted a large dark raptor raise above the levee as I drove past the central restrooms. Quickly we got out of the car and the bird came up again. In my scope I saw a very large dark raptor with a huge bill, dark head, neck and breast and paler belly with whitish splotches. In flight, the wings were long and rectangular, dark underneath with irregular whitish splotches and projecting finger-like primaries and held horizontally (not like the V dihedral of a Turkey vulture). The long broad tail was dark underneath as best I could tell. Certaninly not white based as in a Golden Eagle. I immediately recognized it as a juvenile plumaged Bald Eagle. We lost it from view after a minute. We then raced up onto the levee where I was able to refind it in the scope as it lazily circled, fairly low, in the distance. After several minutes it drifted into Mexico and vanished. I guess it was a migrating bird headed south but it conceivably could be hanging around the river at the base of Anzalduas Dam. I saw an adult once years ago at a lake near Cerralvo in NE Nuevo Leon (coincidentally also with Mike) so they must occasionally pass through the Valley. Anyway it was quite a surprise. While I was initially studying the eagle through the scope I didn't think about trying to get a pic. By the time I thought about it , the bird was almost gone.



The park was fairly dead with two Yellow-throated Warblers as the only warblers we saw. Hundreds of swallows circled over the water and the open field. We did not check for pipits. Saw my first Yellow-bellied Sapsucker of the season and was pleased to find five House Finches near the first restrooms. Roy Rodriguez had reported them in the park last spring. The House Finches were my Hidalgo county bird #343 and the Bald Eagle was #344. It's hard to get two new county birds on the same day!





We finished the morning with a fine perched Merlin that gave great looks.



Mottled Duck 6
Pied-billed Grebe 1
Double-crested Cormorant 3
Snowy Egret 2
Cattle Egret 3
Black-crowned Night-Heron 1
Roseate Spoonbill 2
Black Vulture 2
Turkey Vulture 20
Bald Eagle 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 3
Broad-winged Hawk 15
Gray Hawk 1
Swainson's Hawk 3
Merlin 1
Common Moorhen 2
American Coot 15
Killdeer 6
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Least Sandpiper 6
Laughing Gull 1
Rock Pigeon 200
White-winged Dove 2
Mourning Dove 4
Common Ground-Dove 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 4
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 4
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet 1
Vermilion Flycatcher 1
Great Kiskadee 2
Couch's Kingbird 20
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 2
White-eyed Vireo 1
Green Jay 10
Tree Swallow 5
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 50
Bank Swallow 1
Cave Swallow 5
Barn Swallow 500
Black-crested Titmouse 3
House Wren 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 4
Northern Mockingbird 5
European Starling 1
Yellow-throated Warbler 2
Red-winged Blackbird 50
Eastern Meadowlark 1
Great-tailed Grackle 25
Brown-headed Cowbird 1
Altamira Oriole 1
House Finch 5
Lesser Goldfinch 2
House Sparrow 5