Water

One of the tricks that western birders seem to know is that if you can find water, you can usually find birds.  That’s been the case for me the last week or so.  At Big Bend, we stopped at an old ranch site where a dilapidated windmill, clanking away, delivered a little water in drips but attracted some interesting birds including a Green-tailed Towhee.

Here at Davis Mountain State Park, where I have seen a number of life birds including the Montezuma Quail, they have water at all feeding stations.  I put out a water drip at our campsite and regularly attract Canyon Towhees, Black-crested Titmice, White-winged Doves, Cactus Wrens, and a host of different types of sparrows.

Not far from here is a dry creek which has a little “seep” -- a wet spot under some clumps of bushes.  It’s about a quarter-mile hike up the creek bed and as you get there, the birds all fly off but ten minutes later, you can see dozens of birds.  I was particularly looking for the Black-chinned Sparrow which I saw.  (It’s a little drab this time of year -- mostly grey -- but it’s Black-throated cousin -- also there -- is starting to show breeding plumage.)  Here’s my list from yesterday morning for about 30 minutes of watching and photographing:

Black-chinned Sparrow
Black-throated Sparrow
White-winged Dove
Black-crested Titmouse
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Pyrrhuloxia
Cactus Wren
Chipping Sparrow
Western Scrub-Jay
Canyon Towhee
Phainopepla
Lark Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Northern Mockingbird
Rufous-crowned Sparrow

Here are a few photos I took at the “seep:”

A Black-chinned Sparrow in non-breeding plumage

I love the Black-crested Titmouse

A pair of Cactus Wrens

Life Birds on this trip

To date, I have added 35 birds to my list and missed a number of others.  All except one were in Texas.  I haven't gone out of the way for any rarities but just logged stuff I've seen.  It's an interesting way to recall the birding along the way -- eBird does it electronically.

Altimira Oriole

Desert Birds

Getting away from the coast or big bodies of water like Lake Falcon and Lake Amistad, makes the birding more challenging - or at least until migration starts in a month or two.  However, I’m still picking up some nice birds for my life list: today I saw a Bell’s Vireo outside the Panther Junction Visitor Center.  Saw a wonderful Rock Wren working the cliffs near Amistad the day before.

We were inundated with Black-throated Sparrows and Lark Buntings at our last campsite after spreading some seed out the day before.  A lot of White-crowned Sparrows also showed up but were a bit more wary.  Then, as we had supper one evening at the picnic table, a Sage Thrasher cranked up its song from a nearby bush.

I’m sure I saw some Zone-tailed hawks with a bunch of Turkey Vultures yesterday but I was doing 70 hauling a trailer and thought it improper to grab the binoculars.  Likewise, a bird with a long curved bill flew up alongside us as we approached Big Bend.  Have no idea what it was.

The House Finch was interesting:  I don’t know the bird well and thought it was some bunting.  The male is just spectacular, as is the singing. 

House Finch

Big Bend has hundreds of birds on the list although many are migration spottings or later in the year.  I’ve got a few on my list though -- so Penny and I will be out and about scanning.  I guess I can’t count stuff across the river - that’s Mexico.

Hummers

Buff-bellied Hummingbird at Roma Bluffs

One of the nice aspects of birding in South Texas in winter is the chance to see hummingbirds.  Some overwinter and others just show up at feeders.  The Anna’s that we saw at Goose Island was of the latter category.  So was an Allen’s that we missed in Bentson State Park the other day.

Saturday we went down to the Roma Bluffs World Birding Center site -- one of six such sights in the Lower Valley of Texas.  Roma get some hummers including this Buff-Bellied Hummingbird - one of the species that has been there all winter.  They have a few of these and they are relatively tame -- allowing visitors to get rather close.  Mary noted that given their irridescent green back, they are misnamed buff-belly.

We missed a Black-Chinned Hummingbird that supposedly shows up but hope to catch up with one further west.  Coming from a state which usually just gets Ruby-throated hummers, it’s quite something to have a chance to see so many varieties.  And in the months ahead, after we’ve left, there will be dozens of varieties.

As an aviator, as a novice birder, just as an observer - they are just amazing creatures to watch and appreciate.  Feisty, beautiful, spectacular, mesmerizing.

Black-vented Oriole

Black-vented Oriole

Mary and I took a drive down to Bentsen Rio Grande State Park to do a little birding today. It’s about an hour and half drive - no big deal for Texas - and the park has a great reputation for special birds. However, Hurricane Alex hit the Rio Grande River hard (as we have seen here at Falcon) and the high water decimated Bentsen. Many areas are still not open and the habitat is slowly recovering.

Plain Chachalaca

We took a cold walk spotting the standard warblers and gnat-catchers, Green Jays, and woodpeckers and were a bit discouraged -- but still enjoying some nice looks at birds.  Mary headed back up to to the center to warm up and I went on a bit to a river outlook, hoping to see an Anhinga.  Which I did -- three of them in fact.  They were too far away to photograph but they were a new bird on my life list -- one that I’ve just missed at other places.

There has been a rather rare bird - a Black-vented Oriole - hanging around the RV park next door for several weeks.  It’s been chased by many birders but I hadn’t heard much about it in the last few days and hadn’t planned to try to see it.  (Our time was limited with the dog waiting in the car.)  As I came back, I saw a guy with a big lens sitting on a bench, looking into the woods so I asked him what he was seeing.  “The oriole is up there,” he reported -- and soon had a neighbor on the bench.  We watched the bird move through the foliage, never really coming into the open, but giving us some nice looks anyways.  I shot some pictures, more for the record than for high quality, and was thrilled to nail this lovely bird who normally is in Mexico or Central America.  It’s survived a number of below-freezing nights recently and looked no worse of wear.

At the same time, a noisy gang of Plain Chachalacas strode up to the feeders. These turkey-sized birds are hard to miss but this was my first time seeing them -- so they became lifelist bird 3 for the day.

I returned to find Mary and she reported that she had seen the Clay-colored Thrush up by the feeders.  I knew that bird was often seen at Bentsen but probably walked right by it.  So I back-tracked, waited just a few minutes, and Bingo -- one showed up at the feeder.  Bird 4 for the day.

Clay-colored Thrush

We don’t go crazy chasing birds but it’s fun to see new stuff and add them to the list.  I’ve got a few sparrows and hawks I’d like to see here at Falcon before we leave next week but I won’t lose any sleep if I don’t.  Just watching the Caracaras and Ospreys fly in the high winds of the last few days has been a treat - as was seeing a couple of special birds today. 

Another Whooper Shot - Reward Offered

Ultralight-led Whooping Crane Found Dead in Alabama
$6,000 Reward Offered for Information on the Killing of Whooping Crane 12-04

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating the death of a whooping crane reported by an Alabama conservation officer at Weiss Lake, in Cherokee County Ala., on Jan. 28, 2011. The lake is located midway between Atlanta, Birmingham, and Chattanooga.  Investigators believe the crane was shot.
The male whooping crane, designated 12-04, was equipped with a transmitter and leg bands to help track his movements. Trackers located it in January with other whooping cranes in a Cherokee County field not far from the lake where it was killed.
Scientists at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Forensics Laboratory in Ashland, Ore., are conducting a necropsy on the dead crane. It is the only lab in the world dedicated to crimes against wildlife.
Raised in Wisconsin at Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, whooping crane 12-04 learned how to migrate behind ultralight aircraft flown by Operation Migration.

Operation Migration is a partner with the Whooping Crane Eastern 
Partnership, and for 10 years has lead between seven and 20 cranes per year on their first migration from Wisconsin to Florida to increase whooping crane numbers to recover this magnificent endangered species.

The bird made its first migration to the Chassahowitzka National 
Wildlife Refuge in Florida during the fall of 2004. It annually wintered in Florida until 2009.  Since then it has spent winters on the marshes in and around Weiss Lake, Ala.

“We are extremely disappointed by the killing of this whooping crane,” said Jim Gale, Special Agent in Charge of Law Enforcement in the Service’s Southeast Region. “We recently lost three whooping cranes to gunfire in south Georgia, now this one in Alabama. This senseless killing has just got to stop.”

Gale has asked for the support of the public, especially the fishing, hunting, and boating community who may have seen or heard about the killing on Weiss Lake to help prosecute whoever shot this crane.

A $6,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to a 
conviction. To provide information, call Special Agent John Rawls at 334-285-9600, or e-mail him at john_rawls@fws.gov.
Several organizations are contributing to the reward including Operation Migration, which led this bird south with Ultralight aircraft on its first migration in 2004, The Turner Foundation, the International Crane Foundation, the Alabama Wildlife Federation, and the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service.

The Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership uses two techniques to establish the Eastern Migratory Population. One method trains cranes to follow costumed pilots flying ultralight aircraft from Wisconsin to Florida. 
The other releases young birds directly into wild populations of 
whooping cranes and sandhill cranes – called Direct Autumn Release.

Last spring, whooping crane 12-04 had paired with 27-05, the oldest Direct Autumn Release bird. The new couple successfully mated and had a late season nest with two eggs in Juneau County, Wis., south of Necedah National Wildlife Refuge. One egg hatched and the pair raised the chick for several weeks until it disappeared, presumably taken by a predator -- possibly a bobcat or coyote.

Captive whooping cranes produce Direct Autumn Release cranes at the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, Wis. These eggs are hatched there, then raised in isolation by costumed caretakers for the first six weeks. Specialists then move them to an isolation facility in natural habitat on Necedah National Wildlife Refuge where costumed caretakers raise them. They are later released into the company of older whooping cranes around Necedah National Wildlife Refuge for the fall migration in November. They then follow those experienced whooping cranes and sandhill cranes, learning the migration route to the wintering habitat.

It has taken five years for the birds in the Direct Autumn Release program to learn to nest -- a milestone for the program that began in 2005.

The cranes are part of the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership effort to reintroduce whooping cranes into the eastern United States.  There are about 570 whooping cranes left in the world, 400 in the wild. There are about 100 cranes in the Eastern Migratory Population.

In addition to the Endangered Species Act, whooping cranes are protected by state laws and the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

For more information about the reintroduction effort, visit 
http://www.bringbackthecranes.org.

Avian Eye Candy

Yesterday morning, Mary and I drove down to Salineno, a small refuge on the Rio Grande about 20 minutes from here. Cheryl, the host, has many feeders and attracts a wonderful variety of South Texas birds. When we went there last year for the first time, it was visual overkill -- just so many different birds that we never see up north. It reminded me of my first time snorkeling -- there is almost too much color and movement for your senses to process.

Today was no exception. When we first got there, a “sharpie” had just passed by scattering the birds so it took a few minutes for the orioles and jays to start returning. We sat in lawn chairs watching Green Jays, three types of Orioles (Altimira, Hooded, and Audubon), Greater Kiskadees, and a host of other species flock to the peanut butter and loose bird food. Here are a few of the shots I took. Enjoy -- we certainly did.

Altimira Oriole

Long-billed Thrasher eats while Green Jay waits impatiently

Golden-fronted Woodpecker

Audubon Oriole at feeder

Green Jay with a mouthful of crunchy peanut butter

Greater Kiskadee

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Ubiquitous Birds

Crested Caracara

I mentioned last post about the hundreds of Red-winged Blackbirds that hang out in Falcon State Park (and many sites in the Southwest.)  I also mentioned the Pyrrhuloxia which are everywhere.  These members of the Cardinal family are native to Texas and Mexico and are fun to watch.  Here’s a shot I took this afternoon of a female alongside the park road.

The Crested Caracara, sometimes called the “Mexican Eagle,” is a spectacular low-flyer who is easy to identify and very common along highways in this area.  It feeds on carrion and lizards and small mammals and it’s unusual not to see a few any time you bird in this area.  They too are Texas/Mexico birds.

Pyrrhuhuloxia

One of the most prevalent birds here seems to be the orange-crowned warbler.  The plain little green birds are everywhere -- to the point that I have yet to take a picture of one.  Of course, like most warblers, they don’t sit for portraits but rather move briskly along from branch to branch.  They have no markings per se -- and that in itself is an identifying characteristic.

Another common bird here is the Great-tailed Grackle.  We started seeing them as we hit Texas and they are everywhere -- not in Red-winged Blackbird numbers, but noticeable because of their size and their raucous calls.  They love to hang out in mall parking lots.

Great-tailed Grackle

Other birds we see each walk are Greater Roadrunners, Northern Cardinals, Inca Doves, and Northern Mockingbirds.  I suspect that the warming weather will crank up birding activity -- both the birds and the birders have been waiting out this wintry blast.

Some Falcon Birds

It has been pretty windy for good birding here at Falcon although I’m seeing some interesting stuff and have picked up a couple of life birds -- a Long-billed Thrasher and a Cactus Wren.  These were both birds that I should have seen last year but didn’t.

Falcon, like many areas, is infested with Red-winged blackbirds.  They really are a pest: you put out a feeder and before long, dozens appear.  They tend to drive off the other birds with their noisy aggressiveness -- but I know that I’ll enjoy them once we, and they, get to Vermont.

Pyrrhuloxia are one of the signature birds here -- I remember seeing them for the first time last year.  They are quite friendly, coming to feeders, and are pretty birds -- not as spectacular as their Northern Cardinal brethren but still quite attractive.

Greater Roadrunner

Of course, Northern Mockingbirds and Greater Roadrunners are everywhere.  Crested Cara-caras are also very numerous.

This afternoon on a walk, I came upon a very accommodating Cactus Wren who posed for pictures while the dog strained at her leash, and then went through a whole song cycle for us.  I was surprised at the size of the wren -- I had been looking for a more furtive smaller bird.

Cactus Wren

I’ve seen quite a few birds that I’m not sure of -- some quail that were either scaled quail or bobwhite, a little brown job that I have a picture of (and will get folks to ID it for me), and meadowlarks that are either Eastern or Western. 

The weather forecast is probably going to put a damper on birding for a few days although once the wind dies down, it may be productive if only in the high 30’s.  That’s a day we’d bird in Vermont so why not here?  I’ll let you know what I find.

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