Greetings All:
With a couple of lessons learned from my efforts along the Canyon Lakes of
Lubbock this past year, I have decided to chase and photograph critters in
Hockley County (the county just west of Lubbock County) this year. Again,
I am setting ambitious goals: 50 species of butterfly, 5 species of
amphibian, 10 species of reptile, 200 species of bird, and 10 species of
mammal with 90% of the species identifiably photographed.
Hockley County is roughly 100% agriculture or oilfield but there are some
very interesting hotspots, generally near the few towns and one city in the
county. Sundown has a park/golf course/water treatment facility complex
and an incredibly well-planted school/cemetery complex - both warrant eBird
hotspot status, in my opinion. Smyer has a well publicized feedlot playa
just west of town. Levelland has a tree-rich city park, a tree-rich
college campus with decent butterfly gardens, and at least two good
playa-centered parks. Road birding can also be surprisingly good in the
county with abandoned homesteads, woodlots, and a plethora of playas
readily viewed and photographed from roadside. There is a particularly
good stretch of brushland and woodlots available along FM 597 in the
northwest corner of the county - with any luck and any weather this should
be a real hotspot.
October was better than expected and proved me right with regards to
photographing migrants: it is best to get shots of every critter, no matter
how distant the animal or how cruddy the shot, from the get go ... as
migrant passerines are going to be dang hard to photograph. Of the twenty
species I have seen but not photographed so far this year, nine are migrant
passerines (Cordilleran Flycatcher, Blue-headed Vireo, Ovenbird,
Black-and-white Warbler, MacGillivray's Warbler, Common Yellowthroat,
Townsend's Warbler, Black-headed Grosbeak, Lazuli Bunting) and all were
missed because they disappeared onto private property before I could get a
photograph.
I got in numerous lengthy visits to the county - and racked up 41 species
of butterfly, 6 species of amphibian, 10 species of reptile, 131 species of
bird, and 9 species of mammal, bringing me up to 56 species of butterfly,
10 species of amphibian, 15 species of reptile, 203 species of bird, and 15
species of mammal in the county for 2016. This brings me 112%, 200%, 150%,
102%, and 150% of the way towards my goals with regards to taxa. Of the
299 species seen so far, I have identifiable photographs of 279, keeping me
at 93% for species photographed - closer than I ever got to the 90% goal
during my 2015 game. I don't know what November will have to offer but
there are a few holes left in the bird list so ... I will keep plugging
away.
Without further ado, the list with *s for species that are new for the year
and (y)s for species photographed.
Funereal Duskywings
Common Checkered Skipper
Common Sootywings
Orange Skipperling
Fiery Skipper
Sachem
Eufala Skipper
Pipevine Swallowtail
Black Swallowtail
Cabbage White
Checkered White
Orange Sulphur
Southern Dogface
Cloudless Sulphur
Large Orange Sulphur
Lyside Sulphur
Little Yellow
Sleepy Orange
Dainty Sulphur
Gray Hairstreak
Marine Blue
Western Pygmy Blue
Reakirt's Blue
American Snout
Hackberry Emperor
Monarch
Queen
Gulf Fritillary*(y)
Variegated Fritillary
Bordered Patch
Phaon Crescent
Painted Crescent
Pearl Crescent
Gorgone Checkerspot
Common Buckeye
Viceroy*(y)
Mourning Cloak
Red Admiral
Painted Lady
American Lady
West Coast Lady*(y)
Barred Tiger Salamander
Plains Spadefoot
New Mexico Spadefoot
Great Plains Toad
Texas Toad
Plains Leopard Frog
Red-eared Slider
Yellow Mud Turtle
Ornate Box Turtle
Eastern Fence (Prairie) Lizard*(y)
Six-lined Racerunner
Checkered Garter Snake
Coachwhip
Gopher Snake
Common Kingsnake
Prairie Rattlesnake
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Ruddy Duck
Scaled Quail
Northern Bobwhite
Ring-necked Pheasant
Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe*(y)
Eared Grebe
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared Dove
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
Greater Roadrunner
Common Poorwill
Rufous Hummingbird
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Killdeer
Long-billed Curlew
Stilt Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Snipe
Spotted Sandpiper'
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Wilson's Phalarope
Ring-billed Gull
Double-crested Cormorant*(y)
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret*(y)
Black-crowned Night Heron
Yellow-crowned Night Heron
White-faced Ibis
Turkey Vulture
Mississippi Kite
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Swainson's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Ferruginous Hawk
Barn Owl
Great Horned Owl
Burrowing Owl
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
American Kestrel
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon
Prairie Falcon(y)
Western Wood Pewee
Willow Flycatcher
Least Flycatcher
Hammond's Flycatcher
Say's Phoebe
Eastern Phoebe
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Loggerhead Shrike
Blue Jay
Chihuahuan Raven
Horned Lark
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Barn Swallow
House Wren
Bewick's Wren*(y)
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird*(y)
Western Bluebird
Mountain Bluebird
Swainson's Thrush
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird*(y)
Curve-billed Thrasher
Sage Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
House Sparrow
American Pipit
House Finch
American Goldfinch
Orange-crowned Warbler
Nashville Warbler
MacGillivray's Warbler
American Redstart
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Green-tailed Towhee
Spotted Towhee*
Cassin's Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Clay-colored Sparrow
Brewer's Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
Lark Bunting
Savannah Sparrow
Grasshopper Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal(y)
Blue Grosbeak
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Western Meadowlark
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
Common Grackle
Great-tailed Grackle
Bronzed Cowbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Black-tailed Jackrabbit
Desert Cottontail
Black-tailed Prairie Dog
White-footed Deermouse (prairie form)
Coyote
Gray Fox*
Striped Skunk*(y)
Feral Pig*(y)
Mule Deer
Anthony 'Fat Tony' Hewetson; Lubbock
