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.
September went fairly well: there were no huge 'fallout' producing weather
systems during the month but migrants did trickle through and I managed to
capture - photographically - a few. The real stunner - an immature
Black-throated Sparrow seen and photographed near Ropesville towards the
end of the month!
I got in numerous lengthy visits to the county - and racked up 34 species
of butterfly, 7 species of amphibian, 9 species of reptile, 140 species of
bird, and 6 species of mammal, bringing me up to 53 species of butterfly,
10 species of amphibian, 14 species of reptile, 196 species of bird, and 12
species of mammal in the county for 2016. This brings me 106%, 200%, 120%,
98%, and 120% of the way towards my goals with regards to taxa. Of the 285
species seen so far, I have identifiable photographs of 267, keeping me at
93% for species photographed - closer than I ever got to the 90% goal
during my 2015 game. Taking shots, however long range, of every critter
seen, however common, continues to be a good strategy ... but I am going to
have to work hard in October as thick foliage is frustrating most attempts
to get photographs of fall migrants.
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
Nysa Roadside Skipper
Eufala Skipper
Pipevine Swallowtail
Black Swallowtail
Checkered White
Orange Sulphur
Southern Dogface
Cloudless Sulphur(y)
Large Orange Sulphur*(y)
Lyside Sulphur
Little Yellow*
Sleepy Orange
Dainty Sulphur
Gray Hairstreak
Marine Blue
Western Pygmy Blue
Reakirt's Blue
American Snout
Hackberry Emperor
Monarch
Queen
Variegated Fritillary
Phaon Crescent
Pearl Crescent
Common Buckeye
Red Admiral
American Lady
Goatweed Leafwing
Barred Tiger Salamander
Plains Spadefoot
Great Plains Toad
Texas Toad
Green Toad
Spotted Chorus Frog
Great Plains Narrow-mouthed Toad
Red-eared Slider
Yellow Mud Turtle
Ornate Box Turtle
Great Plains Skink
Six-lined Racerunner
Checkered Garter Snake
Gopher Snake
Common Kingsnake
Long-nosed Snake
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Redhead
Ruddy Duck
Scaled Quail
Northern Bobwhite
Ring-necked Pheasant
Pied-billed Grebe
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared Dove
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Greater Roadrunner
Common Nighthawk
Common Poorwill*
Chimney Swift
Black-chinned Hummingbird
Rufous Hummingbird
Calliope Hummingbird*(y)
American Coot
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Killdeer
Long-billed Curlew
Stilt Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Spotted Sandpiper'
Solitary Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Wilson's Phalarope
Black Tern
Great Blue Heron
Snowy Egret
Cattle Egret
Black-crowned Night Heron
White-faced Ibis
Turkey Vulture
Mississippi Kite
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Swainson's Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Barn Owl
Great Horned Owl
Burrowing Owl
Belted Kingfisher(y)
Red-naped Sapsucker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
Prairie Falcon*
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Western Wood Pewee
Willow Flycatcher
Least Flycatcher
Gray Flycatcher
Dusky Flycatcher*(y)
Say's Phoebe
Eastern Phoebe*(y)
Western Kingbird
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Loggerhead Shrike
Blue-headed Vireo*
Blue Jay
Chihuahuan Raven
Horned Lark
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Bank Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Cave Swallow
Barn Swallow
Red-breasted Nuthatch*(y)
House Wren
Carolina Wren*
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher*(y)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Swainson's Thrush
American Robin
Curve-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
House Sparrow
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
American Goldfinch
Ovenbird*
Northern Waterthrush
Black-and-white Warbler*
Orange-crowned Warbler*
Nashville Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
American Redstart
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Yellow-breasted Chat*(y)
Cassin's Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Clay-colored Sparrow
Brewer's Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
Black-throated Sparrow*(y)
Lark Bunting
Savannah Sparrow
Grasshopper Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Western Tanager*(y)
Black-headed Grosbeak*
Blue Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Painted Bunting
Dickcissel
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Western Meadowlark
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Common Grackle
Great-tailed Grackle
Bronzed Cowbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Orchard Oriole
Bullock's Oriole
Black-tailed Jackrabbit
Desert Cottontail
Black-tailed Prairie Dog
Spotted Ground Squirrel
Coyote
Mule Deer
Anthony 'Fat Tony' Hewetson; Lubbock
