[texbirds] Davis Mountains Preserve (Jeff Davis Co.) 5/25-6/2 Buff-breasted Flycatcher, Dusky-capped Flycatchers, Colima/Virginia's Warblers, Red-faced Warbler

  • From: Rich Kostecke <rkost73@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: Texbirds <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Tue, 5 Jun 2012 11:27:38 -0700 (PDT)

This report is a bit belated, but I have been busy.  I spent the afternoon of 
25 May through the morning of 2 June at The Nature Conservancy's Davis 
Mountains Preserve in Jeff Davis County.  The primary purpose of my visit was 
to assess the effects of the Rockhouse and Tejano Canyon fires in 2011 and the 
Livermore Complex fires of this spring (27,500 acres of our 33,000 acre 
preserve has burned over the last year), as well as the effects of the on-going 
drought, on the birds.  If I get my act together, I hope to put something 
together about this for  the next Texas Birds Annual, so I won't go into a lot 
of details here.  Suffice it to say that the fires definitely had a significant 
impact on the habitat, but by far not all was lost.  The mountains persist and 
there are still some green pines on the slopes.  Fire effects were varied 
(everything from very light to severe burn intensities) and while there were 
some negative fire effects there has
 also been a lot of positive fire effects in terms of thinning out the forest 
and reducing fuels.  Some signs of recovery (grass, forb, and shrub growth) are 
already visible, thanks in part to the limited rain the area received last fall 
and some decent spring rain this year.  With a good monsoon season, recovery 
may really take off.  However, I think it will take a bit longer to fully 
assess the impacts of the fires and drought on the pines and there may also be 
a time lag in bird response to changes in the habitat.  So, assessing the 
effects of the fire will be an on-going process.  Again, there is limited 
access to much of the Davis Mountains Preserve for the general public.  
However, we do have several open days/weekends on the calendar (July 13-15, 
August 17-19, October 20, December 1 and 8) when the public can hike our trails 
and access some of the canyons and higher elevelation habitats.  The Madera 
Canyon hiking trail accessible from
 the Lawrence E. Wood Picnic area is open year-round during daylight hours, 
though.  
 
My list for the week I was on the preserve:
 

'Mexican' Mallard 2,a pair, off and on at various tanks (mere puddles really) 
from 5/28 through 6/2
Montezuma Quail 2, a pair, in lower Wolf  Den Canyon (a heavily burned area) on 
5/29
Wild Turkey 5-39/day
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1 on 5/29
Cooper's Hawk 1 on 6/1
Common Black-hawk 0-1/day (based on plumage characteristics, at least 3 
individuals present including a juvenile)
Zone-tailed Hawk 0-3/day (including a pair at a historical nest site)
Red-tailed Hawk 1-3/day
Golden Eagle 1 on 5/26
American Kestrel 0-2/day (seen most days; pair nesting in a cavity in a 
telephone pole near the cabins)
Peregrine Falcon 2, a pair, on 5/27 (at potential nest site)
Band-tailed Pigeon 2 heard on 5/28, 1 heard on 5/29; both in the high country
White-winged Dove 0-11/day
Mourning Dove 3-21/day
Western Screech-owl 1 heard on 5/27; 6 seen/heard on 6/1 (lots in Madera Canyon 
if you take the time to owl)
Common Nighthawk 0-6/day (sporadic)
Common Poorwill 0-3/day (heard most nights/mornings)
Mexican Whip-poor-will 1 seen/heard/photographed above Tobe Spring on 5/28, 6 
heard on 6/1 in upper Madera Canyon
White-throated Swift 0-28/day (mostly seen heard in upper elevations)
Magnificent Hummingbird 1 male Pine Peak Spring on 5/27
Black-chinned Hummingbird 0-1/day (a few females seen here and there)
Broad-tailed Hummingbird 0-6/day (only a few males seen; several females on 
nests)
Acorn Woodpecker 2-11/day
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 0-7/day
Northern Flicker 0-4/day
Olive-sided Flycatcher 0-2 day (including 1 as late as 6/1)
Western Wood-pewee 0-25/day (only day I didn't have this species was on the 
afternoon of the 25th when I first arrived)
Gray Flycatcher 0-10/day (seen most days)
Dusky Flycatcher 1 on 5/29 (below Mount Livermore in potential breeding 
habitat; a few others, migrants and potential breeders) reported by other 
surveyrs
Cordilleran Flycatcher 0-4/day
BUFF-BREASTED FLYCATCHER 1 on 6/1 on territory at a traditional site in lower 
Wolf Den Canyon (present since 5/11), a 2nd individual was reported 400 m 
further up canyon (a very hot backing fire went through Wolf Den Canyon so it 
is hard to imagine these birds having much success there, but I guess we'll see)
Empidonax sp. 0-2/day
Say's Phoebe 1-3/day
Dusky-capped Flycatcher 2 Pine Peak Spring on 5/27, 1 possibly heard on the 
upper slopes of Right Hand Canyon on 5/27, 1 Tobe Canyon on 5/28 (reports of 
several others heard in higher elevation habitat)
Ash-throated Flycatcher 2-39/day
Cassin's Kingbird 2-12/day
Plumbeous Vireo 0-11/day (including a pair with nestling on Pine Peak)
Hutton's Vireo 0-6/day
Warbling Vireo 0-3/day (migrants and locally breeding birds)
Stellar's Jay 0-/day (higher elevations)
Western Scrub-jay 2-11/day
Common Raven 2-34/day (several big groups playing in the thermals created 
by the ridges and mountains)
Violet-green Swallow 0-9/day
Barn Swallow 0-3/day
Mountain Chickadee 0-8/day
Black-crested Titmouse 0-25/day (only day I didn't have this species was when I 
first arrived on the afternoon of the 25th)
Bushtit 0-9/day (seen all but one day)
White-breasted Nuthatch 0-11/day (seen all but one day)
Rock Wren 2 on 5/29, 1 on 6/1
Canyon Wren 0-3/day
Bewick's Wren 1-33/day
House Wren 1 singing on territory above Tobe Spring on 5/28
Western Bluebird 0-6/day
Swainson's Thrush 1 on 5/29
Hermit Thrush 1 on 5/28 and 1 on 5/31 (low density breeder in higher elevations)
American Robin 1 on 5/29
Northern Mockingbird 0-1/day (sporadic)
Phainopepla 1 male on 5/31
COLIMA WARBLER 1 on 5/26 on Pine Peak (yes, I am aware of the hybrid 
Colima-Virginia's in the Davis Mountains and a few were seen by others during 
the period, but the Colima and Virginia's I saw and report here looked fairly 
pure)
Virginia's Warbler 1 on 5/26 on Pine Peak
MacGillivray's Warbler 1 above Tobe Spring on 5/28, likely breeding
'Audubon's' Yellow-rumped Warbler 0-4/day; breeding likely below Mount 
Livermore and Pine Peak
Grace's Warbler 0-16/day
RED-FACED WARBLER 1 female above Tobe Spring foraging in Gambel Oak on 5/28
Spotted Towhee 0-25/day
Rufous-crowned Sparrow 2-24/day
Canyon Towhee 0-2/day
Chipping Sparrow 3-30/day
Black-chinned Sparrow 0-3/day
Lark Sparrow 0-3/day
Hepatic Tanager 1-42/day
Western Tanager 0-5/day (observed most days)
Black-headed Grosbeak 0-16/day (observed most days)
Blue Grosbeak 1-11/day
'Lilian's' Eastern Meadowlark 0-2/day
Bronzed Cowbird 1 male on 6/2
Brown-headed Cowbird 0-5/day
Scott's Oriole 0-2/day
House Finch 0-5/day
Lesser Goldfinch 0-4/day


Richard Kostecke, Ph.D.
The Nature Conservancy
318 Congress Ave., Austin, Texas 78701
Email: rkost73@xxxxxxxxx or rkostecke@xxxxxxx

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