[texbirds] Steven F Austin State Parker and Attwaters Prairie Chicken NWR

From: "Silvers, Dean" <Dean.Silvers@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: texbirds <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 18:56:56 +0000
My wife and I attended a birthday party in Bellville on Saturday night, and 
decided to stay overnight in Sealy. So, on Saturday morning we left Houston and 
drove to Steven F Austin State Park. The historical area (with the statue and 
house) was quite birdy along the fence rows. Lots of Chipping Sparrows, and 
some Lincoln Sparrows. In the far Southwest corner I noticed several Titmice, 
Yellow Rumped Warblers etc, and then noticed a large streaked sparrow. It was a 
dark colored Fox Sparrow. I had only seen the Rufus streaked Fox Sparrows in 
the past, so I imagine it was a Slate Colored subspecies.

When we entered the recreational section of the park, we immediately turned 
left into the day use area. There, next to the road was a flock of American 
Pipets. They were strolling along the side of the road, feeding as they went. 
We got some good pics. The park trails were crowded and we only saw the usual 
Carolina Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, Yellow Rumped warblers, etc. From the 
overlook, we did see a soaring Red Tailed Hawk, and a Red Shouldered Hawk flew 
from the opposite side of the Brazos to land near us on our side.

The next day we drove on 3013 E from Sealy to Attwaters, The early morning 
weather was clear and cool. We started seeing Red Tailed Hawks right away, and 
lost count of the number along the road. We also saw eight Caracara, three 
feeding on carrion and the rest scattered along the road side. About halfway 
down the road we saw a flooded area on the south side of the road, and noticed 
there were several Mallards, White Ibis, and Long Billed Dowitchers in or near 
the water. When we stopped to take a photo, a Coyote popped up just behind the 
ducks and ran right through the middle of the flooded pond, scattering the 
ducks and ibis. It was quite a sight, and I got a great pic of the running 
coyote. For some reason, the Dowitchers never flew. I then noticed some Mottled 
Ducks on the north side of the road, and two Wilson's Snipes. 

We were the only visitors at Attwaters during that time in the morning, and 
enjoyed the Northern Harriers, American Kestrels, Red Tailed Hawks, large 
numbers of Savanah Sparrows, Pied Billed Grebes and White Crowned Sparrows. I 
guess I will have to wait until April to see the Prairie Chickens, but had a 
great time birding that area.


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[texbirds] Steven F Austin State Parker and Attwaters Prairie Chicken NWR

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