[texbirds] WestTX Whirlwind Tour
- From: Clay Taylor <Clay.Taylor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 7 May 2014 13:00:12 -0400
Hi all -
This is a bit belated, but it has been a busy few weeks lately.
Anyway, at 5:30pm on Sunday, April 27, Mark Scheuerman and I picked up Joel
Simon in Swinney Switch and headed west. We were going to compete in the
Great Texas Birding Classic Far-West TX Regional Big-Day event, so our plan was
to get out there by dawn and bird all day. We stopped at the Original Rudy's
BBQ and Country Store in Leon Springs and fueled ourselves up with brisket and
creamed corn. Yum! The Swarovski Optik Western Hawks were ready to fly!
Out I-10 we went, turned left at Ft. Stockton, and headed for Big Bend National
Park. At 2am, the only other things on the road were critters (I saw one
vehicle on the entire stretch): MANY Jackrabbits, lots of smaller rabbits
(Cottontails?), quite a few deer, and surprising to me, 5 elk! The first one
was a single, grazing alongside the highway, and a little farther on there were
4. I did not know that elk were out in that area, and they definitely were
NOT Nilgai or cattle or ranchers coming back from a costume party and stopping
along the side of the road to pee.
We stopped a few times, listening for night birds, as the winds were
non-existent, but we did not hear anything. We took the road up to the Chisos
Basin, stopping to listen, but again: nothing. Dang. However, we did get to
see a spectacular fireball meteor with trail that lasted over 20 seconds after
the meteor burned up.
Dawn at Rio Grande Village was a song contest between Northern Cardinals and
Bell's Vireos - no clear winner, there. A Prairie Falcon flew upriver by the
bluffs, and the Turkey Vultures were joined by a Black Vulture. There were no
surprising birds found there, but we did miss the Common Black Hawk because we
did not know which nest to scrutinize. The Gray Hawks were easily spotted.
Back to the Chisos Basin, and at the pulloff just before the switchbacks
heading down into it, there was a Hepatic Tanager, White-throated Swift (I
missed it, Joel and mark saw it), and on our return going out, a Mexican Jay.
We cruised the campground and picked up both gnatcatchers and saw a female
Blue-throated Hummingbird working the flowering trees.
Leaving the park, there were Lesser Nighthawks cruising the brushlands in broad
daylight - I have never seen that before! From there it was a dash up to Lake
Balmorhea, and by now the winds were cranking - while driving across the dam,
the splashing waves were getting the car wet. A Bonaparte's Gull right there
was not expected, but we missed Franklin's Gull, so maybe that was the
consolation prize. We did get the 4 expected Grebes (PB, Eared, Clark's and
Western), a decent selection of ducks, and a Snowy Plover on the musflats at
the NW corner. Passerines included a bunch of beautiful Audubon's Warblers,
and a cool side-by-side: Lark Bunting and Lark Sparrow. Hmmm....would the
C-LARK's Grebe make that a Lark-Threesome?
We then cruised back toward Ft. Davis, doing the Boy Scout Road (lots o'
sparrows, no Golden Eagle) and then headed toward Madera Canyon. A passing
Zone-tailed Hawk just outside of Ft. Davis was cool, but we saw nothing else
that was unexpected.
Heading back into Ft. Davis, we were VERY hungry, and wondering if there would
be any places to eat that were open at 8:30pm on a Monday Night in Ft. Davis.
I was not looking forward to having to drive down to Alpine. However, there
on the main drag was Cueva de Leon, and the sign said "OPEN". Woo-hoo!
So we marched in and found a table. One of the guys at the next table over
looked at us and said in an unmistakeable Northern New England accent "Aw,
geez, they will let anybody in here!" It was Steve Grinley, owner of the
Birdwatcher's Supply & Gift store in Newburyport, MA (itself a pretty good
birding destination). Huh, small world.
The food was great (the Chile Relleno was superb), and the conversations were,
too.
So now back in the van and drive all night, returning Joel to his house at
7:30am on Tuesday, 38 hours after we left! Our list was 131 bird species, and
we missed some easy stuff, like Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (how is that possible
out there?) and Loggerhead Shrike (well, Mark saw one, but Joel and I did not).
Cameron Carver and his Far-West team spanked us pretty handily, but they hiked
up into altitude to get the local warblers, so kudos to them.
As I write this, I will start the GTBC 6-Day event on Friday, so our little
Western Blast was really a scouting trip. I hope we get that darned eagle this
time!
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