Greetings All:
Sheri Anderson and I made an effort to add Motley County to her Texas
Century Club list this morning. Fortunately our very first stop was
at Whiteflat Lake. This is, so far as I know, the only publicly
viewable permanent body of water in the county that supports much in
the way of birds and, boy oh boy, does it support birds.
Whiteflat Lake is accessed by traveling north on Highway 70 from
Matador to Whiteflat, then driving 2 miles east on CR 214, then
driving 1 mile north on CR 205, then stopping and using your
binoculars or scope to scan the large, relatively deepwater lake just
to the west. THIS IS ABSOLUTELY PRIVATE PROPERTY - DO NOT CROSS THE
FENCE TO GET CLOSER VIEWS - THE LANDOWNERS WILL CALL THE SHERIFFS ON
YOU AND THEY WILL PROSECUTE.
FURTHER, TRESPASSING COULD CAUSE THE LANDOWNERS TO CUT OFF ACCESS TO
THE ROADS, COSTING BIRDERS EVEN THIS LIMITED ACCESS TO VIEWING THE
LAKE ... SO JUST DON'T!!
We got there before heathaze set in and had a fantastic hour or so
working through the assorted waterbirds with the very best bird being
a Common Loon working the deep water along the near shore. We also had
at least 8 Eared Grebes scattered about the lake, one Horned Grebe
amongst the Eared Grebes, and one Western Grebe near the south end of
the lake. We had at least eighteen species of waterfowl (Greater
White-fronted Goose, Snow Goose, Ross's Goose, Cackling Goose (very
few), 'Lesser' Canada Goose (many), Northern Shoveler, Gadwall,
American Wigeon, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal,
Canvasback, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Ruddy
Duck, and Common Merganser) and if you can match that anywhere else in
Motley County let me know.
Sheri easily put the county over the top in about an hour (she started
at 79 and ended well over 100) and then we traveled south to Kent
County where we beat ourselves silly for four plus hours to get the
three species she need to get over the top in that county. Water sure
makes a difference!
Regards Anthony Hewetson
