[texbirds] Davis Mountains & Big Bend National Park Trip Report, 6/5/14 - 6/7/14 (LONG)

From: "John Mariani" <jmariani@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2014 02:34:26 -0500
This weekend I made a trip to the Davis Mountains. Originally I had planned on 
going from there to the Guadalupe Mountains,  but I got some of my target birds 
for the Guadalupes in the Davis Mountains, so I opted for Big Bend instead.
On Thursday, on my way to the Davis Mountains, I took a detour off I-10 onto 
290, which makes a loop back to I-10 (I think this is all in Crockett Co.). Had 
Gray Vireo in the canyon below the picnic area about 9 miles from I-10. At Fort 
Lancaster Historic Site I had Curve-billed Thrasher, Black-throated and Lark 
Sparrows, and Orchard Oriole. 

While driving along Limpia Creek between Balmorhea and Fort Davis I spotted a 
Common Black Hawk perched in a tall cottonwood. I stopped to check it out, and 
watched it fly to a nest in another cottonwood. There was at least one downy 
chick in the nest. 

The bird blinds at Davis Mountains State Park were attracting a lot of birds. 
Montezuma Quail have been coming to the bird blind on the right, just before 
the campgrounds. According to the log there, they have been seen almost daily, 
usually in the morning or late in the evening. On Thursday evening they were a 
no-show. I stopped there again at 8:30 the next morning, and a pair of 
Montezuma Quail were already there. Some people approaching the blind scared 
them off, but they returned briefly at 9:14. Other birds coming to the 
feeders/running water at the blinds included Acorn and Ladder-backed 
Woodpeckers, Cassinâs Kingbirds, a pair of Hepatic Tanagers, Blue and 
Black-headed Grosbeaks, Canyon Towhee, Lesser Goldfinch, Rufous-crowned, 
Chipping, and Black-throated Sparrows, and Scottâs Oriole. Only hummingbird 
species I saw at the feeders was Black-chinned.

Walking from the park entrance back through the campgrounds I saw Greater 
Roadrunner, LOTS more Cassinâs Kingbirds, Western Wood-Pewees, Sayâs 
Phoebe, Western Scrub Jay, Cactus and Bewickâs Wrens, Summer Tanager, and 
more Blue Grosbeaks. At night it was really quiet in the park â didnât hear 
Common Poorwill or any owls.

On the afternoon of 6/5 and early morning of 6/6 I birded the Lawrence E. Wood 
Picnic Area. Birds seen there and at the beginning of the Madera Canyon Trail 
included Cooperâs Hawk on a nest, Gray Flycatcher, Western Wood-Pewee, 
Ash-throated Flycatcher, Cassinâs Kingbird, Plumbeous Vireo,  White-breasted 
Nuthatch, Western Bluebird, Graceâs Warbler, Hepatic Tanager, Black-headed 
Grosbeak, and Chipping Sparrow. 

Driving 118 from Davis Mountains State Park toward Mt. Locke, where the road 
starts a winding ascend through patches of brush with flowering agaves, I had 
Scottâs Oriole and Rufous-crowned and Black-chinned Sparrows. Farther 
upslope, in a more wooded area, I saw a Hepatic Tanager singing alongside the 
road.

On the afternoon of 6/6 I hiked the Pinnacles Trail up to Boot Canyon in the 
Chisos. The ascent to the trail summit was a three-hour ordeal (not fun, felt 
like I was gonna have heat stroke). Did see Bushtit on the way up, and had a 
brief look at a Zone-tailed Hawk from the trailâs summit. Spent the night in 
Boot Canyon. Right at dusk the Mexican Whip-poor-wills started 
calling...everywhere...at times there were 3 or 4 going simultaneously. Joined 
a group of birders from Kingsville for owling, and in about an hour and a half 
we managed to see Whip-poor-will, Western Screech-Owl, and Flammulated Owl. 
Later I heard a pair of Western Screech-Owls dueting near my campsite, and the 
Whips were still calling â sometimes sounding like they were only a stoneâs 
throw from my tent - when I finally fell asleep. 

On the morning of 6/7, after the Whips finally shut up, I hiked the Juniper 
Canyon Trail from Boot Springs to the South Rim. The very orange probable 
Hepatic x Western Tanager was singing right above Boot Springs, with a pair of 
Hepatic Tanagers nearby. Along the Juniper Canyon Trail I had 4 Band-tailed 
Pigeons, Blue-throated and Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, Cordilleran Flycatcher, 
about a half dozen Colima Warblers, and an adult Painted Redstart with 3-4 
recently fledged young (saw another redstart at Boot Springs, and one was heard 
singing down by the campgrounds). Had a Crissal Thrasher where the Juniper 
Canyon Trail meets the South Rim Trail. 

Returned to Chisos Basin via Laguna Meadows â another grueling ordeal, but at 
least this time it was mostly downhill. Had another Hepatic Tanager down the 
trail, which made a total of 8 or 8.5 Hepatics for the trip, depending on how 
you count that weird hybrid at Boot Springs.

The group from Kingsville told me that they had Lucifer and Blue-throated 
Hummingbirds the day before near the water treatment plant below the Chisos 
Basin Campground. After recovering from the the long hike down to the Chisos 
Basin I went to check it out. There is a little drainage lined with reeds below 
the water treatment plant, and I saw a male Black-chinned and female Lucifer 
coming to the yellow flowers of the tree tobacco growing along this drainage. 
Other birds I saw there included a Yellow-billed Cuckoo and male Indigo Bunting.

In the desert scrub around the ranger station at Panther Junction I had 
Verdins, Black-tailed Gnatcatchers, and Pyrrhuloxias. 

On Highway 385, about 6.8 miles north of Marathon,  I found Susan Foster and 
her birding posse scoping a prairie dog town for Burrowing Owl. Lucky for me 
they were there when I drove by, because the approximate mileage I had to this 
site was incorrect - if I hadnât seen them on the side of the road I would 
have driven right past the spot. Got to see the owl through their scope, and a 
little farther north, in the same prairie dog town, I had a pair of Scaled 
Quail. Farther north there were Cassinâs Sparrows singing in the grassland, 
and at about 22 miles from Marathon I saw a male Bronzed Cowbird on the 
roadside. 

Special thanks to Sheridan Coffey for directions to some of my target birds, 
and to the birders from Kingsville (wish I could remember the names!) -  

John Mariani
Lumberton, TX


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[texbirds] Davis Mountains & Big Bend National Park Trip Report, 6/5/14 - 6/7/14 (LONG)

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