Hi, all!
Got checked out the next morning, grabbed a banana on the fly, and headed up
to Dolan Creek Road, where I arrived about a half hour before dawn. This
time I decided to keep an accurate count instead of just stopping at ten,
and that was rather fun: Cardinals definitely won the contest at a whopping
53 individuals, and what was even more surprising was that EBird didn't
question it! J (Often on these BBS-style road-birding routes, I'd get a
gazillion White-eyed Vireos, say, and I inevitably get flagged.) I filled
up a whole page while just waiting for sunrise (again, you'd never know it),
the most exciting "early bird" being a Black-capped Vireo (I would log five
along the course of the route)! Bell's were out the yin yang (sure aren't
endangered out here), and it was fun to hear the Turkeys gobbling!
Aside from a singing Ground Dove and a couple of Roadrunners (one making
that tenor "cuk-cuk-cuk-cuk-cuk" call that I've only heard a couple of times
before), there was nothing along this road that I didn't bag elsewhere, but
it's good to know that there's another accessible place for Gray Vireo (I
logged four along the route)! Again, I actually saw very little but heard a
lot of stuff; aside from the things that are normally front and center (like
doves, raptors, mockers, cowbirds, and House Finches), the only things to
really show themselves were the ever-cooperative Black-throated Sparrows, a
Vermilion Flycatcher on a wire, a shrike on a post, a Turkey crossing the
road, the occasional cooperative Cardinal, and a Pyrrhuloxia or two shooting
across the road. Not even the Roadrunners showed themselves! But several
species were pretty abundant simply based on what I was hearing at each
stop, the more interesting being Black-crested Titmouse, Ash-throated
Flycatcher, Yellow-breasted Chat, Verdin, and Bewick's Wren. In lesser
numbers were Rufous-crowned, Cassin's, Lincoln's, Lark, and Olive Sparrows;
Scott's Oriole, Canyon and Spotted Towhees, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers,
Bobwhite, White-eyed Vireo, Summer Tanager, Scrub Jay, and Cactus and Canyon
Wrens (and there were some nice little canyons along the road). Singletons
included Common Ground Dove (new for the trip), Ladder-backed Woodpecker,
Field Sparrow, Black Vulture (hanging with the Turkey Vulture roost), a
fly-by Red-tailed Hawk, Lesser Goldfinch, Scaled Quail, and a probable
Cooper's Hawk batting across the road on the way out.
Heading up and over to Rocksprings, I knew Devil's Sinkhole was definitely a
"reservation only" place, but I was curious to see if the entrance roads
might be decent, but apparently even those are locked up tight as well;
there's not even a sign to the place! But the roads around there are
gorgeous, and I did find a lovely but hair-raising road to Barksdale (FM
335) that hugs the Nueces River! I wish I had the camera ready to take some
"dash cam" shots, because the scenery was spectacular, and you really had to
see some of these grades to believe them (it gave a whole new meaning to the
term "Hill Country")! I honestly felt like I was on a roller coaster at
times, because you'd come to the crest of a hill with a limestone cliff
right next to you on the right, and a drop-off next to the other lane, and
you'd suddenly be going straight down and straight up the next hill! I had
the window open and managed to add Yellow-throated Warbler on the fly, but
this was a lush, wooded habitat with great promise (but not many places to
pull over)! When I came to FM 3235 (according to the Delorme Atlas - Google
Maps says 2631 on the west end) I made a left, presuming it would connect to
FM 336 and make a nice loop back up to SR 41, only after a couple of miles
it stopped dead at a ranch gate! But even with that it made for a nice
30-mile route (added Golden-cheeked Warbler for the day at the gate). The
only thing that put a damper on the drive was the fact that apparently
sunscreen had yet again gotten into my eye (why is it always the left eye??)
and it was killing me (and a burning eye is not the safest thing to be
dealing with on a narrow, curvy road)! But as I backtracked and headed up
to Junction on US 377 (which is also a very scenic yet windy road), the more
I thought about it, the more reticent I was to make the hour-long drive back
down there in pitch (with the danger of more deer - I had already seen at
least two deer kills along the road that brought back nightmares of last
year), so decided to play it safe and go visit my old friend, South Llano
River SP, tomorrow, and maybe hit Kerr WMA on Friday since I was staying in
Junction two nights. (And driving an hour on the interstate to get to Kerr
is a whole lot safer than driving that curvy two-lane highway in the dark!)
Oh, and about that mystery sound: I've gotten feedback from more than one
person that it's actually a female Montezuma Quail, which is really
something for Seminole Canyon! There's a barely audible recording on Xeno
Canto that matches my bird to a "T" (and one Texbirder recognized it right
away even without Xeno Canto), so I'm jazzed! (Now to update that EBird
report. ;-)
Bird List:
Scaled Quail Callipepla squamata
Northern Bobwhite Colinus virginianus
Wild Turkey Meleagris gallopavo
Black Vulture Coragyps atratus
Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
Cooper's Hawk Accipiter cooperii
Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis
Eurasian Collared-Dove Streptopelia decaocto
White-winged Dove Zenaida asiatica
Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura
Common Ground-Dove Columbina passerina
Greater Roadrunner Geococcyx californianus
Ladder-backed Woodpecker Picoides scalaris
American Kestrel Falco sparverius
Vermilion Flycatcher Pyrocephalus rubinus
Ash-throated Flycatcher Myiarchus cinerascens
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Tyrannus forficatus
Loggerhead Shrike Lanius ludovicianus
White-eyed Vireo Vireo griseus
Bell's Vireo Vireo bellii
Black-capped Vireo Vireo atricapilla
Gray Vireo Vireo vicinior
Western Scrub-Jay Aphelocoma californica
Black-crested Titmouse Baeolophus atricristatus
Verdin Auriparus flaviceps
Canyon Wren Catherpes mexicanus
Bewick's Wren Thryomanes bewickii
Cactus Wren Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Polioptila caerulea
Northern Mockingbird Mimus polyglottos
Yellow-throated Warbler Setophaga dominica
Golden-cheeked Warbler Setophaga chrysoparia
Yellow-breasted Chat Icteria virens
Olive Sparrow Arremonops rufivirgatus
Spotted Towhee Pipilo maculatus
Rufous-crowned Sparrow Aimophila ruficeps
Canyon Towhee Melozone fusca
Cassin's Sparrow Peucaea cassinii
Field Sparrow Spizella pusilla
Lark Sparrow Chondestes grammacus
Black-throated Sparrow Amphispiza bilineata
Lincoln's Sparrow Melospiza lincolnii
White-crowned Sparrow
Summer Tanager Piranga rubra
Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis
Pyrrhuloxia Cardinalis sinuatus
Great-tailed Grackle Quiscalus mexicanus
Brown-headed Cowbird Molothrus ater
Scott's Oriole Icterus parisorum
House Finch Haemorhous mexicanus
Lesser Goldfinch Spinus psaltria
House Sparrow Passer domesticus
52 SPECIES
SO FAR: 97 SPECIES
Mary Beth Stowe
McAllen, TX
miriameaglemon.com
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