Greetings All:
With a couple of lessons learned from my efforts along the Canyon Lakes of
Lubbock this past year, I have decided to chase and photograph critters in
Hockley County (the county just west of Lubbock County) this year. Again,
I am setting ambitious goals: 50 species of butterfly, 5 species of
amphibian, 10 species of reptile, 200 species of bird, and 10 species of
mammal with 90% of the species identifiably photographed.
Hockley County is roughly 100% agriculture or oilfield but there are some
very interesting hotspots, generally near the few towns and one city in the
county. Sundown has a park/golf course/water treatment facility complex
and an incredibly well-planted school/cemetery complex - both warrant eBird
hotspot status, in my opinion. Smyer has a well publicized feedlot playa
just west of town. Levelland has a tree-rich city park, a tree-rich
college campus with decent butterfly gardens, and at least two good
playa-centered parks. Road birding can also be surprisingly good in the
county with abandoned homesteads, woodlots, and a plethora of playas
readily viewed and photographed from roadside. There is a particularly
good stretch of brushland and woodlots available along FM 597 in the
northwest corner of the county - with any luck and any weather this should
be a real hotspot.
Drought has slammed back into the region but enough water was left over
from June to keep things interesting. August could be a different story as
water present at the beginning of July was gone or fading fast by the end
of July. I have met all of my taxonomic goals with the exception of birds
and that is going to depend on a) rain and wandering waders and b) at least
a few fronts that stall some fall songbirds.
I made several fairly lengthy visits to the county - and racked up 45
species of butterfly, 10 species of amphibian, 12 species of reptile, 99
species of bird, and 6 species of mammal, bringing me up to 50 species of
butterfly, 10 species of amphibian, 14 species of reptile, 166 species of
bird, and 12 species of mammal in the county for 2016. This brings me
100%, 200%, 120%, 83%, and 120% of the way towards my goals with regards to
taxa. Of the 252 species seen so far, I have identifiable photographs of
243, keeping me at 96% for species photographed - closer than I ever got to
the 90% goal during my 2015 game. Taking shots, however long range, of
every critter seen, however common, continues to be a good strategy.
Without further ado, the list with *s for species that are new for the year
and (y)s for species photographed.
Outis Skipper
Funereal Duskywings*(y)
Common Checkered Skipper
Common Sootywings
Orange Skipperling
Fiery Skipper*(y)
Sachem
Delaware Skipper
Nysa Roadside Skipper
Dotted Roadside Skipper
Eufala Skipper*(y)
Pipevine Swallowtail(y)
Black Swallowtail
Giant Swallowtail*
Cabbage White
Checkered White
Orange Sulphur
Southern Dogface
Lyside Sulphur
Mexican Sulphur*(y)
Sleepy Orange
Dainty Sulphur
Gray Hairstreak
Marine Blue
Western Pygmy Blue*(y)
Reakirt's Blue
Lupine Blue
American Snout
Hackberry Emperor
Monarch
Queen
Variegated Fritillary
Bordered Patch
Phaon Crescent
Painted Crescent
Pearl Crescent
Vesta Crescent
Gorgone Checkerspot
Fulvia Checkerspot*(y)
Common Buckeye
Question Mark(y)
Red Admiral
Painted Lady*(y)
American Lady
Goatweed Leafwing
Barred Tiger Salamander
Plains Spadefoot
New Mexico Spadefoot*(y)
Couch's Spadefoot*
Great Plains Toad
Texas Toad*(y)
Green Toad*(y)
Spotted Chorus Frog
Great Plains Narrow-mouthed Toad*(y)
Plains Leopard Frog
Red-eared Slider
Yellow Mud Turtle
Ornate Box Turtle*(y)
Texas Horned Lizard
Great Plains Skink
Six-lined Racerunner
Checkered Garter Snake
Coachwhip
Gopher Snake
Common Kingsnake
Milk Snake
Prairie Rattlesnake*(y)
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Gadwall
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Redhead
Ruddy Duck
Scaled Quail
Northern Bobwhite
Ring-necked Pheasant
Pied-billed Grebe
Eared Grebe
Greta Blue Heron
Cattle Egret
Black-crowned Night Heron
Yellow-crowned Night Heron
White-faced Ibis
Mississippi Kite
Swainson's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Coot
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Snowy Plover
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Solitary Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Upland Sandpiper
Long-billed Curlew
Marbled Godwit*(y)
Stilt Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Baird's Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
Wilson's Phalarope
Black Tern*(y)
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared Dove
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Greater Roadrunner
Barn Owl
Great Horned Owl
Burrowing Owl
Common Nighthawk
Chimney Swift(y)
Black-chinned Hummingbird
Rufous Hummingbird*(y)
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
Willlow Flycatcher
Least Flycatcher
Say's Phoebe
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Western Kingbird
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Loggerhead Shrike
Blue Jay
Chihuahuan Raven
Horned Lark
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Bank Swallow *(y)
Cliff Swallow
Cave Swallow*
Barn Swallow
American Robin
Curve-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Cassin's Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
Lark Bunting
Grasshopper Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Blue Grosbeak
Painted Bunting*(y)
Dickcissel
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Common Grackle
Great-tailed Grackle
Bronzed Cowbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Orchard Oriole
Bullock's Oriole
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
House Sparrow
Black-tailed Jackrabbit
Desert Cottontail
Black-tailed Prairie Dog
Hispid Cotton Rat
Coyote
Mule Deer
Anthony 'Fat Tony' Hewetson; Lubbock
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