Hi, all!
Woke up pretty early, so decided to head out early (and the nice lady at the
front desk had given me a free bottle of water and a chewy granola bar for
being a Gold Club Elite member J, so that took care of breakfast). I was
tempted to stop somewhere on the way up to listen for Poorwill, but decided
against it as I figured I had a better chance at Seminole Canyon.
Getting up into the hills it was evident that the fog was rolling in, and
when I arrived it was pretty dusky, but Cardinals and Bewick's Wrens were
sounding off already, along with a Yellow-breasted Chat across the street
and what I assumed was a Long-billed Thrasher doing its faaaa fuss, but when
I got on EBird I saw they had both Brown and Long-billed listed, so a quick
look at the TOS Handbook revealed that Browns do indeed migrate through
here, whereas Longbills just squeak into Edwards County, so I'll leave that
one for the EBird editors to figure out. I thought I had some swallows
swooping around the tree and the little building there, but as I walked
around to get a better view, I saw they were bats! And I didn't even have
to go in the cave! J
In the pre-dawn I stopped every half mile and added the expected
Rufous-crowned Sparrows, titmice, Black-throated and Olive Sparrows,
Ash-throated Flycatcher, White-eyed Vireo, and even a pair of croaking
Common Ravens (so I feel better about yesterday's bird)! A Spotted Towhee
doing its rrreeerrrr call was new for the trip, and at one stop where a
Scott's Oriole was singing, one of the Hermit Thrushes was actually tuning
up - that was pretty neat to hear that ethereal song!
At sunrise proper (you'd never know it as the place was nearly socked in) I
zipped back to the start of the road and started again, this time stopping
every .3 miles and only adding things that were obviously new during the
first 2.5 miles I was able to cover pre-dawn. One of those newbies was a
Hutton's Vireo singing its monotonous and deliberate chree...chree...chree
song, and two Golden-cheeked Warblers that were song-battling! Further down
the road I was thrilled to bag a Gray Vireo singing up on the hillside, and
at another stop this funny little song had me stumped until I realized it
was a Ruby-crowned Kinglet! I was a little disheartened at the fact that I
really wasn't seeing much of anything due to the weather, but one spot gave
me a fussing Rufous-crowned Sparrow close on the ground, which in turned got
a pair of Canyon Towhees up.
Because of the wet I decided not to hike any of the trails, but instead
waited and listened at the trailheads for 15 minutes each just to see what
would vocalize (I was really hoping one of those Gray Vireos would come
close). At the Indigo Creek Connector the day's only Lark Sparrow sang, and
the only bird to show itself was a Mockingbird making like a stump and
singing very softly at least until its mate came in! At the Pine Canyon
trailhead, I didn't get a Gray, but both White-eyed and Black-capped Vireos
were singing together! An Orange-crowned Warbler showed itself (and its
orange crown), and heading up this little road to a water tank I heard yet
another Black-capped Vireo singing away, but he was being typical and
refused to show himself, even though I felt like I was practically sitting
on him! A Spotted Towhee shot through, but that was the only visible bird.
The Bell's Vireos were singing up a storm again near the headquarters
building, and logged a Hooded Oriole, which I didn't have yesterday. At the
Bat Cave Cutoff Trail I thought I was hearing some weird House Finches until
it dawned on me that they were Cave Swallows!
I was disappointed that I wasn't able to hike any of the trails (not unless
I wanted to get good and soaked, thank you very much), but that just gave me
more time to scout Seminole Canyon SP! Picked up a Turkey for the day
heading down FM 674, and it was pretty yucky all the way in to
Brackettville! Although it was still overcast, the mist let up through Del
Rio, but just past Amistad it started up again, and I had visions of no
hikes at all today L, but thankfully there was one pocket of sunshine, and
that was right over the park!
I had stopped here for an exercise walk on the way to somewhere-or-other
several years ago, so I never really explored the place, but I remembered
being thrilled at picking up an old San Diego friend, the White-throated
Swift, by the headquarters building! They didn't disappoint: they were
still there, swooping and twirling and even spinning in a ball of feathers!
(I didn't get a good look, but I assumed they were mating.) A Pyrrhuloxia
was chattering in the parking lot, and as I crawled along the road, the
flower display was just out of this world! (No wonder there was a pollen
alert out. J) Cassin's Sparrows were out the yin yang, and since they were
doing some kind of construction up in the campground, I couldn't hear much
of anything, but some Chipping Sparrows did come in to say hello. A
gnatcatcher belted past that I suspect was Black-tailed, but never got a
good look, and even stranger was hearing something I could have sworn was a
sapsucker! But I got distracted and neglected to try and track that one
down. L Down in the overflow lot a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher showed off.
Decided to take what time I had left before I had to head back to Del Rio to
hike as much of the Rio Grande Trail as possible, and while it was still
breezy, the sun was coming in and out, so it was quite comfortable. The
sparrow show was quite impressive: the first thing to pop up looked like a
Savannah Sparrow on steroids, but then it dawned on me that it was a female
Lark Bunting! (It was facing me; otherwise the pale wing panel woulda been
a dead giveaway.) The little buggers were obstinate, bouncing from bush to
bush and only periodically allowing a decent look (except for the
Blackthroats - they're always cooperative J), but during the course of the
mile-plus hike managed to log White-crowned, Chipping, Vesper, and
Clay-colored, in addition to the ubiquitous Cassin's. But I kept hearing
these buzzy-chattering songs that sounded kinda like Brewer's Sparrows
trying desperately to get in voice, and one finally allowed me to get a
visual! That was neat to see, not having had any since moving from San
Diego!
There were several tourists on the trail enjoying the hike (and conveniently
flushing some Scaled Quail for me J)! Everyone was raving about the
flowers, but the wind kept most of the butters down; most obvious were
Dainty Sulphurs and Sleepy Oranges, but I think I had an Orange Skipperling
(or maybe it was a Whirlabout - never got a look at the ventral), and while
recording one of the Scaled Quail a hairstreak landed on a bush in front of
me that I think was just a beat-up Gray (at least you hope so). A Reakirt's
Blue found a pile of scat, and some big black guys batted by, but I couldn't
get an ID on 'em. A pretty damsel landed that I think was a Familiar Bluet.
Was pretty shot after that, so headed back to Del Rio with 56 species for
the day, reasoning that the areas just past the Amistad Bridge might be good
places to stop and listen for Poorwill tomorrow.
Bird List:
Scaled Quail Callipepla squamata
Wild Turkey
Black Vulture Coragyps atratus
Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
Rock Pigeon Columba livia
Eurasian Collared-Dove Streptopelia decaocto
White-winged Dove Zenaida asiatica
Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura
White-throated Swift Aeronautes saxatalis
Ladder-backed Woodpecker Picoides scalaris
Crested Caracara Caracara cheriway
Eastern Phoebe Sayornis phoebe
Vermilion Flycatcher Pyrocephalus rubinus
Ash-throated Flycatcher Myiarchus cinerascens
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Tyrannus forficatus
White-eyed Vireo Vireo griseus
Bell's Vireo Vireo bellii
Black-capped Vireo Vireo atricapilla
Gray Vireo Vireo vicinior
Hutton's Vireo Vireo huttoni
Common Raven Corvus corax
Cave Swallow Petrochelidon fulva
Black-crested Titmouse Baeolophus atricristatus
Verdin Auriparus flaviceps
Bewick's Wren Thryomanes bewickii
Cactus Wren Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Polioptila caerulea
Ruby-crowned Kinglet Regulus calendula
Hermit Thrush Catharus guttatus
Curve-billed Thrasher Toxostoma curvirostre
Long-billed Thrasher Toxostoma longirostre
Northern Mockingbird Mimus polyglottos
Orange-crowned Warbler Oreothlypis celata
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
Chipping Sparrow Spizella passerina
Clay-colored Sparrow Spizella pallida
Brewer's Sparrow Spizella breweri
Field Sparrow Spizella pusilla
Vesper Sparrow Pooecetes gramineus
Lark Sparrow Chondestes grammacus
Black-throated Sparrow Amphispiza bilineata
Lark Bunting Calamospiza melanocorys
White-crowned Sparrow Zonotrichia leucophrys
Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis
Pyrrhuloxia Cardinalis sinuatus
Great-tailed Grackle Quiscalus mexicanus
Brown-headed Cowbird Molothrus ater
Hooded Oriole Icterus cucullatus
Scott's Oriole Icterus parisorum
House Finch Haemorhous mexicanus
56 SPECIES
So far: 89 SPECIES
Mary Beth Stowe
McAllen, TX
miriameaglemon.com
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