[texbirds] Re: Okey D. Luca Park, Van Horn
- From: Brush Freeman <brushfreeman@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: sandboa@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 5 May 2014 16:16:14 -0500
Great little place in a drought. Have had Painted Redstart etc. there.
Crossbills in winter in the pines in the cemetery to the north.
**********************************************************************
Brush Freeman
503-551-5150 Cell
120 N. Red Bud Trail. Elgin, Tx. 78621
http://texasnaturenotes.blogspot.com/
Finca Alacranes., Utley,Texas
On Mon, May 5, 2014 at 4:06 PM, Chris Harrison <sandboa@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Texbirders,
>
> After reading Andrew Core's short comments about Okey D. Lucas Memorial
> Park
> in Van Horn a few weeks back, I made a mental note to check it out.
>
> As it turned out, I would be in the Van Horn area last weekend so I was
> able
> to see what migration would produce in this little park. I was not
> disappointed. Although there was not a formal drip set up someone had just
> finished watering all of the young trees and so there was standing water at
> the base of most of the trees. This meant there was a large number of birds
> utilizing this limited resource. I didn't anticipate seeing so many
> colorful birds in such a tiny little park out in the middle of the West
> Texas desert. Sure there were the traditional city park birds such as
> House
> Sparrows, Eurasian Collared-doves, Grackles, and European Starlings but it
> also had a nice selection of desert birds and colorful migrants.
> I don't think I have ever seen that many breeding plumage Audubon's
> Warblers
> in Texas before. And watching a couple of Common Yellowthroat splashing
> around a puddle in the middle town in the desert was a bit strange. I
> intended to bird there for 20 minutes or so to see what it might produce
> and
> every time I tried to leave, I ran into something else to make me stay a
> bit
> longer. I ended up spending 90 minutes between 6:00 and 7:30pm.
>
> So if you are traveling west (or east?) on I-10 and find yourself in Van
> Horn, give this little park a once over. Worth a few minutes stop at
> least. It is at the western end of town across from the "convention
> center"
> near the Motel 6. Considering the size of this tiny little park and its
> position right between the railroad and the highway, it is a pretty good
> list. Trains came by a few times and really shook up the brids!
>
> Here's my species list:
>
> Gambel's Quail - 5 birds came out of the desert for the water
> Eurasian Collared-Dove - several pairs
> White-winged Dove - quite a few
> Western Kingbird - 3
> Chihuahuan Raven - flyover
> Cactus Wren - 1
> Curve-billed Thrasher - pair
> Northern Mockingbird - 2
> European Starling - 4
> Common Yellowthroat - 1 or 2
> Yellow Warbler - 2
> Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's) - dozens?
> Wilson's Warbler - 1
> Chipping Sparrow - 2
> Lark Sparrow - 3
> White-crowned Sparrow - 10
> Western Tanager - 1 gorgeous adult
> Pyrrhuloxia - 1
> Blue Grosbeak - 1
> Great-tailed Grackle - 8
> Bullock's Oriole - 1 gorgeous male
> Scott's Oriole - 1.1
> House Finch - many
> Lesser Goldfinch - a few
> House Sparrow - a few
>
> I didn't include this on my list, but I saw a tanager fly off out of one of
> the trees that, if you forced me to commit, I would have called a Hepatic
> Tanager. Not outrageous for this area, but certainly not expected at this
> elevation (~4000 ft).
>
> Chris Harrison
> San Antonio
>
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