[texbirds] Old Padre Island Rd. (Cameron Co.): Botteri's + Cassin's (05/23/13)

From: "Rex Stanford" <calidris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "TEXBIRDS" <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 24 May 2013 00:40:01 -0500
Following up on Huck Hutchens' TEXBIRDS report of Tuesday (05/21/13) of
Botteri's Sparrow now being present along Old Port Isabel Road (OPIR), we
during early to mid afternoon on Thursday (05/23/13) birded OPIR in search
primarily of both Botteri's and Cassin's Sparrows but hoping that we also
might find an Aplomado Falcon. It was a wonderful afternoon for birding that
area, and we elected to start our tour from the intersection of Hwy. 100 and
OPIR, heading south so as to be downwind (given the moderate southeast wind)
from the sparrows in order to hear their vocalizations easily and early
before we got so close that they might be flushed. The weather cooperated
with a sky that varied from overcast to just a bit of sun, rather than a
glare-filled cloudless sky, and the wind was enough to help us avoid
personal overheating despite the heat but moderate enough so as not to deter
photography with a hand-held camera or to prevent good binocular viewing.

We found our one and only Botteri's Sparrow along OPIR just as we were
directly west of the (apparently unused, at present) Aplomado Hacking tower
situated east of  the road (unlike the one along OPIR near its junction with
Hwy. 511, which is situated west of the road). This sparrow was extremely
cooperative, and we were able to get over 30 photos of it, some very
satisfactory and detailed, providing good documentation as to species. The
Botteri's occasionally flew to a different perch but usually sat for an
extended period on a given perch, allowing easy study and photographic
documentation. Striking features easily visible in multiple of our photos
were (a) a large, stout bill, (b) some quite warm, rich rufous in the
scapulars, and (c) warm, buff-colored flanks without any trace of the dark
markings present on the flanks of Cassin's Sparrow. I even got one flight
photo of this bird. In line with its known preference to display other than
through the skylarking during a burst of song that characterizes Cassin's
Sparrow, this Botteri's never skylarked during our study of it (from ca.
1:57 - 2:18 PM, based on photographic time stamps). It liked to sit on a
relatively high fence wire or atop a fence pole and only occasionally
vocalized (so far as we noted, but it was downwind of us considerable of the
time). It changed perches from time to time, but generally spent some time
at each.

We found our one and only Cassin's Sparrow somewhat before 2:46 PM (camera
time stamp first photo, but getting that took some time with this
super-active species). We continued to study and photograph it until 2:51
PM. This much less warm-colored bird, which lacked both the warm scapular
rufous and the attractive buffy flanks of the Botteri's Sparrow, never sat
long on any one perch and moved to another perch (or to the ground) after
each barrage of skylarking song. It bolted high into the air, fluttered and
sang a lovely song, and often went virtually straight down toward the ground
(or another convenient location). After watching it skylark/sing for some
time, we finally got the hang of how it performed and were able, once, to
get a series of quite clear (if softly focused) photos of its attitude at
various times in its  skylarking performance. Those photos showed features
of its rectrices (tail feathers) that are characteristic of the species,
such as outer rectrices being white tipped, and the sequence as a whole
nicely demonstrated what a daredevil acrobat this super-active species
really is. I got my last photo of it about 2:50 PM, so our photos spanned
about a 5-minute period, but our observation of it was somewhat longer and
included multiple episodes of its skylarking while delivering its lovely
flight song. This Cassin's was found in the vicinity of a small--apparently
human arranged--pond very close to the east side of the road and only a
small fraction of a mile north of the shooting range not far north of OPIR's
intersection with Hwy. 511. (OPIR also has a shooting range at its north
end, very close to Hwy. 100.)

We finished our birding of OPIR with the observation of a single Aplomado
Falcon toward the south end of the portion of OPIR that lies north of Hwy.
511.

We ended this tour of OPIR very happy with memories and photos of these two
fascinating sparrows that breed in the area. The Cassin's is quite easily
found on many visits during its breeding season, thanks to its persistent
skylarking with concurrent song. It is fun to watch and enjoyable to hear.
The Botteri's discussed here was the most cooperative of its kind we 
personally have
encountered.

The condition of OPIR was that the road was dry and lacked both wet areas
and wet ruts, but some portions, especially toward the north end, are deeply
rutted. The first  two miles (or perhaps slightly more) of OPIR that are
north of Hwy. 511 are well graded and presently are free of potentially
intimidating ruts.

Use of recordings of these species' vocalizations in efforts to see them or
bring them in close would, in our view, be unethical because of potential
harm to their breeding. We used no such recordings and had good results in
our search for both species, and  we suspect that this will be a common
outcome, at least  if viewers are careful about not intimidating the birds
by their behavior, bodily and auditorially, while near them. As most birders
know very well, being still, quiet, and observant visually and auditorially
can be keys to success when one is in the area of such birds. If the birds
one seeks are active vocalizers, the approach from downwind that we used
can be helpful to hearing the birds early on and being less likely to
disturb them, auditorially, oneself before they can be observed.

Wishing everyone the best of birding,
Rex and Birgit Stanford
McAllen, TX

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[texbirds] Old Padre Island Rd. (Cameron Co.): Botteri's + Cassin's (05/23/13)

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