[texbirds] Runnels Co. - Sunday 4/27

From: Chuck Sexton <gcwarbler@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: TexBirds TexBirds Posting <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2014 21:33:12 -0500
TexBirders,

My Runnels County list was starting from scratch; I ended up scratching out a 
list of about 91 spp on a hot, windy Sunday.

The *extreme* highlight is (upper) LAKE BALLINGER, accessed from CR 311 (which 
I erroneously cited as CR 291 in earlier communication) off of FM 2111.  
Latilong for the boat ramp on the E side is 31.7617N, -100.037W.  GO THERE NOW 
if you have any interest in this county.  The lake levels are very low on both 
Lake Ballingers, but the upper lake has extensive wide mudflats and the county 
road allows easy approach and viewing of the entire lake.  Morning light is 
perfect for viewing the (nearby) mudflats from the boat ramp on the E side of 
the lake.  On a Sunday morning, there were a total of 3 other cars that came by 
briefly during my visit (about 9 to 11 a.m.).  A spotting scope is essential, 
of course.  (The lower—newer—Lake Ballinger on CR 290 has some variety of 
waterbirds but lacks the mudflats to host shorebirds.)

I tallied nearly 800 shorebirds of 15 spp, probably a minimum count:

Black-necked Stilt - 9
Amer. Avocet - 35
Snowy Plover - at least 5
Semipalmated Plover - 1 or 2
Killdeer - 4
Spotted Sandpiper - 3
Lesser Yellowlegs - 1
Stilt Sandpiper - 8+
Baird’s Sandpiper - 200
Least Sandpiper - 60
Pectoral Sandpiper - 5
Semipalmated Sandpiper - at least 1
Western Sandpiper - at least 3
Long-billed Dowitcher - 300+
Wilson’s Phalarope - 150

I worked hard to pull something rarer out of all these (e.g. Short-billed 
Dowitcher, Red-necked Phalarope, or ???) but no luck.  I did have a Wilson’s 
Snipe nearby (see below) for a 16th shorebird species.  The upper lake also had 
a small group of Amer. White Pelicans and a smattering of expected waterfowl.  
My ONLY warbler(s) for the entire Saturday-Sunday effort were two 
Yellow-breasted Chats squawking in the brush along the dam.

Here’s a new HotSpot I’ll recommend for Runnels County:  I’m calling it the 
QUARRY CREEK WETLAND.  This is a stunningly unexpected wet meadow of bushy 
bluestem, sedges, and cattails surrounding 3 farm ponds flanking FM 383 at 1.3 
mi N of TX 158.  This is about 13 mi NW of Ballinger.  I parked on the roadside 
near the ponds at 31.8465N, -100.1196W.  These are probably the headwater 
springs for Quarry Creek which feeds into the Lakes Ballinger to the SE.  The 
site is surrounded for miles by dry-land agricultural fields (bare dirt and 
wheat) so it sticks out like a (welcomed) sore thumb.  I elicited a response 
from a Sora in the cattails on the E side of the road.  Red-winged Blackbirds 
and Great-tailed Grackles are nesting in the marshes and a late pair of Amer. 
Wigeon were on the small pond on the W side.  These 3 ponds collectively should 
harbor some waterfowl in the winter.  Marsh Wrens and Yellowthroats should show 
up here although I missed them.  I wouldn’t be surprised if an American Bittern 
or something more exotic will stop in now and then.  Some of the marsh is 
literally at the edge of the road.  The other lakes I visited in the county 
have essentially no amount of wetland vegetation surrounding them, so this spot 
is special.

BALLINGER CITY PARK along Elm Creek on the N edge of town has a nice pecan 
bottom and should be good occasionally for migrants.  It was already hot and 
windy when I got there at midday; I found only a Great Crested Flycatcher of 
interest.

I spent time in mid-afternoon in the oak-juniper woodlands on the limestone 
hills near FM 382 x FM 1770 in the NE part of the county.  It was terribly 
windy (40 mph) and warm (90F) and few birds were in evidence except…a singing 
BLACK-CAPPED VIREO.  The vireo was along the roadside.  I’m sure there is a 
Hill Country-like avifauna associated with this habitat which deserves a better 
effort on a calm morning.

Chuck Sexton
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[texbirds] Runnels Co. - Sunday 4/27

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