Hi, all!
Woke up early again, so did the routine and headed out. As planned, stopped
at a couple of places west of the Amistad Bridge in the dark, but
surprisingly there was too much traffic even at that hour, so I didn't hear
much of anything (I did startle a group of deer at the first overlook). But
having seen the road to Box Canyon coming back yesterday, I went about a
mile down that road when I got to it, and hit pay dirt: way in the distance
was a singing Poorwill! I was so happy to get that nemesis bird for Texas
(had 'em practically in my backyard in San Diego.)!
Headed on in to Seminole Canyon, actually arriving almost exactly a half
hour before dawn, and I needn't have worried: in amongst the morning
cacophony of Cassin's, Lark, and Black-throated Sparrows were two more
Poorwills! Good to know you can get them here, and not necessarily at oh
dark hundred! Like yesterday, the Purple Martins were gurgling pre-dawn,
but that was the only time I encountered them.
This road was even shorter than Kickapoo's (only two miles long), so I
stopped every .3 miles (had to move beyond the squeaky windmill a bit. J).
One of the better stops was the picnic area right next to the Headquarters
building, where you could hear both Rock and Canyon Wrens singing from
Seminole Canyon itself! Got up to the campground before the construction
crew arrived, so after using the restroom (and discovering that both Barn
and Cave Swallows were using the structure to nest in, I made a break for
the Birding Trail, where even before starting out added Lincoln's Sparrow
and Hooded Oriole to the list. The trail isn't very long and has a couple
of benches at the end, so I sat for five and enjoyed listening to the Bell's
Vireo singing (but didn't enjoy the female cowbird who looked like she was
looking for an "in".). Some gnatcatchers buzzed but wouldn't allow a
visual; they sounded more like Blue-gray to me, as the buzz sounded thinner
and more two-toned than the Blacktails I'm familiar with back in California
(not to mention that distinctive pish-like song). Alas, that was a big miss
this trip; I was hoping to bag that one as they seemed pretty common that
time I stopped for the aforementioned exercise walk. On the way back I
heard a Green-tailed Towhee mewing, so that was a great tick!
The workers showed up right at eight, so I headed back to headquarters to
get my pass, but asked the ranger if I could hike the Windmill Trail first,
then pick up the pass on the way back to the car. She was fine with that,
so I headed down the steps (the good news was that they were smooth and easy
to negotiate), and was surprised to hear a Killdeer (although maybe I
shouldn't have been; there was water down there after all)! More desert
sparrows chattered and sang (including more Brewer's), and was tickled to
hear a Say's Phoebe give its mournful whistle from somewhere! The Windmill
Trail goes left where the guided tour begins, so I headed along the ridge
(nice and flat), and was surprised to hear yet another Black-capped Vireo!
(Again, maybe I shouldn't have been, as they occur as far west as Big Bend
and in similar habitat.) There's a nice little rock bench before long, and
that was a great place to rest and enjoy the canyon wall and the Canyon Wren
that was hopping along and singing away! A Cardinal singing down in the
canyon was echoing so much I thought it was a Carolina Wren at first until I
got a better "listen"! On the way back a Canyon Towhee allowed close
approach (although still hidden in the bush).
After that hike I decided to "BBS" the road again now that it was past
sunrise, taking care only to add things that were obviously new since my
pre-dawn pass. At one stop I heard something that absolutely stumped me: it
was a slow, descending, low whistle of about five notes (about half the
speed and two octaves lower than a Canyon Wren)! Each note was steady,
though, not descending like each note of the Canyon Wren (or even the coo of
a Roadrunner - it was almost more like THAT cadence, but of course an octave
or so higher than a Roadrunner.). Unfortunately it was too far away to
record, but what a "mystery sound" that would have made!
About that time the fog rolled in and it started misting just like it had at
Kickapoo the day before, so I forewent hiking the Rio Grande Trail and
instead drove to the end of the primitive camping area just to listen for a
couple of minutes. The highlight there was a pair of Scaled Quail talking
to each other practically at my feet (but invisible of course)!
It wasn't even 10:00 by the time I wrapped that up, so headed on up to
Devil's River SRA to scout it out. I must have conveniently forgotten that,
like Kickapoo, it's only open Friday through Monday, but I was probably
focusing more on the entrance road in my mind's eye, because once you arrive
at the park, there's nowhere to drive anyway (but there are a few trails).
But the bad news was that the locked gate is about four miles up from the
river itself, so there's no way you'd even get a view!
But the road in, called Dolan Creek, once again was more lush than I
imagined it: rolling hills covered with "Hill Country Chaparral", with a
few open grassy areas where you drive by various ranches. In fact, parts of
it kinda reminded me of Ruby Road in southeast Arizona (although the latter
is much more scenic by far), and I wondered if this, too, might be a
potential spot for Montezuma Quail! None were singing today, but who knows
what'll be vocalizing first thing in the morning! For the scouting trip, I
just drove straight to the gate to get the mileage (18 miles to the park
gate), and I only ran into three other vehicles the whole time I was on the
road (the first encounter was with a big ol' one ton while I was shooting a
Lark Sparrow out the window and thought I had the whole road to myself.)!
But my comment about getting Gray Vireo at Kickapoo or not at all this trip
was shot to heck as I picked up two birds along here, one very close to the
road! Further down was another Black-capped Vireo, and Bell's were all over
the place. But could I see any?? Of course not!! Other interesting (and
heard-only) birds along this road that were new for the day included
Bobwhite, House Wren, Olive Sparrow, Yellow-breasted Chat, Ladder-backed
Woodpecker, and Lesser Goldfinch (the hen Turkey actually catapulted across
the road). I checked every vulture, but alas, all were either Turkeys or
Blacks.
Got back to Del Rio in record time; I had allowed a full hour and a half to
get to Devil's River, but I must have calculated the time from the hotel to
the actual end of the road, because once in US 277 it took me less than an
hour to get back to town! Ended up with a list comparable to yesterday's
(57 species).
Bird List:
Scaled Quail Callipepla squamata
Northern Bobwhite Colinus virginianus
Wild Turkey Meleagris gallopavo
Black Vulture Coragyps atratus
Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
Killdeer Charadrius vociferus
Rock Pigeon Columba livia
Eurasian Collared-Dove Streptopelia decaocto
White-winged Dove Zenaida asiatica
Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura
Common Poorwill Phalaenoptilus nuttallii
Golden-fronted Woodpecker Melanerpes aurifrons
Ladder-backed Woodpecker Picoides scalaris
American Kestrel Falco sparverius
Say's Phoebe Sayornis saya
Ash-throated Flycatcher Myiarchus cinerascens
Loggerhead Shrike Lanius ludovicianus
White-eyed Vireo Vireo griseus
Bell's Vireo Vireo bellii
Black-capped Vireo Vireo atricapilla
Gray Vireo Vireo vicinior
Common Raven Corvus corax
Purple Martin Progne subis
Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica
Cave Swallow Petrochelidon fulva
Black-crested Titmouse Baeolophus atricristatus
Verdin Auriparus flaviceps
Rock Wren Salpinctes obsoletus
Canyon Wren Catherpes mexicanus
House Wren Troglodytes aedon
Bewick's Wren Thryomanes bewickii
Cactus Wren Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Polioptila caerulea
Ruby-crowned Kinglet Regulus calendula
Northern Mockingbird Mimus polyglottos
European Starling
Orange-crowned Warbler Oreothlypis celata
Yellow-breasted Chat Icteria virens
Olive Sparrow Arremonops rufivirgatus
Green-tailed Towhee Pipilo chlorurus
Rufous-crowned Sparrow Aimophila ruficeps
Canyon Towhee Melozone fusca
Cassin's Sparrow Peucaea cassinii
Chipping Sparrow Spizella passerina
Brewer's Sparrow Spizella breweri
Lark Sparrow Chondestes grammacus
Black-throated Sparrow Amphispiza bilineata
Lincoln's Sparrow Melospiza lincolnii
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
House Finch Haemorhous mexicanus
Lesser Goldfinch Spinus psaltria
House Sparrow Passer domesticus
57 SPECIES
So Far: 94 SPECIES
Mary Beth Stowe
McAllen, TX
miriameaglemon.com
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