[texbirds] Somerville WMA & Angelina Scouting (longish)
- From: MiriamEagl@xxxxxxx
- To: texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 23 Apr 2014 21:02:30 -0400 (EDT)
Hi, all!
Headed out in the pitch this morning, and Google let me down—I still got
lost! It took me up a route that was supposed to go up FM 1948 and connect
with FM 2780 via Eberhardt Road, only Eberhardt Road petered out (or at
least it left a lot to be desired…)! So I fell back on the old-fashioned way
and pulled out the Delorme Atlas and took what it showed to be major roads
up to FM 180 and Nails Creek! At least by stopping a couple of time in the
dark, I picked up Barred Owl for the trip, and interestingly the only
Purple Martins and Lark Sparrows of the day!
Despite getting lost, I still made it to the state park right about dawn,
where the dreaded deer were grazing just beyond the entrance station (I’ll
never look at them the same again… :-P)! We’re in the big woods with a
decidedly eastern flavor now, adding Red-bellied and Downy Woodpeckers, Brown
Thrasher, and Tufted Titmouse to the trip list. It was quite foggy to
begin with, so I really didn’t get much of a look at the lake, but there were a
few things hugging the shoreline, like Blue-winged Teal, Coots, Killdeer,
Least Sandpipers, a Lesser Yellowlegs, and some Long-billed Dowitchers (I
may have had a Baird’s Sandpiper in there as well, but it was just too far
away to tell). Neotropic Cormorants were grunting, and more Cedar Waxwings
were in the picnic area. At the "Family Fishing Pond", a Northern Parula
with a weird song finally came out when a titmouse responded to my pishing,
then promptly decided to chase the parula around! More ducks were at the
boat ramp (including a pair of Shovelers), and a Spotted Sandpiper took off
with its bowed wingbeats.
There were several little trails in the park, but since I was anxious to
road-bird the WMA, I just did a portion of the Somerville Trailway, which
went through some lovely woodland where, in addition to the regulars, I was
able to add Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Nashville Warbler, and (interestingly)
Roadrunner to the day list! The turnaround point was perfect: there was a
little path leading to some rocks that gave you a window out over the lake
(although it was still socked in); here I kicked up a couple of White-throated
Sparrows, and what I thought for sure was a distant flock of Sandhill
Cranes turned out to be some kind of frog! How embarrassing!
I had made a little Google map outlining a proposed road-birding route
based on some wonderful information Richard Kostecke posted regarding his own
visit there a couple of weeks ago. The best stop by far (before I got lost
again) was Newman Bottom: the road to the parking area was heavily wooded,
and at the little bridge heard a singing Swainson’s Warbler, which is one
of the targets he mentioned! The road then opens up into some prairie with
a hidden pond, which I might have missed altogether had not some Snowy
Egrets and a Great Blue Heron taken off! Some Blue-winged Teal and a Solitary
Sandpiper took off, and an Upland Sandpiper called somewhere overhead.
From the parking area, you cross another bridge that goes into the woods,
and I needn’t have worried about missing Barred Owl, because one sounded
off just as I got out of the car! A Red-shouldered Hawk was also screaming,
and the woods had "duetting" Yellow-billed Cuckoos and something pinking
that could have been a waterthrush, but I just couldn’t pull it out. A Pewee
was tentatively singing as well. The trail also opens up into beautiful
pastureland with trees dotted here and there, where Carolina Chickadees were
singing and chattering. A circling raptor turned out to be a Broad-winged
Hawk, and coming back had both Summer Tanager and Orchard Orioles singing,
along with a Clubtail of some kind that I still need to sort out.... A
Savannah Sparrow popped up at the car, and a Harrier circled around on the
drive out.
From there I weaved around all these little farm and county roads just to
see what I could see; for being a rural area there were still enough
residences that stopping regularly along the road proved problematic, but I
managed to add a flyover Little Blue Heron, Cliff Swallows at a bridge, a
singing Grasshopper Sparrow, Inca Dove, Bell’s Vireo, and White-crowned Sparrow
to the list. I wanted to take CR 134 around the back side of the WMA, but
somehow I managed to get turned around and wound up on FM 111 (!!), so since
it was 11:30 I decided to call it a day and head for Lufkin. But before
doing so, I backtracked to CR 135 (which is dirt) and drove down it a bit so
I could pull over, unobtrusively drain the cooler, and make a sandwich
before heading off. But a big beautiful Pileated Woodpecker flying across the
road was worth the detour!
Headed to Lufkin through all new territory, and actually got there around
2:30, so decided to head on down to the Boykin Springs area just to make
sure I could find it in the dark and to scout some of those forest roads. I’
m very glad I did; a brown sign off SR 63 east of Zavalla directs you to the
Uplands Wilderness Area, so I took that, and once past the "residential"
section it dumps you off in deep, deep woodland! Even this late in the day
things were singing, and a sweet song I didn’t recognize at first turned
out to be a Hooded Warbler. The road swings around through another residence
and maintenance buildings (I suspect they’re forest service folks) where a
pair of Eastern Kingbirds was hanging out. Continuing on, I passed
through what looked like good Bachman’s Sparrow habitat, but also noticed
where
they were apparently doing a controlled burn all the way down to Boykin
Springs! I was wondering how that was going to affect the two target birds,
as
I was thinking about starting there first thing, as I was advised to get
the woodpecker early, because they quit calling shortly after sunrise! The
road ends at a little roundabout and a path going up into the picnic area
(and there is indeed a good-sized spring there), so I used the facilities
and had just started the car up when I heard a suspicious-sounding harsh
call, so I jumped out of the car and traced it down, and it was indeed a
Red-cockaded Woodpecker! He flew across the road where his mate was and the
two
were tapping away, and then decided to have a little discussion in
something that sounded like a cross between a Brown-headed Nuthatch and a
Ladder-backed Woodpecker! I was very happy to get that one in the bank! Just
for
good measure there was a Brown-headed Nuthatch sitting on one of the
branches nearby!
Headed back to Lufkin for the night with an even 80 species for the day!
Bird List:
Blue-winged Teal Anas discors
Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata
Neotropic Cormorant Phalacrocorax brasilianus
Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias
Snowy Egret Egretta thula
Little Blue Heron Egretta caerulea
Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis
Black Vulture Coragyps atratus
Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
Northern Harrier Circus cyaneus
Red-shouldered Hawk Buteo lineatus
Broad-winged Hawk Buteo platypterus
Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis
American Coot Fulica americana
Killdeer Charadrius vociferus
Spotted Sandpiper Actitis macularius
Solitary Sandpiper Tringa solitaria
Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes
Upland Sandpiper Bartramia longicauda
Least Sandpiper Calidris minutilla
Long-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus scolopaceus
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura
Inca Dove Columbina inca
Yellow-billed Cuckoo Coccyzus americanus
Greater Roadrunner Geococcyx californianus
Barred Owl Strix varia
Chimney Swift Chaetura pelagica
Red-bellied Woodpecker Melanerpes carolinus
Downy Woodpecker Picoides pubescens
Red-cockaded Woodpecker Picoides borealis
Pileated Woodpecker Dryocopus pileatus
Crested Caracara Caracara cheriway
Eastern Wood-Pewee Contopus virens
Eastern Phoebe Sayornis phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher Myiarchus crinitus
Eastern Kingbird Tyrannus tyrannus
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Tyrannus forficatus
White-eyed Vireo Vireo griseus
Bell's Vireo Vireo bellii
Warbling Vireo Vireo gilvus
Red-eyed Vireo Vireo olivaceus
Blue Jay Cyanocitta cristata
American Crow Corvus brachyrhynchos
Purple Martin Progne subis
Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica
Cliff Swallow Petrochelidon pyrrhonota
Cave Swallow Petrochelidon fulva
Carolina Chickadee Poecile carolinensis
Tufted Titmouse Baeolophus bicolor
Brown-headed Nuthatch Sitta pusilla
Carolina Wren Thryothorus ludovicianus
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Polioptila caerulea
Ruby-crowned Kinglet Regulus calendula
Eastern Bluebird Sialia sialis
Brown Thrasher Toxostoma rufum
Northern Mockingbird Mimus polyglottos
Cedar Waxwing Bombycilla cedrorum
Swainson's Warbler Limnothlypis swainsonii
Orange-crowned Warbler Oreothlypis celata
Nashville Warbler Oreothlypis ruficapilla
Hooded Warbler Setophaga citrina
Northern Parula Setophaga americana
Yellow-rumped Warbler Setophaga coronata
Chipping Sparrow Spizella passerina
Lark Sparrow Chondestes grammacus
Savannah Sparrow Passerculus sandwichensis
Grasshopper Sparrow Ammodramus savannarum
Lincoln's Sparrow Melospiza lincolnii
White-throated Sparrow Zonotrichia albicollis
White-crowned Sparrow Zonotrichia leucophrys
Summer Tanager Piranga rubra
Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis
Painted Bunting Passerina ciris
Dickcissel Spiza americana
Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus
Great-tailed Grackle Quiscalus mexicanus
Brown-headed Cowbird Molothrus ater
Orchard Oriole Icterus spurius
House Sparrow Passer domesticus
80 SPECIES
So far: 156 SPECIES
Mary Beth Stowe
McAllen, TX
www.miriameaglemon.com
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