[texbirds] long - Uvalde, Utopia, Lost Maples lately

From: Mitch@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Tue, 30 Apr 2013 22:10:17 -0500
Hi all,

A few notes from recent days at Lost Maples, Utopia, and Uvalde....
My friend Rusty Scalf from Berkeley CA was visiting for a few days
so I got to ramble about a bit.

Lost Maples: The White-tipped Dove I reported on April 23 was still
around the feeding station on the 26th, and calling was heard.
I received a back-channel report after my post of FOUR of them April 21.
I'd appreciate if anyone else sees multiples to let me know.

Black-capped Vireo is as easy to see as anywhere on top of the bluffs
above the first pond, it is just harder getting there, as the 3-400' or
so elevation gain in a half mile to the top of cliffs from the pond
is tough, I couldn't do it without my hiking pole, rougher since a big
flood a few years ago.  But once on top the patches of Bastard Oak are
much smaller than say at Kerr WMA, so the birds are more visible.
The patches or clumps or these 'dwarf' oaks are 3' tall and 10' across,
instead of patches 5-8' tall and 20-30' across.  A world easier to
see the birds, just harder to get to, you can't drive up to the patches
as at Kerr WMA.  I heard 6 and saw 3 very well at point blank with no
effort whatsoever besides the hill up to them.  One sang as it moved
through a juniper with a singing Golden-cheeked Warbler T'd up in it,
the daily double here.  Looking down on Zone-tailed Hawk was neat
too, the male is calling a bit.

Golden-cheeked Warbler are thick and especially easy to see beyond the
second pond where canyon narrows.  We saw four male Lazuli Bunting
there on the 26th, a good number hereabouts, heard Scott's Oriole,
saw a male MacGillivray's Warbler, male Rose-breasted Grosbeak, a
couple male Orchard Oriole, and best and worst of the day was a
Coral Snake, dying, just hit on the park road.  !@?*@%^!
Sycamore-Leaf Snowbell is blooming gangbusters as is Scarlet Clematis.
The yellow leech was neat, the blue crayfish amazing to fantastic.
Also the 26th we had a flock of 70 male Yellow-headed Blackbirds
a couple miles south of Utopia at some horse corrals, and a flock
of 23 Franklin's Gull near the country club.

The 27th at Uvalde, was a very weak migrant day out west, and the
fish hatchery was locked up, no public access apparently at all on
weekends now, major bummer for shorebirding, maybe weekdays someone
opens the gate?  At Ft. Inge I did not recognize the place, due to
half of the trees dying in the last year, pecans, cypress, hackberries,
big, old trees, at edge of waterway, dead, half the veg is gone, and
more than that for birds.  We heard Green Jay, saw Olive Sparrow,
Great Kiskadee, Long-billed Thrasher, the usual south Texas brush
country stuff there, but activity was very low compared to what it
was before the biological devastation.  Very sad to see.

Cook's Slough was slow too, did not detect Green Jay, Audubon's
Oriole, Long-billed Thrasher or Kiskadee, did have Olive Sparrow,
heard Couch's Kingbird (1), and 1 Neotropic Cormorant.

Old Sabinal Rd. (Old 90 - a mile+ south of 90) was thick with the
usual Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Dickcissel, Painted Bunting,
skylarking Cassin's Sparrows in the usual tall grass/short mesquite
fields, fair numbers of Bullock's Oriole, seemingly high numbers
of White-crowned Sparrow for the late date (maybe 20+), and a
couple tardy Vespers too.

The 28th around Utopia, a male Red-breasted Nuthatch again (4 times
in four weeks at the park - and missed in between each sighting),
a female Green Kingfisher was at the park, a Ringed King flew downriver
calling a couple miles south of town, mustered a couple Tennessee Warbler
among the many Nashville, at the UvCo354 pecans TWO male American
Redstart together was a first for me here in almost 10 years,
2 Eastern Kingbird were at the north end of town, FOS Least Flycatcher
was at the park.

The 29th Rusty stopped at Brackenridge Park in San Antonio and saw a
Blue-winged Warbler, and at Mitchell Lake he saw a Hooded Warbler.

happy feathers,

Mitch Heindel
Utopia
www.utopianature.com/BIRDNEWS.html
has regular updates and details


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[texbirds] long - Uvalde, Utopia, Lost Maples lately

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