[texbirds] sub. header CORRECTION Re: 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 00:45:24 -0500
Sorry, but "Old Padre Island Rd." in the subject header should, of
course,have been "Old Port Isabel Rd." We had it right in the text, but not
in the subject header.
Rex Stanford
----- Original Message -----
From: "Rex Stanford" <calidris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "TEXBIRDS" <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, May 24, 2013 12:40 AM
Subject: Old Padre Island Rd. (Cameron Co.): Botteri's + Cassin's (05/23/13)
> 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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