2017 By The Numbers

On By birdingaroundtaiwanIn birding, Birding reviews4 Comments
Vermilion Flycatcher
Vermilion Flycatcher, a bird I saw 17 times in Texas in 2017.

Most birders keep lists of the birds they see. World lists, year lists, country lists, county lists, backyard lists – even lists of birds seen while doing something else. Those of us who enter all our bird sightings in eBird find that our lists are effortlessly compiled: eBird automatically keeps meticulous statistics for all the birds we see. With a couple of clicks of the mouse, I can find out which birds I have seen in Harris County this year; how many European Starlings I saw in my backyard in 2015 – and even how I rank against other birders for a particular patch, state, country or year.

With reference to the last category, I must admit to having been fairly obsessive with following the eBird rankings in 2017. I finished the year with 424 species on my Texas year list (although eBird lists me at 425 thanks to an escaped Orange-cheeked Waxbill which I do not count!). This put me at 10th for the year in Texas. Considering that most – or even perhaps all – of the nine birders ahead of me don’t have full time jobs, I feel pretty pleased with my total for the year.

Being a statistics nerd, I used eBird’s extensive records of my birding to compile a full report. The results are below:

Total number of species recorded: 424

This is the total number of species I saw and/or heard within the state of Texas in 2017, including established introduced species.

Total number of species seen: 423

The only bird I heard, but didn’t actually put my eyes on, during 2017 was Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet. Many birders submit “heard-only” owls and rails on their eBird checklists, but I generally prefer not to include these.

Total number of species seen, excluding non-native species: 410

Some birds live and breed in Texas, but are not naturally occurring. They are usually here as a result of human introductions. These range from the common and ubiquitous House Sparrow and European Starling, to several species of rare parrots in Brownsville. Even after removing these birds, I am still on well over 400 for the year.

Introduced species I saw in 2017 that I excluded from this list:

Egyptian Goose
Ring-necked Pheasant
Feral Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Monk Parakeet
Red-crowned Parrot
Red-lored Parrot
White-fronted Parrot
Yellow-headed Parrot
Red-vented Bulbul
European Starling
House Sparrow
Scaly-breasted Munia

I do not enter obviously feral species such as Indian Peafowl, domestic-type Mallard, and Muscovy Duck on my eBird checklists.

There are several rare formerly naturally-occurring species which became extinct in the wild in Texas, and which have subsequently been reintroduced (Greater Prairie-Chicken and Aplomado Falcon). These would also have appeared on the “introductions” list above, had I seen them during 2017.

Total number of complete eBird checklists submitted: 328

This number excludes incomplete checklists (for example, when I recorded a single bird species incidentally while driving by). My total number of checklists including incomplete ones is in excess of 350.

Total number of counties birded: 75

There are 254 counties in Texas so this might not sound like much, but Texas is a very, very big place!

My birding in 2017 was concentrated in three main areas: Houston and the upper Gulf coast, the San Antonio/Austin corridor (where I spent many of my weekends), and to a lesser extent the Lower Rio Grande Valley. During the year, I made two long trips to West Texas, one in late spring and one in winter. I also made a short winter visit to the Panhandle.

Top ten counties in 2017:

The number in brackets is the number of bird species I saw in each county during the year:

1. Galveston (173)
2. Chambers (145)
3. Harris (141)
4. Jefferson (133)
5. Bexar (129)
6. Brazoria (124)
7. Comal (122)
8. Hidalgo (121)
9. Travis (92)
10. Cameron (86)

Finally, I was able to compile data from eBird showing how many times I saw each bird species during the year. To be precise, this list shows how many checklists I recorded each species on in 2017. The data needs to be taken with a pinch of salt, as I didn’t bird scientifically. For example, I birded one site in Harris and another in Comal many times during the year. Northern Cardinals are very common at both locations and I recorded them on every checklist from these two sites, which is one of the reasons why the number of Cardinal sightings is high. If I had regularly birded a mudflat instead, where Cardinals are absent, I would have recorded Cardinals on fewer checklists but (for example) Western Sandpipers on a lot more.

Also, I was year listing, which means that many target species were spotted only a small number of times. For example, Red-cockaded Woodpecker is easy to find at W G Jones State Forest near Houston, but I only recorded this species on one checklist because I only visited the site on one occasion. As soon as the bird was safely on my year list, I didn’t bother going back.

The list arranged in taxonomic order:

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 29
Fulvous Whistling-Duck 7
Snow Goose 7
Ross’s Goose 1
Greater White-fronted Goose 6
Cackling Goose 1
Canada Goose 2
Egyptian Goose 18
Wood Duck 18
Blue-winged Teal 33
Cinnamon Teal 5
Northern Shoveler 27
Gadwall 33
American Wigeon 9
Mallard 12
Mottled Duck 27
Northern Pintail 13
Green-winged Teal 18
Canvasback 4
Redhead 7
Ring-necked Duck 15
Greater Scaup 1
Lesser Scaup 16
Long-tailed Duck 1
Bufflehead 8
Common Goldeneye 2
Hooded Merganser 2
Common Merganser 1
Red-breasted Merganser 9
Ruddy Duck 15
Plain Chachalaca 4
Northern Bobwhite 1
Scaled Quail 10
Gambel’s Quail 1
Ring-necked Pheasant 2
Wild Turkey 6
Common Loon 6
Least Grebe 9
Pied-billed Grebe 40
Horned Grebe 1
Eared Grebe 4
Western Grebe 1
Clark’s Grebe 2
Wood Stork 2
Magnificent Frigatebird 3
Brown Booby 1
Neotropic Cormorant 49
Double-crested Cormorant 44
Anhinga 12
American White Pelican 21
Brown Pelican 47
American Bittern 6
Least Bittern 3
Great Blue Heron 83
Great Egret 83
Snowy Egret 63
Little Blue Heron 38
Tricolored Heron 31
Reddish Egret 16
Cattle Egret 35
Green Heron 25
Black-crowned Night-Heron 13
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 14
White Ibis 53
Glossy Ibis 2
White-faced Ibis 25
Roseate Spoonbill 32
Black Vulture 88
Turkey Vulture 126
Osprey 26
White-tailed Kite 14
Swallow-tailed Kite 1
Golden Eagle 2
Mississippi Kite 11
Northern Harrier 45
Sharp-shinned Hawk 6
Cooper’s Hawk 29
Bald Eagle 6
Common Black Hawk 1
Harris’s Hawk 10
White-tailed Hawk 14
Gray Hawk 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 39
Broad-winged Hawk 5
Swainson’s Hawk 6
Zone-tailed Hawk 3
Red-tailed Hawk 51
Rough-legged Hawk 2
Ferruginous Hawk 4
King Rail 2
Clapper Rail 4
Sora 2
Purple Gallinule 6
Common Gallinule 23
American Coot 43
Sandhill Crane 10
Whooping Crane 2
Black-necked Stilt 31
American Avocet 12
American Oystercatcher 4
Black-bellied Plover 17
American Golden-Plover 3
Snowy Plover 4
Wilson’s Plover 4
Semipalmated Plover 6
Piping Plover 7
Killdeer 75
Mountain Plover 4
Upland Sandpiper 4
Whimbrel 6
Long-billed Curlew 10
Hudsonian Godwit 1
Marbled Godwit 7
Ruddy Turnstone 15
Red Knot 2
Stilt Sandpiper 11
Sanderling 19
Dunlin 16
Baird’s Sandpiper 1
Least Sandpiper 30
White-rumped Sandpiper 5
Buff-breasted Sandpiper 2
Pectoral Sandpiper 9
Semipalmated Sandpiper 14
Western Sandpiper 13
Short-billed Dowitcher 8
Long-billed Dowitcher 12
American Woodcock 1
Wilson’s Snipe 8
Wilson’s Phalarope 5
Spotted Sandpiper 25
Solitary Sandpiper 4
Greater Yellowlegs 20
Willet 32
Lesser Yellowlegs 29
Sabine’s Gull 1
Bonaparte’s Gull 2
Laughing Gull 61
Franklin’s Gull 2
Ring-billed Gull 34
Herring Gull 17
Lesser Black-backed Gull 5
Least Tern 8
Gull-billed Tern 5
Caspian Tern 13
Black Tern 12
Common Tern 3
Forster’s Tern 38
Royal Tern 30
Sandwich Tern 11
Elegant Tern 1
Black Skimmer 14
Rock Pigeon 30
Red-billed Pigeon 1
Eurasian Collared-Dove 22
Inca Dove 16
Common Ground-Dove 7
White-tipped Dove 5
White-winged Dove 112
Mourning Dove 135
Groove-billed Ani 2
Greater Roadrunner 15
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 14
Barn Owl 1
Eastern Screech-Owl 5
Great Horned Owl 6
Burrowing Owl 5
Barred Owl 2
Lesser Nighthawk 3
Common Nighthawk 14
Common Pauraque 2
Chuck-will’s-widow 2
Eastern Whip-poor-will 1
Chimney Swift 39
White-throated Swift 3
Blue-throated Hummingbird 1
Lucifer Hummingbird 1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 17
Black-chinned Hummingbird 24
Anna’s Hummingbird 1
Broad-tailed Hummingbird 1
Rufous Hummingbird 1
Broad-billed Hummingbird 1
Buff-bellied Hummingbird 2
Ringed Kingfisher 1
Belted Kingfisher 32
Green Kingfisher 5
Red-headed Woodpecker 2
Acorn Woodpecker 6
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 51
Red-bellied Woodpecker 54
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 17
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 40
Downy Woodpecker 82
Red-cockaded Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 15
Pileated Woodpecker 32
Crested Caracara 59
American Kestrel 63
Merlin 5
Peregrine Falcon 8
Prairie Falcon 2
Monk Parakeet 3
Red-crowned Parrot 1
Red-lored Parrot 1
Yellow-headed Parrot 1
White-fronted Parrot 1
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet 1
Olive-sided Flycatcher 3
Western Wood-Pewee 6
Eastern Wood-Pewee 14
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 3
Acadian Flycatcher 6
Willow Flycatcher 1
Least Flycatcher 4
Gray Flycatcher 1
Cordilleran Flycatcher 1
Black Phoebe 2
Eastern Phoebe 81
Say’s Phoebe 14
Vermilion Flycatcher 17
Ash-throated Flycatcher 11
Great Crested Flycatcher 26
Brown-crested Flycatcher 4
Great Kiskadee 8
Tropical Kingbird 2
Couch’s Kingbird 13
Cassin’s Kingbird 5
Western Kingbird 12
Eastern Kingbird 20
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 49
Loggerhead Shrike 76
Black-capped Vireo 1
White-eyed Vireo 42
Bell’s Vireo 10
Gray Vireo 1
Hutton’s Vireo 2
Yellow-throated Vireo 5
Blue-headed Vireo 21
Plumbeous Vireo 1
Philadelphia Vireo 1
Warbling Vireo 4
Red-eyed Vireo 5
Black-whiskered Vireo 1
Green Jay 8
Steller’s Jay 1
Blue Jay 80
Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay 6
Mexican Jay 3
American Crow 35
Tamaulipas Crow 1
Fish Crow 2
Chihuahuan Raven 5
Common Raven 13
Horned Lark 16
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 17
Purple Martin 31
Tree Swallow 19
Violet-green Swallow 1
Bank Swallow 4
Barn Swallow 82
Cliff Swallow 22
Cave Swallow 17
Carolina Chickadee 94
Mountain Chickadee 2
Juniper Titmouse 1
Tufted Titmouse 16
Black-crested Titmouse 46
Verdin 15
Bushtit 3
Red-breasted Nuthatch 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Brown-headed Nuthatch 2
Brown Creeper 2
Rock Wren 3
Canyon Wren 4
House Wren 26
Winter Wren 2
Sedge Wren 11
Marsh Wren 10
Carolina Wren 104
Bewick’s Wren 38
Cactus Wren 6
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 80
Black-tailed Gnatcatcher 6
Red-vented Bulbul 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 3
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 85
Eastern Bluebird 16
Western Bluebird 3
Mountain Bluebird 2
Veery 5
Gray-cheeked Thrush 4
Swainson’s Thrush 19
Hermit Thrush 21
Wood Thrush 11
Clay-colored Thrush 4
American Robin 73
Gray Catbird 15
Curve-billed Thrasher 8
Brown Thrasher 12
Long-billed Thrasher 7
Crissal Thrasher 1
Sage Thrasher 1
Northern Mockingbird 149
European Starling 81
American Pipit 15
Sprague’s Pipit 2
Cedar Waxwing 37
Phainopepla 2
Lapland Longspur 4
McCown’s Longspur 1
Ovenbird 12
Worm-eating Warbler 8
Louisiana Waterthrush 5
Northern Waterthrush 10
Golden-winged Warbler 5
Blue-winged Warbler 5
Black-and-white Warbler 21
Prothonotary Warbler 3
Swainson’s Warbler 2
Tennessee Warbler 4
Orange-crowned Warbler 69
Colima Warbler 1
Nashville Warbler 5
MacGillivray’s Warbler 4
Mourning Warbler 1
Kentucky Warbler 4
Common Yellowthroat 34
Hooded Warbler 20
American Redstart 12
Cape May Warbler 3
Cerulean Warbler 1
Northern Parula 11
Tropical Parula 1
Magnolia Warbler 9
Bay-breasted Warbler 1
Blackburnian Warbler 3
Yellow Warbler 13
Chestnut-sided Warbler 5
Blackpoll Warbler 1
Palm Warbler 5
Pine Warbler 13
Yellow-rumped Warbler 80
Yellow-throated Warbler 11
Prairie Warbler 1
Golden-cheeked Warbler 1
Black-throated Green Warbler 8
Canada Warbler 9
Wilson’s Warbler 26
White-collared Seedeater 1
Botteri’s Sparrow 1
Cassin’s Sparrow 2
Bachman’s Sparrow 1
Grasshopper Sparrow 6
Henslow’s Sparrow 1
LeConte’s Sparrow 2
Nelson’s Sparrow 1
Seaside Sparrow 2
Olive Sparrow 9
American Tree Sparrow 2
Chipping Sparrow 23
Clay-colored Sparrow 1
Black-chinned Sparrow 2
Field Sparrow 11
Brewer’s Sparrow 3
Black-throated Sparrow 12
Lark Sparrow 16
Lark Bunting 2
Fox Sparrow 5
Dark-eyed Junco 10
White-crowned Sparrow 32
Golden-crowned Sparrow 1
Harris’s Sparrow 5
White-throated Sparrow 24
Sagebrush Sparrow 2
Vesper Sparrow 9
Savannah Sparrow 46
Song Sparrow 19
Lincoln’s Sparrow 40
Swamp Sparrow 13
Canyon Towhee 6
Rufous-crowned Sparrow 9
Green-tailed Towhee 4
Spotted Towhee 17
Eastern Towhee 1
Yellow-breasted Chat 9
Hepatic Tanager 2
Summer Tanager 16
Scarlet Tanager 5
Northern Cardinal 184
Pyrrhuloxia 14
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 5
Black-headed Grosbeak 5
Blue Grosbeak 17
Indigo Bunting 11
Varied Bunting 3
Painted Bunting 18
Dickcissel 8
Yellow-headed Blackbird 1
Western Meadowlark 16
Eastern Meadowlark 42
Orchard Oriole 19
Hooded Oriole 2
Bullock’s Oriole 2
Altamira Oriole 2
Audubon’s Oriole 1
Baltimore Oriole 7
Scott’s Oriole 4
Red-winged Blackbird 77
Bronzed Cowbird 5
Brown-headed Cowbird 46
Rusty Blackbird 1
Brewer’s Blackbird 19
Common Grackle 19
Boat-tailed Grackle 16
Great-tailed Grackle 128
House Finch 52
Cassin’s Finch 1
Pine Siskin 6
Lesser Goldfinch 36
American Goldfinch 14
House Sparrow 49
Scaly-breasted Munia 2

…. and here it is arranged in order of species abundance:

Northern Cardinal 184
Northern Mockingbird 149
Mourning Dove 135
Great-tailed Grackle 128
Turkey Vulture 126
White-winged Dove 112
Carolina Wren 104
Carolina Chickadee 94
Black Vulture 88
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 85
Great Blue Heron 83
Great Egret 83
Downy Woodpecker 82
Barn Swallow 82
Eastern Phoebe 81
European Starling 81
Blue Jay 80
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 80
Yellow-rumped Warbler 80
Red-winged Blackbird 77
Loggerhead Shrike 76
Killdeer 75
American Robin 73
Orange-crowned Warbler 69
Snowy Egret 63
American Kestrel 63
Laughing Gull 61
Crested Caracara 59
Red-bellied Woodpecker 54
White Ibis 53
House Finch 52
Red-tailed Hawk 51
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 51
Neotropic Cormorant 49
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 49
House Sparrow 49
Brown Pelican 47
Black-crested Titmouse 46
Savannah Sparrow 46
Brown-headed Cowbird 46
Northern Harrier 45
Double-crested Cormorant 44
American Coot 43
White-eyed Vireo 42
Eastern Meadowlark 42
Pied-billed Grebe 40
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 40
Lincoln’s Sparrow 40
Red-shouldered Hawk 39
Chimney Swift 39
Little Blue Heron 38
Forster’s Tern 38
Bewick’s Wren 38
Cedar Waxwing 37
Lesser Goldfinch 36
Cattle Egret 35
American Crow 35
Ring-billed Gull 34
Common Yellowthroat 34
Blue-winged Teal 33
Gadwall 33
Roseate Spoonbill 32
Willet 32
Belted Kingfisher 32
Pileated Woodpecker 32
White-crowned Sparrow 32
Tricolored Heron 31
Black-necked Stilt 31
Purple Martin 31
Least Sandpiper 30
Royal Tern 30
Rock Pigeon 30
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 29
Cooper’s Hawk 29
Lesser Yellowlegs 29
Northern Shoveler 27
Mottled Duck 27
Osprey 26
Great Crested Flycatcher 26
House Wren 26
Wilson’s Warbler 26
Green Heron 25
White-faced Ibis 25
Spotted Sandpiper 25
Black-chinned Hummingbird 24
White-throated Sparrow 24
Common Gallinule 23
Chipping Sparrow 23
Eurasian Collared-Dove 22
Cliff Swallow 22
American White Pelican 21
Blue-headed Vireo 21
Hermit Thrush 21
Black-and-white Warbler 21
Greater Yellowlegs 20
Eastern Kingbird 20
Hooded Warbler 20
Sanderling 19
Tree Swallow 19
Swainson’s Thrush 19
Song Sparrow 19
Orchard Oriole 19
Brewer’s Blackbird 19
Common Grackle 19
Egyptian Goose 18
Wood Duck 18
Green-winged Teal 18
Painted Bunting 18
Black-bellied Plover 17
Herring Gull 17
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 17
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 17
Vermilion Flycatcher 17
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 17
Cave Swallow 17
Spotted Towhee 17
Blue Grosbeak 17
Lesser Scaup 16
Reddish Egret 16
Dunlin 16
Inca Dove 16
Horned Lark 16
Tufted Titmouse 16
Eastern Bluebird 16
Lark Sparrow 16
Summer Tanager 16
Western Meadowlark 16
Boat-tailed Grackle 16
Ring-necked Duck 15
Ruddy Duck 15
Ruddy Turnstone 15
Greater Roadrunner 15
Northern Flicker 15
Verdin 15
Gray Catbird 15
American Pipit 15
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 14
White-tailed Kite 14
White-tailed Hawk 14
Semipalmated Sandpiper 14
Black Skimmer 14
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 14
Common Nighthawk 14
Eastern Wood-Pewee 14
Say’s Phoebe 14
Pyrrhuloxia 14
American Goldfinch 14
Northern Pintail 13
Black-crowned Night-Heron 13
Western Sandpiper 13
Caspian Tern 13
Couch’s Kingbird 13
Common Raven 13
Yellow Warbler 13
Pine Warbler 13
Swamp Sparrow 13
Mallard 12
Anhinga 12
American Avocet 12
Long-billed Dowitcher 12
Black Tern 12
Western Kingbird 12
Brown Thrasher 12
Ovenbird 12
American Redstart 12
Black-throated Sparrow 12
Mississippi Kite 11
Stilt Sandpiper 11
Sandwich Tern 11
Ash-throated Flycatcher 11
Sedge Wren 11
Wood Thrush 11
Northern Parula 11
Yellow-throated Warbler 11
Field Sparrow 11
Indigo Bunting 11
Scaled Quail 10
Harris’s Hawk 10
Sandhill Crane 10
Long-billed Curlew 10
Bell’s Vireo 10
Marsh Wren 10
Northern Waterthrush 10
Dark-eyed Junco 10
American Wigeon 9
Red-breasted Merganser 9
Least Grebe 9
Pectoral Sandpiper 9
Magnolia Warbler 9
Canada Warbler 9
Olive Sparrow 9
Vesper Sparrow 9
Rufous-crowned Sparrow 9
Yellow-breasted Chat 9
Bufflehead 8
Short-billed Dowitcher 8
Wilson’s Snipe 8
Least Tern 8
Peregrine Falcon 8
Great Kiskadee 8
Green Jay 8
Curve-billed Thrasher 8
Worm-eating Warbler 8
Black-throated Green Warbler 8
Dickcissel 8
Fulvous Whistling-Duck 7
Snow Goose 7
Redhead 7
Piping Plover 7
Marbled Godwit 7
Common Ground-Dove 7
Long-billed Thrasher 7
Baltimore Oriole 7
Greater White-fronted Goose 6
Wild Turkey 6
Common Loon 6
American Bittern 6
Sharp-shinned Hawk 6
Bald Eagle 6
Swainson’s Hawk 6
Purple Gallinule 6
Semipalmated Plover 6
Whimbrel 6
Great Horned Owl 6
Acorn Woodpecker 6
Western Wood-Pewee 6
Acadian Flycatcher 6
Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay 6
Cactus Wren 6
Black-tailed Gnatcatcher 6
Grasshopper Sparrow 6
Canyon Towhee 6
Pine Siskin 6
Cinnamon Teal 5
Broad-winged Hawk 5
White-rumped Sandpiper 5
Wilson’s Phalarope 5
Lesser Black-backed Gull 5
Gull-billed Tern 5
White-tipped Dove 5
Eastern Screech-Owl 5
Burrowing Owl 5
Green Kingfisher 5
Merlin 5
Cassin’s Kingbird 5
Yellow-throated Vireo 5
Red-eyed Vireo 5
Chihuahuan Raven 5
Veery 5
Louisiana Waterthrush 5
Golden-winged Warbler 5
Blue-winged Warbler 5
Nashville Warbler 5
Chestnut-sided Warbler 5
Palm Warbler 5
Fox Sparrow 5
Harris’s Sparrow 5
Scarlet Tanager 5
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 5
Black-headed Grosbeak 5
Bronzed Cowbird 5
Canvasback 4
Plain Chachalaca 4
Eared Grebe 4
Ferruginous Hawk 4
Clapper Rail 4
American Oystercatcher 4
Snowy Plover 4
Wilson’s Plover 4
Mountain Plover 4
Upland Sandpiper 4
Solitary Sandpiper 4
Least Flycatcher 4
Brown-crested Flycatcher 4
Warbling Vireo 4
Bank Swallow 4
Canyon Wren 4
Gray-cheeked Thrush 4
Clay-colored Thrush 4
Lapland Longspur 4
Tennessee Warbler 4
MacGillivray’s Warbler 4
Kentucky Warbler 4
Green-tailed Towhee 4
Scott’s Oriole 4
Magnificent Frigatebird 3
Least Bittern 3
Zone-tailed Hawk 3
American Golden-Plover 3
Common Tern 3
Lesser Nighthawk 3
White-throated Swift 3
Monk Parakeet 3
Olive-sided Flycatcher 3
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 3
Mexican Jay 3
Bushtit 3
Rock Wren 3
Golden-crowned Kinglet 3
Western Bluebird 3
Prothonotary Warbler 3
Cape May Warbler 3
Blackburnian Warbler 3
Brewer’s Sparrow 3
Varied Bunting 3
Canada Goose 2
Common Goldeneye 2
Hooded Merganser 2
Ring-necked Pheasant 2
Clark’s Grebe 2
Wood Stork 2
Glossy Ibis 2
Golden Eagle 2
Rough-legged Hawk 2
King Rail 2
Sora 2
Whooping Crane 2
Red Knot 2
Buff-breasted Sandpiper 2
Bonaparte’s Gull 2
Franklin’s Gull 2
Groove-billed Ani 2
Barred Owl 2
Common Pauraque 2
Chuck-will’s-widow 2
Buff-bellied Hummingbird 2
Red-headed Woodpecker 2
Prairie Falcon 2
Black Phoebe 2
Tropical Kingbird 2
Hutton’s Vireo 2
Fish Crow 2
Mountain Chickadee 2
Red-breasted Nuthatch 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Brown-headed Nuthatch 2
Brown Creeper 2
Winter Wren 2
Mountain Bluebird 2
Sprague’s Pipit 2
Phainopepla 2
Swainson’s Warbler 2
Cassin’s Sparrow 2
LeConte’s Sparrow 2
Seaside Sparrow 2
American Tree Sparrow 2
Black-chinned Sparrow 2
Lark Bunting 2
Sagebrush Sparrow 2
Hepatic Tanager 2
Hooded Oriole 2
Bullock’s Oriole 2
Altamira Oriole 2
Orange-cheeked Waxbill 2
Scaly-breasted Munia 2
Ross’s Goose 1
Cackling Goose 1
Greater Scaup 1
Long-tailed Duck 1
Common Merganser 1
Northern Bobwhite 1
Gambel’s Quail 1
Horned Grebe 1
Western Grebe 1
Brown Booby 1
Swallow-tailed Kite 1
Common Black Hawk 1
Gray Hawk 1
Hudsonian Godwit 1
Baird’s Sandpiper 1
American Woodcock 1
Sabine’s Gull 1
Elegant Tern 1
Red-billed Pigeon 1
Barn Owl 1
Eastern Whip-poor-will 1
Blue-throated Hummingbird 1
Lucifer Hummingbird 1
Anna’s Hummingbird 1
Broad-tailed Hummingbird 1
Rufous Hummingbird 1
Broad-billed Hummingbird 1
Ringed Kingfisher 1
Red-cockaded Woodpecker 1
Red-crowned Parrot 1
Red-lored Parrot 1
Yellow-headed Parrot 1
White-fronted Parrot 1
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet 1
Willow Flycatcher 1
Gray Flycatcher 1
Cordilleran Flycatcher 1
Black-capped Vireo 1
Gray Vireo 1
Plumbeous Vireo 1
Philadelphia Vireo 1
Black-whiskered Vireo 1
Steller’s Jay 1
Tamaulipas Crow 1
Violet-green Swallow 1
Juniper Titmouse 1
Red-vented Bulbul 1
Crissal Thrasher 1
Sage Thrasher 1
McCown’s Longspur 1
Colima Warbler 1
Mourning Warbler 1
Cerulean Warbler 1
Tropical Parula 1
Bay-breasted Warbler 1
Blackpoll Warbler 1
Prairie Warbler 1
Golden-cheeked Warbler 1
White-collared Seedeater 1
Botteri’s Sparrow 1
Bachman’s Sparrow 1
Henslow’s Sparrow 1
Nelson’s Sparrow 1
Clay-colored Sparrow 1
Golden-crowned Sparrow 1
Eastern Towhee 1
Yellow-headed Blackbird 1
Audubon’s Oriole 1
Rusty Blackbird 1
Cassin’s Finch 1

From these statistics, a visitor to Texas can get at least some idea of which birds are likely to be relatively easy or difficult to find.

I don’t feel I missed many birds during 2017. I failed to connect with a male Black-throated Blue Warbler in San Antonio early in the year, and I missed a Black-throated Gray Warbler in Brazoria County in fall. Some migrants passed me by in spring, including Alder Flycatcher, Black-billed Cuckoo, and Bobolink. My late May visit to west Texas was too late to connect with some of the migrant western birds such as Townsend’s Warbler, and I also tried twice (but failed) to see a wintering Townsend’s in Austin. I dipped Lucy’s Warbler at the Cottonwood Campground in Big Bend NP on a very windy morning.

Some species I got by the skin of my teeth: many of the migrant warblers I encountered just once (including Cerulean, Prairie, Blackpoll, Bay-breasted and Mourning). Hudsonian Godwit was a one-day wonder in spring, and my Clay-colored Sparrow at Quintana in late fall was down to pure luck after I had missed them at several much more reliable sites in central Texas. Northern Bobwhite and Audubon’s Oriole were both really tricky customers this year with just a single record of each.

Here’s to 2018 and a (slightly) more sedate Texas birding year!

December big Texas Road Trip (and a little bit of Arizona and New Mexico)

On By birdingaroundtaiwanIn birding, Trip reports4 Comments
Guadelupe Sunrise
Sunrise at the Guadalupe Mountains.

To make absolutely sure I cleared 400 species this year in Texas, I reckoned a final trip out West was needed for some regular winterers in the plains, and a handful of mountain species in the Guadalupes. With a full nine days to play with, I figured I could also fit in my inaugural trip to the Panhandle for some more northerly wintering birds rarely found elsewhere in the state.

The trip got off to an excellent start with a very cooperative Sage Thrasher in Fort Stockton – which turned out to be the only individual of this species I saw.

Sage Thrasher3
Sage Thrasher, Fort Stockton WWTP, December 2017.

Next up was Lake Balmorhea, simply a gorgeous location today when the sun was shining, the air was cool and calm, and the water was like glass. Lots of birds were showing in the bushes including some nice western wintering species: Brewer’s Sparrow, Lark Bunting, and Green-tailed Towhee. On the water, a Common Loon loafed near the expected Clark’s and Eared Grebes, and there was a party of three Common Mergansers, a nice bird anywhere in Texas:

Common Merganser
Female-type Common Merganser at Lake Balmorhea, December 2017.

I stayed overnight in Van Horn, and headed up to the Guadalupe Mountains before dawn the next day. In the plains, the outside temperature dipped as low as 19F (minus 7C). However, as I gained altitude on the drive up to Frijole Ranch, the temperature climbed, and by first light it was a much more comfortable 36F (2C).

Guadelupe Mountains
Guadalupe Mountains at Frijole Ranch, December 2017.

Frijole Ranch was a hive of activity with large numbers of birds coming to drink and bathe in the spring near the old stone house. Highlights included two Juniper Titmice, which visited the area numerous times, but always moved through quickly and did not oblige for a photo. The Mountain Chickadees also wouldn’t sit still for my camera, but I had more luck photographing Steller’s Jay and a female Cassin’s Finch. This is turning out to be a great winter for irruptive montane species in Texas – all of the four birds mentioned above would be much harder to find in the state in a “normal” winter.

Stellers Jay
Steller’s Jay, Frijole Ranch, December 2017.

Nearby at Pine Springs, a Golden Eagle passed high overhead, two punk-hairstyled Phainopeplas showed well, and a curious Canyon Towhee decided the floorwell inside my car would be a good place to look for food. He was completely unconcerned that I was standing beside the car, less than three feet away.

Phainopepla
Phainopepla at Pine Springs, Guadalupe Mountains, December 2017.

With most of my mountain targets safely in the bag, and my year list target of 400 already exceeded, I descended to the lowlands to try for some raptors around Dell City during the afternoon. This scruffy little town in the shadow of the Guadalupe Mountains, close to the New Mexico border, is surrounded by mixed farmland and is an excellent location for open country birds in winter.

Dell City Williams Road
View from Dell City looking towards the Guadalupe Mountains, December 2017.

During the course of the afternoon I had repeated sightings of my two raptor targets, with at least eight individual Ferruginous Hawks and three Prairie Falcons seen. Other sightings included a Merlin, several Sagebrush Sparrows, and singles of both Grasshopper Sparrow and Harris’s Sparrow, both of which are notable here.

Prairie Falcon
Prairie Falcon, Dell City, December 2017.
Sagebrush Sparrow
Sagebrush Sparrow, Dell City, December 2017.

The next morning I gradually worked my way west from Van Horn to El Paso with a few target birds in mind, successfully adding Gambel’s Quail, Crissal Thrasher and Anna’s Hummingbird to my list:

Crissal Thrasher2
Crissal Thrasher in Hudspeth County beside FM192, December 2017. This is a super-skulking denizen of dense desert thickets. However, this individual was involved in a territorial dispute with two others, and perched up for just long enough for me to get this photo.

With an almost 100% success rate in hitting my target species, by early afternoon I had already decided to drive an additional four hours west to southern Arizona, where at least ten possible lifers lay in wait. By mid-evening I was within 20 miles of my chosen birding location, the Madera Canyon, and found a suitable spot to hunker down and sleep in the car.

The day dawned cloudy and a little breezy, but thankfully the forecast high winds never materialized. Before long I had ratcheted up many of my targets: Bridled Titmouse, Olive Warbler, Red-naped Sapsucker, Painted Redstart and Rufous-winged Sparrow.

Painted Redstart
Painted Redstart, Madera Canyon, December 2017.

The feeding station at Santa Rita Lodge is a fantastic place to while away a couple of hours watching the comings and goings of birds at the feeders – highlights here included Arizona Woodpecker, Cassin’s Finch (a local rarity), and repeated views of several Rivoli’s Hummingbirds, although I have to say the old name Magnificent Hummingbird is more apt for such a large, impressive hummingbird!

Arizona Woodpecker
Arizona Woodpecker, Madera Canyon, December 2017.
Rivolis Hummingbird
Male Rivoli’s Hummingbird, Madera Canyon, December 2017.

Just up the road at the Madera Kubo B+B, I drew a blank with Elegant Trogon but a Hammond’s Flycatcher was seen well and there were several distinctively angry-looking Yellow-eyed Juncos among the numerous Dark-eyed Juncos:

Yellow-eyed Junco
Yellow-eyed Junco, Madera Canyon, December 2017. I was struck by how angry this bird looked!

An hour to the south near Sonoita, several Baird’s Sparrows had been reliably coming to a grassland water trough, but mid-afternoon was perhaps not the best time to look for them. I did repeatedly flush a likely suspect from the grass, which flew up from right under my feet but unfortunately disappeared into the grass each time without perching up, despite several attempts to drive it towards one of the few shrubs in the area! Flight views not being enough to clinch the identification, and not wanting to keep disturbing this bird, Baird’s Sparrow unfortunately has to remain “unticked”.

Sonoita Grasslands2
Late afternoon grasslands near Sonoita, AZ. There are probably a lot of Baird’s Sparrows hiding in this photo, unfortunately none of them revealed themselves for tickable views!

Another species here which never showed on the ground was Chestnut-collared Longspur. However, unlike Baird’s Sparrow the longspurs (about 90 of them in total, in  several flocks) showed for prolonged periods in flight in excellent light conditions, enabling most of the ID features to be seen.

The following morning I embarked on another long drive and by early afternoon I was in New Mexico, at a very famous spot where all three North American Rosy-Finch species spend the winter.

Sandia Mountains Views
View from Sandia Crest, NM, December 2017.

Birders make the pilgrimage to Sandia Crest House, a cafe at the summit of a mountain a mile above Albuquerque, where seed is put out for the birds, and with luck all three species (Black Rosy-Finch, Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch, and Brown-capped Rosy-Finch) may be seen in a large mixed flock.

Black Rosy-Finch
Black Rosy-Finch, Sandia Crest, NM, December 2017.

All three Rosy-Finches are elusive, enigmatic denizens of the Alpine zone, and seeing them in summer entails going up to the often inaccessible peaks of North America’s highest mountains. In winter, they deign to descend a little lower, providing birders with a unique opportunity to catch up with them.

Nothing is ever simple in birding, however. After driving 450 miles from southern Arizona, I arrived at the summit of Sandia Crest at about 2.30pm to find the famous cafe closed. The sign on the door cheerily proclaims that the cafe is open every day of the year – apparently with the exception of the one day I decide to visit!

Brown-capped Rosy-Finch
Brown-capped Rosy-Finch, Sandia Crest, NM, December 2017.

Moreover, it proved impossible to view the Rosy-Finch feeding area without entering the cafe, as the birds are fed on a high terrace. Slightly despondent, I wandered around until I spotted an empty bird table between the cafe and parking lot. I remembered I had some of Whole Foods’ delicious trail mix in my car, the kind with pumpkin and sunflower seeds. Any self-respecting Rosy-Finch would be bound to enjoy that!

Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch
Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch, Sandia Crest, NM, December 2017.

And so it proved. Not expecting a miracle, I put out my bait on the bird table and suddenly, a mercurial flock of Rosy-Finches appeared out of nowhere. I was lucky to get all three species in the one flock, including one individual of the rare Hepburn’s race of Gray-crowned:

Hepburns Gray-Crowned Rosy-Finch
Rosy-finches enjoying my offerings at a bird table at Sandia Crest. The only Hepburn’s Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch I saw is in this shot, the bird with an all-brown body and mostly silvery-gray head.

I celebrated my Rosy-Finch success with an overnight stay in the relative luxury of a Super 8 motel (luxury compared to car camping that is!), and the following morning I enjoyed a walk in the crisp mountain air lower down in the Sandia Mountains. I was heading for one particular spot where Evening Grosbeaks regularly come to drink at a water trough. I didn’t get the grosbeaks, but did have a surprise lifer in the form of a stunning male Williamson’s Sapsucker:

Williamsons Sapsucker
Williamson’s Sapsucker near Albuquerque, NM, December 2017.

Then I was on the road east again, passing back into Texas around lunchtime, and during the afternoon I started looking for some of my Panhandle targets. American Tree Sparrow and Cackling Goose made it onto the list, and a distant adult Golden Eagle was a nice bird to see in this area. My chosen location for the following morning was Lake Palo Duro, in the far north of the Panhandle just a few miles south of the Oklahoma border. This is a wonderful spot for birding, although the weather was quite seriously cold here with overnight lows around 19F (minus 7C) and a cold breeze blowing.

Ferruginous Hawk2
Ferruginous Hawk. This bird was at Dell City, but I saw this species at several locations in West Texas and the Panhandle.

Unfortunately, the wind increased just an hour after sunrise, making it hard to find any passerines, and perhaps unsurprisingly in these conditions I dipped the Golden-crowned Sparrow that had been reported here on and off for several weeks. All was not lost, however, with numerous American Tree Sparrows at this site, several Harris’s Sparrows, a big flock of Mountain Bluebirds, and nice views of several raptors active later in the morning in the breezy conditions including Ferruginous Hawk, Prairie Falcon and Merlin.

Harris Sparrow
Harris’s Sparrow at Lake Palo Duro, December 2017.
American Tree Sparrow
American Tree Sparrow, Lake Palo Duro, December 2017. This is a Panhandle winter speciality which is rarely seen further south.

I devoted much of the rest of the day to a hunt for longspurs. Three species – Lapland, McCown’s, and Chestnut-collared – winter in the Panhandle. Longspurs are never easy to find or to get good views of, and although I did find flocks in several locations, the only birds I positively identified were all Lapland Longspurs. One flock in a stubble field numbered some 250 birds, but I managed good views of no more than 10 individuals within this flock, and only very poor photos, as they were very restless and would fly up very regularly and relocate far away. It is highly likely there were a few McCown’s Longspurs among their number, but try as I might, I could not find one.

Lapland Longspur2
Lapland Longspur near Amarillo. This was the best Longspur photo I could manage despite many, many attempts!

After another very long drive and a surprisingly good overnight sleep in the car, I found myself in suburban Arlington at first light, where I was lucky to connect with a small flock of regularly wintering Rusty Blackbirds in the parking lot. I then spent four very enjoyable hours at the excellent Fort Worth Nature Center, where several Tundra Swans and a Trumpeter Swan are wintering but often prove very elusive here. Such was the case for me and I didn’t see any swans, but I did enjoy great views of a number of birds I seldom see including Fox Sparrow, Brown Creeper and Golden-crowned Kinglet. No year ticks among them but this is a superb site and I will be sure to return when next in this area.

Horned Grebe
Horned Grebe at Benbrook Lake, December 2017.

My final year ticks for the trip were Horned Grebe and Eastern Towhee on the way back to Houston. This has been an exceptional first full year of birding in Texas, and with a lot of persistence and dedication (and driving!) I have managed to see more birds (415 species) than many people have on their lists after years of birding in the state. With an end-of-December trip to the LRGV still to go, I have set myself a new target of 420 species – one which I doubt I will have the opportunity to beat in 2018, but watch this space!

Mexican Jay
Mexican Jay, Madera Canyon, December 2017.
Western Meadowlark
Western Meadowlark, Balmorhea Cemetery, December 2017.
Rough-legged Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk near Amarillo, December 2017.

Sunday Chasing

On By birdingaroundtaiwanIn birding, Trip reportsLeave a comment
Elegant Tern
Elegant Tern, Surfside Jetty, December 3rd 2017.

I made a dedicated (some would say crazy) attempt on Sunday to catch up with a number of year ticks and rarities scattered through the coastal Texas counties from Matagorda to Galveston. This involved making a 3.15am start and driving 180 miles from New Braunfels in order to be on the ground in rural Matagorda county at a traditional American Woodcock stakeout at first light. After that gruelling start to a Sunday, I thought that actually seeing the bird would be the easy part, but it was not to be. No sight nor sound of any Woodcocks in just over an hour of waiting and wandering around.

Burrowing Owl
Burrowing Owl, Matagorda turf farm, December 3rd 2017.

For a time, it also looked as if I would also dip my second target, Sprague’s Pipit, at a turf farm not far from the Woodcock site. Two hours of patient searching produced a Burrowing Owl and a ton of American Pipits, but no Sprague’s. I was on my way out of the area when I flushed a pipit from the verge which alighted on a nearby bare earth field, revealing its identity and pausing for long enough for me to reel off a couple of photos, before it flew high away uttering its highly distinctive squeaky call.

Spragues Pipit
Sprague’s Pipit, Matagorda County turf farm, December 3rd 2017.

One out of two so far, but I was back to dipping mode in Lake Jackson, my next stop. I bumped into Tony Frank and Brad Lirette as I arrived, who had seen the wintering Black-throated Gray Warbler in Lynn Hay’s backyard just minutes before my arrival. No such luck for me, and bird activity was so low in the area that after an hour I decided that my time might be better spent elsewhere. It was an odd kind of day, very humid and overcast, not the sort of conditions that encourage wintering warblers to be actively feeding or calling. Lynn Hay said that the bird visited the yard perhaps twice a day, and seeing as I had just missed it, it might be a while before it came back. Today I had neither the time nor the patience to settle in for a long wait, as the day’s potential star bird was showing well at Surfside jetty and I was impatient to go and see it.

Elegant Tern is an extremely rare visitor to Texas. The two individuals in July on North Padre Island were “unblockers” for a lot of seasoned Texas listers. I couldn’t find sufficient motivation back in the height of summer to make the eight-hour round trip drive to go and see those birds. Fortunately, fate (and finder Arman Moreno) brought many Houston-based birders an early Christmas present in the form of a first-year Elegant Tern fishing along the jetty at Surfside in Brazoria county.

Elegant Tern2
Elegant Tern, Surfside jetty, December 3rd 2017.

It was surprising to me how similar this bird was to the nearby Royal Terns in flight. Sure, there are subtle distinctions in size and build, and the bill of Elegant is definitely longer, thinner and a deeper orange-red compared to Royal, but overall it was very similar and I am sure a lot of birders would have simply overlooked it. No doubt it would have been relatively easy to pick it out among resting terns lined up on a beach, but this was an impressive find at this location as the bird was only ever seen in flight.

After getting my fill of the Elegant Tern, I drove north-east towards Galveston, stopping at San Luis Pass for a fairly easy encounter with the long-staying Fish Crow. The rule with crows is to look for the dumpsters and the local Great-tailed Grackle flock, and sure enough, my target bird was among them. It even posed for a photo while it took a late lunch of an item of trash. Not a year tick, the Fish Crow is fairly common at the edge of its range in easternmost Texas, but is almost unheard-of further west.

Fish Crow
Fish Crow, San Luis Pass, Brazoria county, December 3rd 2017.

The afternoon was becoming very gloomy and even foggy. I figured it was a waste of time sticking around on Galveston. Hindsight proved me wrong, and had I checked Texbirds or eBird I would have noticed that the Tamaulipas Crow had been relocated at East Beach. Instead I opted to head home via Randolph Park in Friendswood, where a Brown Creeper has been regularly seen for several weeks in the same small area of parkland. It felt almost like twilight when I arrived, with very gloomy conditions and almost no bird activity. However, after I while I managed to locate a very subdued mixed feeding flock, and several times I heard the distinctive high-pitched call of my target bird, but it took a good 20 minutes before I was able to catch sight of it. The ensuing record photo, in conditions of near darkness, is a contender for the worst bird photo I have ever taken, but with a little imagination the distinctive shape of a Brown Creeper can just about be discerned towards the right hand side of the image.

Brown Creeper
Brown Creeper (honest!), Randolph Park, Harris county, December 3rd 2017. Look towards the right hand side of the trunk, not far above the protruding branch.

Overall it was a cracking day with a lifer (Elegant Tern) and two year ticks (Sprague’s Pipit and Brown Creeper) putting me on 391 species for the year in Texas. All being well, next week’s West Texas clean-up should comfortably slingshot me past the magic 400 mark.

Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler in New Braunfels, Comal county, December 2nd 2017.

Getting Closer to 400!

On By birdingaroundtaiwanIn birding, Trip reportsLeave a comment
Bald Eagle
Adult Bald Eagle at San Bernard NWR, October 29th 2017.

A handful of nice year birds over the last few weeks have helped me inch slowly closer to my target of 400 species in Texas in 2017. I took full advantage of the first day of “winter” on October 29th, when temperatures plunged as low as 1C (34F) at dawn, to head down to Brazoria County – my new favorite day trip from Houston.

Anhinga
Anhinga, San Bernard NWR, October 29th 2017.

A crisp, sunny San Bernard NWR was absolutely teeming with birds (70 species logged), with lots of new winter arrivals in on the cold front, including no fewer than 5 species flagged by eBird as needing further description. Notable among these were a female Hooded Merganser and a very late Least Bittern. It was especially pleasing to get an excellent photo of an Ash-throated Flycatcher, showing its distinctive undertail pattern, which although not flagged in eBird is a scarce bird in this part of Texas:

Ash-throated Flycatcher2
Ash-throated Flycatcher, San Bernard NWR, October 29th 2017.

Late morning I drove the relatively short distance to Quintana Neotropical Bird Sanctuary, a lovely, peaceful small reserve which today was well stocked with a great range of late migrants. Outstanding among these was a Clay-colored Sparrow, associating with a White-crowned Sparrow and several Lincoln’s Sparrows. The sparrow flock kept returning to feed on the short grass of the sanctuary pathways but the birds were extremely wary, diving back into cover at the slightest hint of danger, and it took quite some time before I was able to get passable photos to confirm the identification. Clay-colored Sparrow is a migrant mainly through Central Texas, and is very uncommon on the Upper Texas Coast with just a handful of records annually.

Clay-colored Sparrow5
Clay-colored Sparrow, Quintana Neotropical Bird Sanctuary, October 29th 2017.

The following weekend I was back in New Braunfels, and with a report of several Lark Buntings at South Evans Road Lake on the Saturday – just an hour’s drive away – I decided to try for these birds early on Sunday. This was another spot with really high levels of bird activity, and finally I located two splendid Lark Buntings in a bare field alongside the road. Say’s Phoebe was another good one to find here.

Lark Bunting
Lark Buntings, South Evans Road, Bexar County, November 5th 2017.

I detoured back via Wilson County, as I had never birded that county before, where I grabbed some opportunistic photos of a Peregrine. Shortly afterwards, at about 10.05am, I passed through the small village of Sutherland Springs, one hour and fifteen minutes before Devin Patrick Kelley opened fire on a church congregation, killing 26 people. The shooter came from New Braunfels and there was every chance I passed him on the road as I headed back that way. I hope this is as close as I ever get to such a horrifying and tragic event.

Peregrine
Peregrine near Sutherland Springs, Wilson County, November 5th 2017.

A beautiful cool, crisp winter day on November 14th tempted me to take my lunch hour in Edith L Moore Nature Sanctuary, just two minutes down the road from my place of work in Houston. This turned out to be an excellent decision, with a Winter Wren found and photographed at the boardwalk near the cabin. Finally, one of Texas’s tiniest birds was safely on my list – Winter Wren is an uncommon and somewhat tricky-to-find winter visitor to eastern parts of the state. This bird was still present at the time of writing on November 21st and being seen intermittently for birders trying for it, so perhaps it will remain throughout the winter.

Winter Wren
Winter Wren, Edith L Moore Nature Sanctuary, Houston, November 14th 2017.

Late in the afternoon of Friday 17th November, news broke of a Sabine’s Gull at Kemah Boardwalk. A less likely birding hotspot can hardly be imagined – this place is a theme park complete with noisy rollercoasters, restaurants and bars, and hundreds of members of the non-birding general public. On the plus side, non-birders do have a tendency to enjoy feeding the birds (despite the posted signs warning them not to!), and when I arrived at the site on Saturday afternoon the Sabine’s Gull was scavenging some easy pickings alongside the local Laughing Gulls. On several occasions, it passed the boardwalk at handrail height, so close I could have reached out and touched it. In any case, it was too close to even get a decent photo with my camera – I probably would have gotten better results with my iPhone – although out of my many attempts there were at least a couple of acceptable record shots:

Sabines Gull4
Sabine’s Gull, Kemah Boardwalk, November 18th 2017.
Sabines Gull5
Sabine’s Gull, Kemah Boardwalk, November 18th 2017.

It was something of a relief to get this bird so easily, as gulls can be unpredictable and it was lucky the bird decided to remain for a second day. Sabine’s Gull was an excellent way to mark the milestone of my 400th species in Texas – and considering the location, there was of course a bar very close by in which to celebrate in the excellent company of my wife Jenna and birding pal James Rieman!

Song Sparrow
Song Sparrow, Attwater Prairie Chicken Reserve, November 19th 2017.

I headed west to the Attwater Prairie Chicken Reserve early on Sunday, in the hopes of connecting with Sprague’s Pipit for the year list, as well as having perhaps a 10% chance of seeing one of the chickens that give the reserve its name. The Attwater’s Prairie Chickens here have been relocated from former coastal prairie, and represent the only remaining population of this species in the world. Purists wouldn’t count them on their lists, but according to the ABA they are perfectly acceptable. Anyway, I was spared having to wrestle with any ethical listing dilemmas as I didn’t see a Prairie Chicken. Unfortunately I didn’t connect with any Sprague’s Pipits either. Still, it was a beautiful cold and sunny morning, and sparrows of eight species were begging me to photograph them – including the often-tricky Le Conte’s and Grasshopper Sparrows, which I managed just-about-acceptable record shots of:

LeContes Sparrow
Le Conte’s Sparrow, Attwater Prairie Chicken Reserve, November 19th 2017. In my limited experience this skulking species is very responsive to pishing, and this bird jumped straight out of the grass and into a nearby bush as soon as the first “psh psh” escaped my lips. Getting a photo was another matter because the bird invariably kept itself partly concealed by twigs, despite showing well. Very strong early morning sunlight is another obvious factor in this shot!
Grasshopper Sparrow2
Grasshopper Sparrow, Attwater Prairie Chicken Reserve, November 19th 2017. This individual sat up on the fence for ages, but I was just a little bit too far away to get a clear shot.
Vesper Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow, Attwater Prairie Chicken Reserve, November 19th 2017. Again, not quite as sharp as I wanted,  but I couldn’t fault the bird for posing obligingly for several minutes!
Field Sparrow
Field Sparrow, Attwater Prairie Chicken Reserve, November 19th 2017. A much sharper photo, despite the bird being in view for just a fraction of a second.

Finally, it has been a bumper late autumn for birds in the yard of my in-laws’ weekend home in New Braunfels, Comal County. The winter visitors are back, and species counts over a typical 1 to 2 hour birding session regularly exceed 35, with 46 species seen on one morning last weekend.

Zone-tailed Hawk1
Zone-tailed Hawk, Sleepy Hollow Lane, New Braunfels, November 22nd 2017.

Recent “firsts for the yard” include a long-awaited Zone-tailed Hawk for two consecutive days, hanging out in tall cypresses beside the river; up to 4 Pine Siskins flocking with American and Lesser Goldfinches; at least one Spotted Towhee apparently settled in for the winter in a thicket in the front yard; an extremely late (or overwintering?) Chestnut-sided Warbler; and most bizarre of all – though not countable on my list! – an Orange-cheeked Waxbill, which presumably hopped out of a cage somewhere locally.

Pine Siskin
Pine Siskin, Sleepy Hollow Lane, New Braunfels, November 22nd 2017.
Spotted Towhee
Spotted Towhee, seen at Sleepy Hollow Lane, New Braunfels on various dates in November.

Finally, a pair of Green Kingfishers on the adjacent Guadelupe River seem to be nest-building in a sandy bank – I wonder what tiny percentage of birders in the US can claim to have this species breeding in their back yard?

White-crowned Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow, Sleepy Hollow Lane, New Braunfels, November 22nd 2017 – a new bird for my yard list.
Orange-cheeked Waxbill
Orange-cheeked Waxbill, Sleepy Hollow Lane, New Braunfels, November 22nd 2017. Unringed and wary, but definitely originating from a cage!

New birds added: Clay-colored Sparrow, Lark Bunting, Winter Wren, Sabine’s Gull, Pine Siskin.

Total Texas 2017 year list: 388

Total Texas life list: 400

Vermilion Flycatcher
Vermilion Flycatcher, San Bernard NWR, October 29th 2017.
Sedge Wren
Sedge Wren, San Bernard NWR, October 29th 2017. This bird is numerous in Texas coastal grasslands in winter, and although a skulker it responds well to “pishing”.
Indigo Bunting
Indigo Bunting, San Bernard NWR, October 29th 2017.

Franklin’s Gull, October 22nd

On By birdingaroundtaiwanIn birding, Trip reportsLeave a comment
Franklins Gull2
First-winter Franklin’s Gull, San Luis Pass, Galveston, October 22nd 2017.

Today I was on the hunt for Franklin’s Gull, a regular migrant through Texas but not an easy bird to find on the Upper Texas Coast. In spring, it seems to be a case of being in the right place at the right time, as migrants pass through quickly on their way north. On their return journey in late fall, individuals or groups may linger on the coast with flocks of Laughing Gulls.

Reddish Egret
Reddish Egret, San Luis Pass, Galveston, October 22nd 2017.

The San Luis Pass at the far south-western end of Galveston Island has regular records of this species in October and November, so this seemed to be an excellent place to start looking. I approached from the Brazoria County end, and on the way up the Blue Water Highway I enjoyed a fiery sunrise. The weather was sultry, humid, and completely still, with temperatures already hovering around 80F (27C) by 8.00am – warm for the time of year.

Sunrise2
Sunrise on the Blue Water Highway, Brazoria County, Texas, October 22nd 2017.

A quick stop at the Kelly Hamby nature trail proved worthwhile, with two Palm Warblers seen well (and one bird photographed). This is an uncommon migrant and scarce winter visitor in Texas. I was getting absolutely ravaged by mosquitoes at this location, so after 15 minutes it was a relief to get back into the car.

Palm Warbler1
Record shot of one of two Palm Warblers at the Kelly Hamby Nature Trail, Brazoria County, Texas, October 22nd 2017.

I drove a short distance to the San Luis Pass County Park, still on the Brazoria side of the pass. This was a really productive site, with an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull loafing among the Laughing Gulls, and plenty of birds to look at including a lone winter-plumaged Red Knot, several American Oystercatchers, and a Long-billed Curlew. Curiously, all the shorebirds allowed a very close approach – seemingly they are well used to the large numbers of fishermen and other members of the general public also using this site.

Lesser Black Backed Gull
Adult Lesser Black-backed Gull (with Laughing Gulls), San Luis County Park, Brazoria County, Texas, October 22nd 2017. An increasing visitor to coastal Texas.
Red Knot2
Red Knot, San Luis County Park, Texas, October 22nd 2017. This can often be a hard bird to find in coastal Texas, probably reflecting its sharp global decline.
American Oystercatcher
American Oystercatchers, San Luis County Park, Texas, October 22nd 2017. Present in small numbers all along the upper Texas coast, but never common.
Long-billed Curlew
Long-billed Curlew, San Luis County Park, Texas, October 22nd 2017. This bird was unusually confiding and allowed a close approach.

I happened to know that just 50 miles to the north, a powerful weather front with high winds and heavy rain was pounding Houston. It was exciting to watch the gradual approach of heavy, pendulous black clouds from the north. Even though I was expecting it, the front’s arrival was very dramatic. One moment it was completely calm, and the next, gusting winds lifted the sand off the beach and whipped up white-tipped waves on the sea. The temperature plunged from 81F (27C) to 64F (18C) in the space of just a few minutes, and lightning started crashing down to accompany the horizontal driving rain.

Galveston Bridge
Arrival of the weather front at San Luis County Park, Texas, October 22nd 2017.

Birding was out of the question while the weather front was doing its thing, so I drove across the bridge onto Galveston and waited it out. As soon as the rain stopped, I wandered around Lafitte’s Cove for an hour, where there was no evidence whatsoever of a front-induced fallout of late migrants. I hadn’t forgotten my Franklin’s Gull quest, so I retraced my steps back to San Luis Pass, this time on the Galveston side of the bridge. There was just one modestly-sized flock of perhaps 40 Laughing Gulls here, and a quick scan did not reveal my target bird. Still, the sun was shining now and conditions were very pleasant, so I lingered in this spot for a while to see if anything turned up. Just before leaving, I had another very careful look through the gull flock, and suddenly I found what I had been looking for – a lone first-winter Franklin’s Gull.

Franklins Gull1
First-winter Franklin’s Gull, with adult winter Forster’s Tern in the foreground, and several Laughing Gulls, illustrating the size difference, San Luis Pass, Texas, October 22nd 2017.

This was only my second-ever Franklin’s – my first being one at Cheddar Reservoir in England more than 17 years ago – and I have to admit that it didn’t leap out at me the way I thought it would. Sure, it seemed noticeably smaller and “cuter” than the surrounding Laughing Gulls, but this distinction was subtle rather than obvious. With prolonged observation in excellent light, I gradually familiarized myself with the bird and the differences began to stand out more, things like the extensive dark hood, swollen white eyelids, shorter legs, and daintier and less drooping bill than Laughing Gull.

Black-bellied Plover
Black-bellied Plover, San Luis County Park, Texas, October 22nd 2017.

With my target bird clinched and photographed, I returned to Brazoria County across the bridge, and as I passed Freeport I spotted a large flock of perhaps 350 Laughing Gulls loafing in a gravel parking lot. Stopping for a quick look revealed at least 4 adult Franklin’s Gulls among their number, so in the end I was able to get Franklin’s Gull at two locations in two different counties – a most satisfying way to pick up a personal Texas first!

Franklins Gull3
Adult Franklin’s Gull near Freeport, Texas, October 22nd 2017.

Finally, I decided to drop in at Quintana Neotropical Bird Sanctuary, to see if any birds were active after the passing of the front, now that the weather was once again clear and sunny with much lower humidity than early this morning. I had never visited this site before – it is known to be a hotspot in the spring, and it is certainly prepared with the birds in mind, with several blinds and water holes and a nice variety of trees and bushes for tired migrants in a very compact area.

Beach at San Luis
The beach at San Luis, Brazoria County, ahead of the dramatic weather front on October 22nd 2017.

I spent an hour here and birds were very flighty and elusive, but I eventually racked up a few migrants including an Eastern Wood-Pewee, an American Redstart and a Blue Grosbeak. I’ll be sure to come back to Quintana in spring – like most wooded sites along the Upper Texas Coast it should be a good bet for a large variety of warblers, vireos, tanagers etc.

2017 Texas Year List: 383

Black-crowned Night Heron
Adult Black-crowned Night Heron, Lafitte’s Cove, Galveston, Texas, October 22nd 2017.

Laredo and the Lower Rio Grande Valley, September 23rd-24th

On By birdingaroundtaiwanIn birding, Trip reports1 Comment
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Ruby-throated Hummingbird at Estero Llano Grande SP, September 23rd 2017.

It’s possible to pack quite a lot into a weekend when you put your mind to it. Late Friday afternoon I drove from Houston to Rockport to meet my old pal Jason Loghry, who I had not seen since I lived in South Korea in 2009-11. After a few hours sleep we headed to Laredo, on the Mexican border. We were at the Max A Mandel golf course by first light on Saturday.

Red-billed Pigeon
Red-billed Pigeon, Max A Mandel golf course, September 23rd. One of only a handful of US locations for this tropical species, whose range seemingly extends just a few hundred yards into the country along the Texas/Mexico border.

I’ve never birded by golf cart before and it was fun, and after a bit of searching we found our target birds Red-billed Pigeon and White-collared Seedeater, while trying to avoid getting in the way of Mexican gangsters (or so it seemed) who were playing a golf tournament.

Birding by golf cart
Birding by golf cart …. a novel experience!

We also had an interesting bird here that appeared to be a very early Brewer’s Blackbird, a species that does not usually show up in Texas until much later in the fall. However, something about the bird was not quite “right” and after review of the photos (and consultation with local expert Mary Gustafson) we concluded that it was a Great-tailed Grackle that had not yet grown its long tail back after its molt. Apart from the bill being a little chunkier than normal for a Brewer’s Blackbird, it resembled one extremely closely:

Brewers Blackbird3
Great-tailed Grackle (with a Killdeer in the foreground), Max A Mandel golf course, September 23rd 2017.

Later, we followed the course of the Rio Grande southwards, stopping in at a gorgeous and extremely hot Salineño, where the shade temperature peaked at 107 degrees F (41 degrees C) at 3.00pm. This site yielded distant views of Ringed Kingfisher, several Hooded and lots of stunning Baltimore Orioles, and a scattering of migrants including Olive-sided Flycatcher.

Rio Grande at Salineno
Rio Grande at Salineno, September 23rd 2017. A brutally hot day for late September.

We continued south and by late afternoon we were at Estero Llano Grande State Park, one of the best nature reserves in Texas, where we stayed until dark. It was Jason’s first visit to this wonderful reserve and as usual there was an excellent range of species to be seen including the ever-popular stake-outs at their usual spots here – Common Pauraque and Eastern Screech-Owl.

Estero Llano Grande
Late afternoon in paradise …. the Estero Llano Grande State Park, September 23rd 2017.

After dinner, we drove out into the boonies and set up camp for the night. By pure chance we ended up camping beside a nature reserve, the Sal de Rey. Eastern Screech-Owls and a Great Horned Owl were calling nearby during the night, and at dawn on Sunday a flock of Lesser Nighthawks hawked insects overhead. Two Royal Terns flew over, very rare inland, and we easily found our target Cassin’s Sparrow (and a photogenic Groove-billed Ani) in this area.

Groove-billed Ani
Groove-billed Ani near the Sal de Rey, September 24th 2017.

While it was still early, we drove for 45 minutes towards the coast to a known Botteri’s Sparrow site. It is getting a bit late in the year for these summer visitors, but when we heard one calling briefly, we knew they must still be around. Sure enough, eventually a male started singing, and after much persistence we both managed some good (albeit brief) views of this most skulking of sparrows. It was beginning to get hot and by lunchtime we were on the road back north.

1,000 miles driven, c.110 bird species seen including 7 year ticks, bringing my 2017 Texas year list to 381, just 19 away from my target of 400. A great weekend and wonderful to catch up with my old friend.

Lifer: Botteri’s Sparrow (total 2,228).
USA ticks: Red-billed Pigeon, White-collared Seedeater (total 437).
2017 Texas year ticks: Lesser Nighthawk, Gray Hawk, Ringed Kingfisher, Cassin’s Sparrow (total 381).

Swainsons Hawk
Swainson’s Hawk at the Max A Mandel golf course, September 23rd 2017.

Big Bend NP and West Texas, May 27th-31st

On By birdingaroundtaiwanIn birding, Trip reports4 Comments
Big Bend Scene2
One of Big Bend NP’s many stunning landscapes.

With five days to play with at the end of May, and migration in this part of the world almost completely finished for the season, I decided an excellent course of action would be to make the long trip out to West Texas for the first time. This is no small undertaking, as distances in Texas are vast – from Houston to Big Bend National Park doesn’t look like much on a map, but in fact amounts to 630 miles, or about 10 hours of driving. For European birders, this is the equivalent of driving from Plymouth to Inverness, or from Paris to Barcelona.

Chisos Basin Approach
The road to the Chisos Basin in Big Bend National Park. Surrounded by endless expanses of low-lying desert, the basin is a green mountain oasis at around 6,000 feet above sea level, supporting a huge range of resident and transient wildlife.

A rental car is a sensible option for this kind of journey, and as luck would have it, I got a free upgrade at the rental office from my pre-booked economy car to a small SUV. Seeing as my plan was to sleep in the car for the four nights of the trip, this was welcome news indeed.

101 Degrees
Day one, Big Bend National Park. The air temperature at 6.00pm was still hovering around 101 degrees F (39 degrees C). Fortunately, a cool front passed through overnight and the following days were much more comfortable.

I hit the road west at 5.00am on Saturday morning, with my first major stop after about 300 miles being the South Llano State Park. This is an excellently managed small reserve, with several bird blinds from which many interesting species can be seen – including the main specialty of the site, the range-restricted, endangered Black-capped Vireo. After just a five-minute wait at the first bird blind, an immaculately-plumaged Black-capped Vireo came down for a drink and I was able to fire off a few record shots – although the focus was not quite as sharp as I would have liked.

Black-capped Vireo
Black-capped Vireo, South Llano State Park, May 27th 2018.

Other birds seen at close quarters from the blind included Yellow-breasted Chat, Painted Bunting, and Black-throated, Field, and Lark Sparrows.

Painted Bunting
Female Painted Bunting – a subtly attractive bird without the over-the-top gaudiness of the male. For some reason, male Painted Buntings are allergic to my camera and despite plenty of close views at South Llano SP, none of my shots came out any good at all.
Black-throated Sparrow
Black-throated Sparrow. This species is not found at all in East Texas, although it is very common in arid scrublands further west.

It was early afternoon by the time I reached the Fort Lancaster Overlook, which Sheridan Coffey had informed me was a good spot for Gray Vireo. Unfortunately it was the exact wrong time of day to find one – it was extremely hot and quite breezy up there at the top of the canyon, with very little bird activity – but the stop proved well worthwhile with several Zone-tailed Hawks gliding overhead. Zone-tailed Hawk closely resembles the abundant Turkey Vulture, but can readily be distinguished by the broad white band on the tail. They are uncommon in Texas and in fact often associate with Turkey Vultures – it is possible they evolved to resemble the relatively harmless vultures as a way of getting closer to their prey.

Scaled Quail
Scaled Quail. Seen all over the place in the west, especially along roadsides. This one was in the Chisos Basin, Big Bend NP, on May 29th 2017.

Further west, the landscape becomes increasingly more barren and rugged. I left the interstate highway behind and took a more scenic and remote route to Marathon via Dryden and Sanderson. At one point, I drove for 60 miles without seeing another car nor any sign of human incursion on the land – apart from the endless smooth asphalt, of course. It pays to keep the gas tank topped up out here, and I was careful to not let it drop below half full. Alongside the road, some typical western species started to appear more regularly, birds such as Greater Roadrunner and Say’s Phoebe. Just outside Marathon I had my first Cassin’s Kingbird and Scaled Quails of the trip.

Big Bend Entrance
Big Bend National Park entrance, south of Marathon.

I didn’t have a definite plan for Big Bend National Park, but it was extremely hot in the late afternoon, and I decided that my best prospect for a good night’s sleep in the car would be at higher altitudes where the air would hopefully be cooler. The Chisos Basin is simply an amazing place, a bowl of oak forest and green meadows at over 6,000 feet protected by tall mountains and crags. It is the only US location for Colima Warbler, and also supports a big range of other birds plus bears and mountain lions. It is also very popular with hikers – and busy on this Memorial Day weekend – so I decided a very early start would be needed the next day in order to hike up to Colima Warbler habitat before the passing foot traffic got too heavy.

Before nightfall, I spent an hour wandering around the lodges area, and enjoyed some colorful and charismatic birds including Varied Bunting, Cactus Wren, Scott’s Oriole, and Acorn Woodpecker.

Acorn Woodpecker
Acorn Woodpecker. This one was in the Davis Mountains, but it was also numerous in the Chisos Basin at Big Bend National Park. This is a common bird in some states of the US, but in Texas only just makes it into the far west.

After a surprisingly good night’s sleep in the back of my rented Jeep Compass, I was on the Pinnacles Trail by 6.45am for a steady climb up the mountain. While there were definitely birds of interest from time to time along the route, they were not abundant and species variety was lower than I had been expecting. Nonetheless, some easy lifers presented themselves: White-throated Swift, Mexican Jay, and Black-headed Grosbeak. Once into the correct oak habitat for Colima Warbler, especially along Boot Canyon Trail and the aptly-named Colima Trail, they proved to be fairly common, and one particular singing bird allowed a close approach:

Colima Warbler2
Colima Warbler, Big Bend NP (Chisos Basin), May 28th 2017.

Other interesting birds seen during my 10-mile hike included Hepatic Tanager, Western Wood-Pewee, and a Willow Flycatcher, while Mexican Jays and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers were simply abundant, although bird activity declined sharply once the heat started to build in the late morning.

Western Wood Pewee
Western Wood-Pewee, Big Bend NP (Chisos Basin), May 28th 2017.

I went for a drive in the afternoon down as far as the Mexican border at Rio Grande Village, with the best bird a Common Black Hawk, which I would have driven right past had it not been for the sign telling me it was there:

Common Black Hawk Nesting Area
Common Black Hawk (on the dead branch in the background), which I would have missed completely while driving past had it not been for the handy sign.

Sheridan had told me of another excellent site, the water treatment plant below the Chisos Basin campsite, which was a good bet for the special hummingbirds of the region. It soon became obvious why: the outfall from the plant created a small stream that not only provided a constant source of running water in this dry area, but also allowed for the proliferation of some hummingbird-friendly vegetation.

However, hummingbirds were far from abundant even at this favored location – I saw just three individuals, but fortunately they constituted one of each of my target species: Broad-tailed, Lucifer, and the splendid Blue-throated Hummingbird:

Blue-throated Hummingbird
Blue-throated Hummingbird, Chisos Basin Water Treatment Plant, May 29th 2017. A relatively large and very impressive species!

Among the other birds taking advantage of the stream were a late migrant MacGillivray’s Warbler and several Indigo Buntings, which might have been slightly out of their normal range as they were flagged in eBird:

Indigo Bunting
Male Indigo Bunting, Chisos Basin Water Treatment Plant, May 29th 2017.

It was hard to drag myself away from this bird-filled spot but I had a key target to look for – Lucy’s Warbler – at the Cottonwood Campsite in Castolon, which is still within Big Bend NP but some 40 road miles from the Chisos Basin. Unfortunately I left it a bit late, and didn’t arrive at the campsite until late morning, by which time the Lucy’s Warblers weren’t singing and proved impossible to locate in windy conditions in the tall cottonwood trees.

There were lots of other birds to see here, however, including numerous Vermilion Flycatchers, Brown-crested Flycatcher, Black Phoebe, and a tricky oriole which I decided in the end was a young male Orchard Oriole and not the hoped-for Hooded Oriole.

Black Phoebe
Black Phoebe, Big Bend NP Cottonwood Campsite, May 29th 2017.

With the heat of the day fast approaching, I had to choose whether to wait it out and have another crack at Lucy’s Warbler in the late afternoon or early the next day, or use the “dead time” to drive somewhere else. With a number of new birds available in the Davis Mountains, 2.5 hours to the north, the decision was an easy one. Along the route, some interesting birds were spotted including Chihuahuan Raven and Burrowing Owl, and several attractive picnic areas that were dripping with birds including a very late migrant Yellow-rumped (Audubon’s) Warbler. This distinctive and beautiful bird looks highly likely to be re-split from the (in my opinion) rather more prosaic-looking eastern Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler later this year.

The weather looked iffy higher in the mountains when I arrived at the tiny and cell-phone reception-free town of Fort Davis, prompting me to make what turned out to be an excellent spur-of-the-moment decision to stay in the lowlands and continue north to Lake Balmorhea. I knew Clark’s Grebe could be seen here, but I was surprised to also find Western Grebe, as the range map in the field guide shows them as being present at this site only in winter:

Western Grebe
Western Grebe, Lake Balmorhea, May 29th 2017.

I also lucked out with a Phainopepla, an enigmatic and sought-after West Texas bird which I wasn’t expecting to see here, and a handsome male Bullock’s Oriole right next to the road.

Davis Mountains
Davis Mountains scenery, May 30th 2017.

The Davis Mountains State Park provided an excellent night halt and I even sneaked in to the camping area to use the showers, which was much-needed as my only “shower” in the last three days had been a late afternoon bathe in the Rio Grande. The next morning I started out at the Lawrence Wood picnic area, one of the few areas where some of the high-altitude forest habitat of the Davis Mountains can be accessed.

It was surprisingly cold here at 6.45am, with temperatures of around 48 degrees F (9 degrees C), but bird activity was high and I saw several species here that are hard to see elsewhere in Texas: White-breasted Nuthatch, Plumbeous Vireo, Gray Flycatcher, and Western Bluebird. I happened to locate the nests of both Plumbeous Vireo and Western Bluebird, the former incubating eggs and the latter feeding young at a tree hole nesting site.

The rest of the day turned out a little less successfully, as I couldn’t find a way to get close to any other areas of good habitat. I did however find a man-made pond next to Highway 118 which had a succession of birds coming in to drink, and an hour’s watching from the car here produced Violet-Green Swallow, Black-chinned Sparrow, Cassin’s Kingbird, Bushtit and Canyon Towhee among plenty of commoner species.

In the late afternoon I started the long drive back east. My overnight halt was at the Fort Lancaster overlook, where I had unsuccessfully looked for Gray Vireo a few days previously. Even at first light the next day, it took more than 2 hours to finally locate a pair of Gray Vireos a short distance up the road from the parking area. However, perhaps even more satisfying than eventually seeing Gray Vireo was finding a Rock Wren, a bird that until now had mysteriously eluded me in Texas – and a fitting end to a highly successful trip.

Rock Wren
Rock Wren, Fort Lancaster overlook, May 31st 2017.

World Life List: 2,212
USA Life List: 409
2017 Texas Year List: 357

MacGillivray’s Warbler

On By birdingaroundtaiwanIn birding1 Comment
McGillivray's Warbler
MacGillivray’s Warbler, Edith L Moore Nature Reserve, Houston, May 2nd 2017. The bright yellow underparts, black lores, and – most of all – the striking white eye crescents are clearly visible in this photo.

On Monday evening, Erik Sauder found a male MacGillivray’s Warbler in the Edith L Moore Nature Reserve in Houston, a site I have been visiting almost every evening after work since late March. Naturally, the rarest bird of the spring turned up on the one night I didn’t go to the reserve. It had showed well and Erik got a good look at it – but no photo – and with a clear night to follow, I didn’t rate my chances of relocating it again the following evening.

I felt my chances dwindling further when no one reported the bird during the day on Tuesday, and further still when I received a text from Letha Slagle to tell me she had looked for it but drawn a blank. So much so, that on arrival at the site after work on Tuesday I spent barely a couple of minutes at the spot the bird had been found next to the Church Gate.

There wasn’t much else around either (the only migrants in the whole wood appeared to be a lone Ovenbird and a Swainson’s Thrush), and just before leaving at around 6.10pm I decided to check the area around the zipline at the northwestern edge of the wood, which has proved to be one of the better areas this spring for migrant warblers.

Almost as soon as I arrived, I noticed a bird moving low down in the woods between the zip line and Memorial Drive. It quickly popped up to reveal itself as a sparkling male MacGillivray’s Warbler, without a doubt the same bird that Erik had found the previous evening just 50 yards to the south.

Better yet, I managed to get an identifiable photo of the bird before it disappeared further back among the trees, no mean feat as the lighting was poor and the bird was very actively feeding.

MacGillivray’s Warbler is a summer migrant to the western third of the USA, and a rare migrant further east. Over the last few days there has been a mini-influx in Texas with several birds reported around Corpus Christi and San Antonio. However, this bird at Edith L Moore nature reserve is the first in Harris County since one was recorded at the same site 5 years ago.

Texas tick: MacGillivray’s Warbler (total 336).

Fallout at Sabine Woods, April 30th 2017

On By birdingaroundtaiwanIn birdingLeave a comment
Scarlet Tanager
Scarlet Tanager (male), Sabine Woods, April 30th 2017

For the second Sunday in a row, the weather conspired to produce a spectacular day for migrants on the Upper Texas coast. All week, the forecast had been promising that a front would cross the area in the early hours of Sunday morning, replacing Saturday’s strong, hot southerly winds with cool northerlies and a band of rain. For once, the forecast was more or less correct. Not much rain materialized but it didn’t matter: the cool winds stopped the migrants in their tracks and we had the best day of the season bar none.

Bay-breasted Warbler2
Bay-breasted Warbler (male), Sabine Woods, April 30th 2017

Right from the start, the woods were dripping with migrants, with Tennessee Warblers everywhere and many other warbler species mixed in. Later, the composition of the warbler flocks shifted, with higher numbers of Black-throated Green Warblers around. In total, 24 warbler species were seen in the woods during the day, of which I connected with 21 during my 9-hour visit. Very approximate numbers are listed below (the birds in brackets were the ones I missed!):

Black-throated Green Warbler 60
Tennessee Warbler 40
Magnolia Warbler 20
Chestnut-sided Warbler 15
American Redstart 15
Black-and-White Warbler 12
Ovenbird 11
Bay-breasted Warbler 10
Blackburnian Warbler 10
Yellow Warbler 3
Canada Warbler 3
Northern Parula 3
Golden-winged Warbler 3
Blue-winged Warbler 2
Common Yellowthroat 2
Northern Waterthrush 2
Hooded Warbler 2
Worm-eating Warbler 1
Swainson’s Warbler 1
Kentucky Warbler 1
Cerulean Warbler 1
(Blackpoll Warbler 1)
(Mourning Warbler 1)
(Nashville Warbler 1)

Magnolia Warbler
Magnolia Warbler (male), Sabine Woods, April 30th 2017 – one of about 20 present

It proved extremely hard to get good photos of these very active birds, which showed few signs of being exhausted after their long trans-Gulf journey. I would have particularly loved a decent photo of the male Cerulean Warbler, which all spring has been my number one target warbler – I was lucky to get one at all as April 30th is a late date for this species. The best pic I could manage was this mostly-obscured effort, but at least the shot is kind-of in focus and the beautiful blue color of the upperparts can be seen:

Cerulean Warbler
Cerulean Warbler (male), Sabine Woods, April 30th 2017

Today wasn’t just about the warblers. The woods were carpeted with Gray Catbirds, the trees teemed with Tanagers (Scarlet and Summer), the fields out back bounced with Buntings (Painted and Indigo), while six Vireo species – White-eyed, Red-eyed, Blue-headed, Yellow-throated, Warbling, and Philadelphia – was an excellent day count.

Canada Warbler
Canada Warbler, Sabine Woods, April 30th 2017

These last two Sundays have compensated in spectacular style for the dire start to the spring season. With about two weeks left of migration, the species variety will start to tail off, but we still haven’t seen many of the late-arriving birds hit Texas yet. Fingers crossed for another weather front or two to hit the coast before mid-May …..

World Life List: 2,182
Texas Life List: 335
Texas 2017 Year List: 312

Blackburnian Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler (male), Sabine Woods, April 30th 2017. My favorite warbler of them all, and despite many prolonged close-range sightings of them today, this photo was the best I could manage – they never stay still for more than a split second!

Peak Migration!

On By birdingaroundtaiwanIn birding, Trip reportsLeave a comment
Cape May Warbler
Male Cape May Warbler, Lafitte’s Cove, Galveston, April 23rd 2017.

A common sight this spring at migrant hotspots has been birders with their heads bowed, muttering to themselves about how few birds are around compared to usual. I don’t feel exactly the same, as this is my first spring in Texas, and I’ve been steadily adding lifers to my list – but I can understand the frustrations of those who have been here longer than me. It’s true that some sites have been very quiet indeed, while others have had some decent species variety but nothing like the numbers one would expect here in a “good” year.

Blue Grosbeak
Blue Grosbeak (and bathing male Orchard Oriole), Sabine Woods, April 16th 2017.

However, it definitely hasn’t all been “doom and gloom”. After three visits, Sabine Woods in Jefferson County in east Texas is already shaping up to be one of my all-time favorite birding destinations. It has all the magic ingredients: a compact, mature woodland in a coastal location surrounded by mile upon mile of coastal marshes. It would be hard to imagine a better-placed migrant trap. Additionally, it has been set up with both birds and birders in mind, with several drips providing fresh water for tired trans-Gulf migrants to drink and bathe, and a network of paths from which all corners of the reserve can be easily viewed.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Sabine Woods, April 16th 2017.

A local birder at Sabine Woods mentioned to me that April is either “good” or “great” at the site, and while I have not yet experienced a classic fallout there, I encountered an excellent range of species on April 16th and 22nd: Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Veery, Grey-cheeked, Swainson’s and Wood Thrushes, Ovenbird, Worm-eating, Blue-winged, Prothonotary, Swainson’s, Tennessee, Hooded, Cape May, and Yellow Warblers, Louisiana and Northern Waterthrushes, and of course the crowd-pleasing colorful ones – Blue and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Scarlet and Summer Tanagers, and Indigo and Painted Buntings.

Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-headed Woodpecker, White Memorial Park, April 16th 2017.

From Houston, a visit to Sabine Woods can easily be combined in a day trip with a stop at Anahuac NWR in neighboring Chambers county, and this is exactly what I did on April 16th. I started the day in search of an outstandingly attractive lifer, the stunning Red-headed Woodpecker, at a reliable stakeout just off i-10 at the White Memorial Park. This species is usually found at the northern edge of the park, where several dead trees provide nesting holes, and this is where I encountered three individuals engaged in some sort of territorial dispute.

Purple Gallinule
Purple Gallinule, Anahuac NWR, April 16th 2017.

A few miles down the road towards Anahuac, two Swainson’s Hawks provided a nice fly-by but my photos turned out a lot less impressive than the close views I obtained. I stopped to check the flooded field at the entrance of the Anahuac reserve for shorebirds – I had no intention of going onto the reserve proper today, but when another birder mentioned he had seen no fewer than 5 Least Bitterns on the Shoveler Pond Loop, I changed my mind. However, the only bittern I saw was a flyover American Bittern, although the trip was certainly not a waste of time as several gorgeous Purple Gallinules showed well, and there was the usual assortment of attractive and easily-viewed birds showing from the road around the pond.

Merlin
Merlin, Anahuac NWR Skillern Tract, April 16th 2017.

Anahuac delivered again the following weekend, with a lovely assortment of shorebirds on the reserve entrance field including 2 Hudsonian Godwits, and at least 4 White-rumped Sandpipers. With Wilson’s Phalarope ticked off the following day on Galveston Island, I am gradually getting all those Nearctic wader species safely under the belt that I had only previously seen as vagrants in the UK (or in the case of the Hudsonian Godwit, New Zealand!). Of the regular Texas shorebirds, I now only need Baird’s and Buff-breasted Sandpipers, both of which I have already seen in the UK, and American Woodcock for my life list, which in my view has only marginal shorebird status!

Dickcissel
Dickcissel, Anahuac NWR, April 22nd 2017.

There was also a Dickcissel on overhead wires along the Anahuac entrance road (lifer), and finally a King Rail obliged me with brief views on the Shoveler Pond loop – which I figured was about time after at least 8 visits to the site.

Prairie Warbler
Prairie Warbler, Lafitte’s Cove, Galveston, April 23rd 2017.

The day that everyone had been waiting for finally happened on April 23rd, statistically the “peak” of spring migration in Texas. A cold front had passed through late afternoon on Saturday 22nd  – unfortunately too late to bring anything new to the expectant birders at Sabine Woods. However, by Sunday morning the air was distinctly cool and a strong north wind was blowing, stopping migrants in their tracks and heralding a marked change from the sweltering humidity and southerly airflow of the day before.

Scarlet Tanager
Male Scarlet Tanager. Seen at several sites during the period – a real crowd-pleaser!

I literally flipped a coin for my decision over whether to return to Sabine Woods, or head to Lafitte’s Cove in Galveston. Lafitte’s Cove won, first because it’s a lot closer to Houston than Sabine Woods, and second, because a proper rarity had been reported from there on Saturday evening, a Black-whiskered Vireo.

Warbling Vireo
Warbling Vireo, Lafitte’s Cove, Galveston, April 23rd 2017.

I was happy with my decision as soon as I arrived, with numbers of singing Baltimore Orioles, a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and Indigo Buntings all showing well inside the first ten minutes. Things went on from there, with some spectacularly enjoyable birding throughout the day in cool, sunny weather conditions. Not only were the birds great, but the birders were too …. it turned into a thoroughly social occasion, with a rotating cast of at least 40-50 birders in this small wood throughout the day.

Wilson's Phalarope
Wilson’s Phalarope, Lafitte’s Cove, Galveston, April 23rd 2017.

During my 8.5 hour visit, my personal avian highlights included: Broad-winged and Swainson’s Hawks, Wilson’s Phalarope, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Red-eyed, Warbling, and Black-whiskered Vireos, Grey-cheeked and Swainson’s Thrushes, Ovenbird, Worm-eating, Blue-winged, Prothonotary, Tennessee, Cape May, Magnolia, Yellow, Prairie and Blackpoll Warblers, American Redstart and Northern Parula.

Blackpoll Warbler
Male Blackpoll Warbler, Lafitte’s Cove, Galveston, April 23rd 2017.

I was especially pleased to get reasonably good photos of both Cape May and Prairie Warblers, two of the rarer migrants here today. It took the vagrant Black-whiskered Vireo more than six hours to make a proper appearance, but from 2.00pm onwards this distinctly underwhelming bird – somewhat resembling a dull Red-eyed Vireo overall – was showing more or less constantly in bushes near the central water drip, although it was maddeningly difficult to get photos of, and in the end I had no useful images of this bird at all.

Swainson's Thrush
Swainson’s Thrush. This individual was photographed at Edith L Moore Nature Reserve in Houston, but I saw many others during the period at Sabine Woods and Lafitte’s Cove.

Texas 2017 Year List: 297

Texas Life List: 323

World Life List: 2,175

Cape May Warbler2
A second male Cape May Warbler, also present at Lafitte’s Cove, Galveston, on April 23rd 2017.