Big Bend Trip 4

.

We were up early (5:00) again on Sunday morning, watching the moon set in the Window.

I took a dawn walk along the Window Trail. 

I was hoping for Javelinas but didn't see a single mammal of any sort. Birds were scarce again, too; the only ones I saw were a bunch of Mexican Jays on a far-off hillside and a couple of Cactus Wrens collecting nesting material along the path.

As we'd really enjoyed the previous day, we decided to try the same route again for the first part of Sunday. So 8:30 saw us heading over to the Rio Grande Village.


We'd hardly started our walk through the campground before Dee told me to stop and look down. I hadn't noticed that a Greater Roadrunner was standing just feet away. It stayed long enough to let me take several photos.

We explored the "No Generator" zone, which was very busy with Northern Cardinals and Pyrrhuloxias.

There were other birds, too, of course: Say's Phoebe, Golden-fronted Woodpeckers, House Finches and Yellow-rumped Warblers.

The Nature Trail looked fantastic in the morning sun.

The reeds had Yellow-rumped Warblers, Verdins and Bewick's Wren, while the water had American Coots, Pied-billed Grebe and several turtles.

 

We moved down to Daniel's Ranch again for lunch. 

 

As before, we were in the company of birds: Vermilion Flycatcher, Verdin, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Northern Cardinals, Common Ravens, Golden-fronted Woodpeckers and Pyrrhuloxias.

The Golden-fronted Woodpeckers were busy again.

And the Kestrel was still around.

Lunch over, we drove back past the Chisos Mountains  and along the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive.

 

We stopped to admire a Red-tailed Hawk that drifted effortlessly up to and over the edge of the Chisos Mountains on the breeze.
 

 

We ended up at the Cottonwood Campground, overlooking the river.

 

 

There we spent an hour watching a variety of birds, including Vermilion Flycatcher, Black-throated Gary Warbler and Black-tailed Gnatcatcher. 

 Vermilion Flycatcher

Two Black Vultures circled overhead, a Great Blue Heron flew along the Mexican bank of the river, and a Spotted Sandpiper pottered about on a log in the water.

On our way back to the Chisos Basin we stopped in for a break at the Sam Nail ranch. The birds were very much the same as on Saturday - except that Dee spotted a Fox Sparrow - but it was pleasant watching the way different species happily drank together at the drip. And funny the way they all fled whenever the windmill clanked into action.

 N. Cardinal, White-crowned Sparrow and Hermit Thrush

So then it was back to the Chisos Basin for dinner after another day with no great new sightings but plenty of wonderful landscapes and enough birds to keep us occupied.

.

Big Bend Trip 3

.

On Saturday we were on our deck by 5:00 a.m. admiring the most spectacular display of stars that either of us had seen in years. A couple of hours later, we were treated to a beautiful dawn view of the Window.

I went for an early morning walk but saw only a Black-crested Titmouse and a solitary Cactus Wren.

At 9:00 we drove down out of the Chisos Mountains and headed for Rio Grande Village.

The desert was glorious in the morning light and we passed several Greater Roadrunners along the road.

The cottonwoods in the RG campground were something to see, although few birds were evident except Yellow-rumped Warblers and House Finches.

 

We spent an hour exploring the Nature Trail, which winds across pools, through reeds and up onto rocky desert.  

 
The water had only a Pied-billed Grebe and two American Coots but the reeds were busy with Bewick's Wren, Rock Wren and Verdins.

Rock Wren

We walked down to the edge of the Rio Grande, where a score of American Pipits were grazing among the pebbles.

We drove up the road to Daniel's Ranch, another site dotted with cottonwoods and situated on the banks of the Rio Grande.

 

 

There we had lunch in the company of Northern Cardinals, Pyrrhuloxias and a very friendly Common Raven.

The cottonwoods had Golden-fronted Woodpeckers and an American Kestrel.

They also had Say's Phoebe and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers.
 

 

In mid-afternoon we left the area, stopping to admire a juvenile Prairie Falcon that was hunting by the wayside. After a brief an unproductive visit to Dugout Wells, we headed back past the Chisos and up to the Sam Nail Ranch.  

  

The land at the ranch was extremely dry and there was very little water at the drip, but even this small amount of water was enough to bring in some birds. So before heading back to the Chisos Basin, we sat for half-an-hour watching a succession of thirsty visitors: Hermit Thrushes, Northern Cardinals, Pyrrhuloxias, White-crowned and Black-throated Sparrows, and Northern Mockingbirds.

Overall our first full day in the park had not been as productive of birds as we had had hoped. However, the beauty of the landscape more than made up for the comparative lack of birds and other wildlife.

.