Big Bend Trip 2

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We left Del Rio at dawn on Friday to complete the second and longer leg of our drive to Big Bend. For the next 4-5 hours the road was almost empty except for Border Patrol vehicles. People complain that the US border with Mexico is not being controlled well enough but this certainly didn't seem to be the case to us. We passed 6 Border Patrol vehicles on our drive and when we stopped by the roadside for a cigarette break, two of their trucks pulled up within a couple of minutes to check us out.

Our first real break was in the late morning at Marathon. After refueling the car, we drove slowly up the country road to the Post park, stopping along the way to look at birds by the roadside. We spotted Eurasian-collared Dove and Northern Flicker before exiting the town, and soon followed up with Green-tailed Towhees, Lark Buntings, Black Phoebe and Pyrrhuloxia.

 Pyrrhuloxia

A Red-tailed Hawk looked majestic as she perched motionless on a treetop.

Nearby there was a group of Black-throated Sparrows. 

As we pulled into the park, a flock of ducks made a noisy getaway, too fast for us to ID them. They left behind on the water only a group of domestic ducks and a pair of American Coots. 

The grass around the picnic area had Killdeer while the trees had Golden-fronted Woodpeckers, Yellow-rumped Warblers and a pair of Northern Flickers.

Northern Flicker

An Eastern Phoebe and a Say's Phoebe were busy catching bugs.

 Say's Phoebe

The hillside by the entrance road was quiet except for Mourning Doves and a solitary Cactus Wren but the BBQ area was hopping with Canyon Towhees and White-crowned Sparrows.   

 

 

We could have happily stayed all day at the Post but Big Bend was beckoning and so we set off on the final leg of our journey, passing Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel and Northern Harrier (and a Border Patrol checkpoint) along the way.

We passed through the Persimmon Gap entry gate and drove up through the park to the Chisos Mountains, marveling at the incredible landscape as we traveled.

 

 

 
We drove up the narrow road into the Chisos Basin.

We had lunch at the lodge, which is overlooked by the huge bulk of the Casa Grande mountain.
 

We managed to switch our reservation so that we got our three nights' accommodation in one of the Casa Grande rooms instead of in the motel. We were put in a different building from the one we had last time. We were initially disappointed to find that our room didn't overlook the gulley where we had previously seen deer and javelinas. However, our disappointment vanished when we stepped out onto our deck and found we were looking right at the Window, the V-shaped gap in the ring of mountains that surrounds the Chisos Basin. Not a bad view!

There was just enough time before dark to walk the Window View trail and to do the short hike down to the campground and back. Surprisingly, the only birds we saw were a Northern Mockingbird and an Eastern Bluebird. The area around the building, busy on our last visit with Dark-eyed Juncos, Cactus Wrens and Canyon Towhees, this time had only a single Towhee.

Was the lack of birds a sign of what was to come over the next two days? 
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Big Bend Trip 1

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We got back from our trip yesterday afternoon - and it was quite a trip! One thing that made it memorable was the amount of driving - over 1500 miles in 6 days - most of it spent on the road between Houston and Big Bend. The weather was great the whole time, except for a damp, foggy start to our final day. The drought that persists in the hill country and west Texas meant that we saw fewer birds and many fewer mammals than on our visit to Big Bend exactly two years ago, but we still found plenty to keep us happy. And, if possible, the landscapes at Big Bend were even more stunningly beautiful than on our previous visit.

DAY 1
We had an easy first day's drive, traveling from Cypress to Del Rio with short stops at Castroville and Uvalde along the way.

I had great hopes for the regional park in Castroville but we saw very little there except for an armadillo and some common birds: Yellow-rumped Warblers, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Eastern Phoebe and Mourning Doves. The sewage plant area was abslutely empty of birds.

We didn't fare much better at Cook's Slough (another wastewater treatment site) in Uvalde, where we spotted Vermilion Flycatcher, Northern Cardinal and Carolina Wren. However, the stop was made worthwhile by the sighting of a Greater Roadrunner in the parking lot.

After booking in to our motel in Del Rio, I made a trip to the local sewage plant. (Three sewage plants in one day is a record for me!) Unfortunately, the lake there had completely dried up and there were no birds where it had been. There were two armadillos, though.

The edge of the sewage plant did have a few birds, mainly Northern Cardinals and Yelow-rumped Warblers. Then I got lucky and spotted a Bewick's Wren, followed by a Brown Thrasher. 

A Black Phoebe and a Say's Phoebe - both birds we don't see around Houston - rounded off the day's sightings.

Then it was early to bed so we could could make an early start on our Day 2 drive of 350 miles to Big Bend.
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CyFair Campus

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On Wednesday I took my last walk round the campus before our trip to Big Bend.

The entrance to the nature trail is now graced by a fine wooden footbridge built by a boy scout. 
 

Our N Mockingbirds have already started using the bridge as a perch.

It was fairly quiet for birds, except for the calls of an Eastern Phoebe ...

and the constant chipping of Yellow-rumped Warblers.

Butterflies were largely absent, too. The only one I saw was this very battered Red Admiral.

There was no sign of American Robins or Cedar Waxwings, both of which are normally present on the campus in large numbers by this time of year. They may just have started migrating late. Or they may have arrived, taken one look at all the changes made to the campus this year and decided to look for a new site.

Just as I was leaving to go back to my office, I was thrilled to see a Red-tailed Hawk circle overhead. Our resident pair did not appear at all during the summer but perhaps they have decided to set up home on the campus again. I hope so.

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A Bird Bully

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A few days ago I mentioned that we have a very territorial Yellow-rumped Warbler in our front yard. Since it flew in from the north, it has been chasing away all other Yellow-rumps that try to reach our feeders. It has been driving off our Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Orange-crowned Warblers, too.

Our Yellow-rumped Warbler stading guard

Well, this bird is now trying to extend its control over the yard by chasing off more bird species. The other day I watched as it swooped in on the feeders and drove away Carolina Chickadees and American Goldfinches. Then I was amazed to see it giving the same treatment to a couple of House Sparrows, usually one of the toughest and most aggressive of bird species.


And the warbler isn't just protecting the feeders. It has even started chasing other birds away from the birdbath.

Of course, other birds do still manage to feed and drink in the yard. Sometimes there are just so many birds around that the Yellow-rumped can't get rid of all of them. And even this very determined little bird can't intimidate our resident Downy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers, or our Northern Mockingbird, or our nine resident House Finches. Or maybe it's safer to say that it hasn't managed to intimidate them yet!

P.S.

This warbler reminds us of a very territorial female Anna's Hummingbird that took over our deck in Pittsburg, California some years ago. For about 8 weeks we watched in awe as she battled tirelessly from dawn to dusk to keep all other hummers away from two hummingbird feeders. It was a truly herculean task because there were often a dozen or more other birds trying to drink at one time. However, she was incredibly successful and it was only very rarely that any of the other hummers managed to sneak in and get a quick drink.
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Away Again

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By the time you read this, Dee and I will be on our way to Big Bend National Park. Last time we went there, we flew to Midland-Odessa but this time we're going to drive all the way. As neither of us likes long days in the car, we'll be breaking the journey, staying a night in Del Rio on the way out and a night in Uvalde on the way home.


Breaking the outward journey will give us a little time to do some birding at Marathon, where we saw a lot of good birds on our last trip to Big Bend. The stop at Uvalde will let us take another look at Cook's Slough, which we visited last month. We'll probably visit Mitchell Lake in San Antonio on the drive home, too.
 
We both fell in love with Big Bend on our last trip there. The scenery was stunning and we saw a lot of great birds, as well as Javelinas and Deer. (You can see more photos by clicking on 2008 in my blog archive.) 

We'll only have three nights in the park, which isn't much for such a huge area, but I'm sure we'll see a lot this time, too.

I won't be able to blog while we're in the park, because there is no phone or Internet service there. But I've prepared a couple of blogs to appear here while we're away.
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Wordless Wednesday

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Sunday Morning

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Early on Sunday I drove down to Cullinan Park. Unfortunately, there were very few birds around - except for ducks - and it was bitterly cold.So after 20 minutes I gave up and drove back up Highway 6 to Bear Creek Park, where I bumped into Jim Hinson again.

We spent a couple of hours birding together, looking for Dark-eyed Juncos. We didn't have any luck with these but there were plenty of other birds around, including four Pine Siskins in one tree at the same time.

There were several woodpeckers, too, including a Northern Flicker.

As seems to be normal this year, there were Eastern Phoebes everywhere.

At 11:00, I left Jim and headed home, taking one final swing along Fox Road as I went. It was there that I came across a Red-tailed Hawk perched among the trees. I love Red-taileds and so I just had to stop to admire the bird. She seemed to be feeling the cold as much as I was, because she had one foot tucked up into her beast feathers. Perhaps because of the cold, she stayed where she was and let me take a series of photos.

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End of the Week

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Last week ended with only one first-of-season sighting at CyFair when I came across an American Pipit grazing just outside the Library.

Before the soccer fields were turned into parking areas, we used to regularly get flocks of 20 or so Pipits. I suspect we won't be seeing flocks that that again this winter.

Back at home our feeders continued to attract a range of birds, from Northern Mockingbird and White-winged Doves to Orange-crowned Warbler and Ruby-crowned Kinglet. As usual, the latter is proving to be difficult to photograph.

A Yellow-rumped Warbler has taken up residence in our elm and is fiercely territorial, chasing away any other Yellow-rumped that appears. It chases off our Orange-crowned Warbler(s), too.

We have American Goldfinch but only a few so far. No doubt more will turn up as the winter sets in and other food supplies become scarcer.

Our resident pair of Downy Woodpeckers comes regularly to the suet feeders. They are among the least shy of all our birds.

As usual, though, the most numerous species is the House Finch. There were nine of them on our feeders yesterday.

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