March 2014     May 2010     April-May 2005     April-May 2004 


Links:

Upcoming FONT FONT Birding & Nature Tours in Texas

A List & Photo Gallery of Texas Birds, in 2 parts

Birds during FONT Tours in west Texas & nearby New Mexico

Lists & Photo Galleries of:  Texas Mammals     Texas Butterflies

Texas Dragonflies & Damselflies     Texas Reptiles & Amphibians

Plants of the Desert & Some Nearby Habitats  (with some photos)

TEXAS - March 2014

One of the endangered Whooping Cranes at the Aransas Refuge
(photo by Marc Felber)

Our tour in March 2014, in central and southern Texas, was scheduled for us to see two special and rare birds, both categorized as endangered, the Whooping Crane and the Golden-cheeked Warbler. And that we did.

We enjoyed a fine, and close look at a pair of Whooping Cranes during the first full day of the tour, at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, along the Gulf Coast, where what has been the only wild flock of them has wintered for years.

Our encounter with the Golden-cheeked Warbler was in the "Hill Country" of Texas, where we saw and heard them, during the last full day of our tour, and the first day when the species was found there in 2014, at the Lost Maples Natural Area, a prime place for that specialty bird that only breeds in that region of central Texas. 
It spends its non-breeding season south of the US-Mexico border, mostly in Central America. We've seen it during FONT tours in Guatemala and Honduras, mostly in Honduras.

Another "good bird" for us in the "HIll Country" of central Texas was a Hutton's Vireo. We watched it sing. That species is most often seen and heard in Texas further west in the Trans-Pecos region.  

During the days between our first and last full-days of the tour, we saw a number of other birds that were good to see, including: Green Jay, Audubon's Oriole, Pyrrhuloxia, Greater Roadrunner, Vermilion Flycatcher, Verdin, Great Kiskadee, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, and Harris' Sparrow, just to name a few.

We also enjoyed seeing Sandhill Cranes, Roseate Spoonbills, Northern Crested Caracaras, and an Aplomado Falcon.
"New" for FONT tours in Texas were: American Golden Plover, White-winged Scoter, and Lesser Black-backed Gull. 
At the end of the March 2014 Texas Tour, our cumulative list of birds found during FONT tours in that state topped 400 species.  

Also, when in Texas, in addition to the birds and other nature, we also had some very nice times with people, at the various places we went, but especially one evening when we had a joint-dinner with participants who were on a previous FONT tour a few years back. That evening was when we were with a number of the people of the Wimberley Bird Society who were on the FONT tour in Iceland in June 2009. It was great to be with them.

Others with us in Texas in March 2014 were previously with FONT on tours in Alaska, Spain, the Canary Islands, Guatemala, and another Iceland tour.  

Links:

More about the FONT Tour in Texas in March 2014

Birds & Other Wildlife during our Texas Tour  in March 2014  

TEXAS - May 2010

Our tour in the big state of Texas in May 2010 was in the south-central part of the state, from the Gulf Coast to the Hill Country. 
In that area, we met with a nice array of birds, including, along the coast, Piping Plover and Black Rail. Eastern migrants were seen as well, including warblers of various kinds in small trees by the salt marsh and sand dunes. A small tree there was filled with orioles during their migration.
In the Austin area, for birds, "east meets west". From the city east: Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Blue Jay, and Red-bellied Woodpecker. From the city west: Black-chinned Hummingbird, Western Scrub Jay, and Golden-fronted Woodpecker. Of course, from Austin west, in the "Hill Country" of the Edwards Plateau, there are the two special birds of the region, the Golden-cheeked Warbler, and the Black-capped Vireo. The Golden-cheeked Warbler only nests in Texas; the Black-capped Vireo nearly so.
Among the mammals during the tour were the thousands upon thousands of Mexican Free-tailed Bats that fly at dusk from caves and even a city bridge. Other mammals included: Gray Fox, Wild Boar (that has become established in some wild parts of Texas), Black-tailed Jackrabbit, and raccoon, deer, and opossum. Other wildlife included: American Alligator, and various turtles and snakes. Wildflowers were absolutely in profusion. Butterflies were plentiful. 

Links:

More about the FONT Tour in Texas in May 2010

Birds & Other Wildlife during our Texas Tour in May 2010  

ACROSS TEXAS - April/May 2005

During this tour we traveled across the big state of Texas, with its many birds (the most birds of any US state, of course - it's Texas!).  We began by the Gulf of Mexico and went all the west to Big Bend National Park and El Paso.
 
In all, 266 species of birds were found during the tour, with good flights of migrating warblers and other birds by the Gulf, and the Colima Warbler as other specialties in the Chisos Mountains at Big Bend.
In between we had wonderful looks at the two foremost avian specialties of Texas: the Golden-cheeked Warbler and the Black-capped Vireo.         




"A Tour Across the State 
from the Gulf to the Desert"


The following account written 
by Armas Hill, leader of the tour:


During this tour, April 26 - May 9, 2005, we traveled across the large state  of Texas, birding as we went, from the Gulf Coast west to Big Bend National Park and El Paso. 
Much of our travel paralleled the course of the Rio Grande, the river that's the boundary between the US & Mexico.

Birding near that river, particularly in far-southern Texas, produced some birds that are normally more Mexican than Texan. 
These included: Gray-crowned Yellowthroat, Tropical Parula, Clay-colored Robin, Blue Bunting, Green Jay, Green Kingfisher, Green Parakeet, Red-crowned Parrot, Couch's Kingbird, Great Kiskadee, White-tipped Dove, Buff-bellied Hummingbird, Altamira Oriole, Groove-billed Ani, and Plain Chachalaca.
By the Rio Grande in western Texas, at Big Bend, another species more Mexican than Texan, that we saw, was the Tropical Kingbird. And yet another, the Gray Hawk was nesting in a tree nearby. 

Areas away from the Rio Grande that we visited included places along the the Gulf Coast such as Rockport, Aransas, and Padre Island, and the "Hill Country" of the Edwards Plateau. Each of these areas produced a number of our desired birds.

In all, 266 species of birds were found during our tour across Texas.

Even though we traveled a good number of miles, from Corpus Christi to El Paso, we actually only covered, as we found those 250-plus bird species, but a portion of the very big state. Yes, Texas is BIG - as big as it gets in the "Lower 48". 

Among our prime avian objectives in the big state of Texas were what we called the "Big 4", even though they were not big at all. The largest of them is just over 5 inches in length. That's the Colima Warbler. The other 3 of the "Big 4" targets were the Golden-cheeked Warbler, Black-capped Vireo, and Lucifer Hummingbird. We saw them all.

These birds are prime objectives in Texas because mostly they are found in no other state. One of them, the Lucifer Hummingbird, it should be noted, does occur uncommonly in Arizona in the summer. Actually, the only place where that species is common is Mexico. Some years in the US, its numbers are less than in others, even where it's regular. We found at Big Bend in '05 the Lucifer Hummingbird to be less common than it was in '04. But a male, observed one afternoon, was a good sight.

The other 3 of the "Big 4" were seen very well during our '05 Texas tour. 

All of the "Big 4" winter in Mexico (1 of them, the Golden-cheeked Warbler, also further south into Guatemala).  

The Golden-cheeked Warbler nests only in Texas. We observed some males nicely in the "Hill Country" of the Edwards Plateau. The Golden-cheeked Warbler is classified by Birdlife International as "Endangered". In the "Lower 48" states of the US only 4 species are so classified. 2 of the others are the Whooping Crane (that winters in Texas) and the Gunnison Sage-Grouse. The other, the Thick-billed Parrot, is really a Mexican species. It has not occurred in the US in years. It did formerly in Arizona.   

Another of our "Big 4", the Black-capped Vireo, we saw well in the western Edwards Plateau. That species is classified as "Vulnerable" by Birdlife International. In the US, nearly all Black-capped Vireos nest in Texas. Only a very few do so in Oklahoma (and it formerly did in Kansas). It also breeds in northern Mexico.  

The Colima Warbler is classified as "Near-threatened" by Birdlife International. In the US, it nests only in western Texas, at a particular elevation and in a particular habitat in the Chisos Mountains in the Big Bend National Park. To get where it is, a trail must be walked. We did, and we saw and heard the bird nicely. Other than at Big Bend, the Colima Warbler is exclusively Mexican. They breed in that country, and all of them winter there.   

Some other birds more Mexican than Texan that we encountered during our Texas tour (in addition to those already mentioned) included: Least Grebe (at one time, we saw 7 together, 2 adults & 5 young, the least of the least), Neotropic Cormorant, Pauraque (seen & heard at Aransas), the Mexican (or Gray-breasted) Jay at Big Bend, the Northern Crested-Caracara (also known as the "Mexican Eagle"), Chihuahuan Raven (named after the Mexican state), Olive Sparrow, White-tailed Hawk, Harris's Hawk, the Aplomado Falcon, and the Black-bellied Whistling-Duck. Some comments are warranted, and follow, about the last two of these species.

The Aplomado Falcon is overall not a rare bird "south of the (US-Mexican) border". In some places, such as Costa Rica, it is. In others, such as Brazil, it's quite common. In the US (Texas), it formerly occurred until the early 20th Century in southern Texas, and until the mid-20th Century in western Texas. About 15 years ago (in 1989), a reintroduction program began in south Texas. Since then, about 700 birds have been released. And the species is now breeding in southern Texas. We can confirm that as we saw a pair mating, close to us, atop a telephone pole along a road between Brownsville and the Gulf of Mexico. We also watched those two birds in flight - flying as the species once did naturally over a century ago in Texas.

The Black-bellied Whistling-Duck about 40 years ago occurred in Texas almost exclusively in the lower Rio Grande Valley, and south the southern Gulf Coast (south of Corpus Christi). During the decades since, the species has expanded its range and increased its numbers considerably. As we went across Texas, we saw many, well to the north and west of that previous range of 40 years ago. What was particularly interesting was how the species has adapted to living in the town and cities, in residential areas. Often we saw the birds in flight over neighborhoods and standing on the roofs of homes. They were notably fond of trees, either being on stumps or high bare branches. After all, they have been called historically "Black-bellied Tree Ducks".

Another bird that we saw to have had a major expansion through Texas, in recent years, was the Eurasian Collared-Dove. It's common in southern and eastern Texas, often, like the whistling-duck, in towns and cities. We saw the Eurasian Collared-Dove as far west as one can go in Texas, in El Paso.

Yet another bird species that has increased in Texas in recent decades has been the Cave Swallow. We saw many, especially along highways at bridges and overpasses.

Our best spectacle for numbers of birds during the tour was during 3 days in the area of the Gulf Coast, as many were seen on their migration north. At places such as South Padre Island, and Goose Island, trees and bushes were sometimes dripping with birds. Lawns and feeders also had their share. Very numerous were the warblers, and there were other birds in good numbers such as flycatchers, hummingbirds (Ruby-throated), kingbirds (Eastern), thrushes, tanagers, orioles (many), waxwings (Cedar), and grosbeaks (Rose-breasted).     

Nearly 30 species of Warblers were seen during our tour. In addition to those already mentioned here (the Golden-cheeked, Colima, Gray-crowned Yellowthroat, & Tropical Parula), there were for us in southern & eastern Texas, many species of eastern warblers during their migration. Our most commonly observed species was the Black-throated Green. But other notables, often in colorful breeding plumages, included: Blue-winged, Golden-winged, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Blackburnian, Bay-breasted, Yellow-throated, Hooded, Wilson's, Kentucky, Canada, Worm-eating, Nashville, Tennessee (candidly not as colorful as some of the others), Ovenbird, and Northern Waterthrush.                  

A good bird migration is a fascinating phenomenon. Sometimes it's subtle, while other times it's obvious, and when it is It's one of the most exciting experiences birders can have. We've been in the midst of such migration during FONT tours in other parts of the world, for example, at the southern tip of Sweden in the autumn and on a small island in the Sea of Japan in the spring. The migration that we experienced along the Texas coast in May '05 was as good as any, actually as good as it gets. To see so many birds, having just crossed a portion of the Gulf of Mexico, and actively feeding in low bushes in front of us was, yes, exciting. And it was especially so with the variety of species and so many colorful warblers. 
About a month, to the south in Central America, during our Guatemala tour, in the area of the Mayan ruins of Tikal, some of the same birds we would see in Texas were noted already on their way north. There were the warblers and flycatchers, and quite memorable was a tree filled with Baltimore Orioles by one of the temples.               

During our May '05 Texas tour, migrating Orioles were seen en masse, both Baltimore and Orchard, sometimes in flocks in flights and memorable, again, was a tree filled with more than 15 colorful Baltimores at once.

Even just 1 male Baltimore Oriole is bright & colorful.

Migrating Tanagers, with their red coloration, were both Scarlet and Summer.
Migrating Flycatchers were Great Crested and Eastern Wood-Pewees.
Migrating Thrushes were Swainson's, Gray-cheeked, Wood, and Veery. Incidentally, as we traveled west across Texas for 2 weeks, a thrush we never saw was the American Robin.

What we did see with all of the migrants just-mentioned were Dickcissels. They, as well as Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, were evident in the east Texan countryside. Both species, for those of us from elsewhere in the Country, were nice to be seen as often as they were.   

Swainson's Hawks (both the light & the dark morphs) were also nice to be seen, as was a flock overhead of migrating Mississippi Kites, on their way north.

A favorite among the many birds seen during our '05 Texas tour was the Painted Bunting. The species was seen many times & many places across the state. No matter how many times the colorful male is seen, however, it's still a favorite.     

Seemingly a bit out a place, and off schedule, along the Texan coast of the Gulf of Mexico, very close to Mexico, one afternoon, there was an immature Glaucous Gull along the beach. Also along that beach, we saw a Piping Plover (a threatened species more apt to be there in the winter) in company with Wilson's Plover. Also there were: Red Knot, Black Skimmer, and Terns including Sandwich, Royal, and Caspian, in addition to other coastal birds.

Shifting from the Texan coast, to the opposite end of the state, to the desert and some other habitats of far-western Texas, some of the birds that we enjoyed there included: both Scaled and Gambel's Quails, both Pyrrhuloxia and Phainopepla, both Western and Clark's Grebes on the same lake (more of the former), a large flock of Long-billed Curlews, spinning Wilson's Phalaropes, the Greater Roadrunner, Vermilion Flycatcher, Common Poorwill, lots of Lesser Nighthawks, White-throated Swifts (doing their flights that aptly could be called "swift"), Canyon Wren (with its beautiful song), Varied Bunting, and Crissal Thrasher.

Of all the birds we encountered during our 14 days in Texas, there was only one that got on our check-list every day. It was in the thrasher group. It's actually the state bird of Texas, occurring in an assortment of habitats throughout the state. We saw many, of course, and it could be said that we heard many more, by day and by night. It was rare for a Northern Mockingbird not to be heard, at any given time, somewhere near us.

The state bird of Texas, the Mockingbird, is one of about 625 species of birds that have been recorded in the state. That's more than in any other US state. There are so many species of birds in Texas that it was the only state which had its own Peterson Field Guide.   
We've seen many of the birds recorded in Texas during our tours there (nearly half). But, with more yet to be seen, there will, of course, be future FONT tours, for birds (& butterflies, and other nature) in Texas!    

Links: 

To Top of Page

Upcoming FONT Birding & Nature Tours in Texas

To Top of Page