Texas Times: Among The Oaks and Cottonwoods

As night approached on that second day of our trip, April 28th, we had already driven about 900 miles from that Phoenix airport into the westernmost "tip" of Texas.  No words really need to be said to explain the vastness of Texas, but driving through a section of it can seem like forever.  Roads are fun to travel on when birding in new places.  They are the link to success, and no matter how long these roads may be, they are going to inevitably lead to those awesome places.  During longer stretches of driving, I knew that the stops ahead of us were worth every second of the time.  It's also fun to spend time with cool people!

After leaving Reeves County and Balmorhea Lake, we dropped down into Jeff Davis County, which is home to our next stop and pursuit, the Davis Mountains, most of which are privately owned.  The Davis Mountains have amazing potential for birds, and have reminiscent bird life of those in southeastern Arizona's sky island mountain ranges such as the Huachucas and Chiricahuas.  A population of Buff-breasted Flycatchers breed in the Davis Mountains.  Other birds that may be found include Montezuma Quail, Mexican Whip-poor-will, Spotted Owl, and Rivoli's Hummingbird.  Texas specialty wise, Colima Warblers have bred in this range, and have been found hybridizing with Virginia's Warbler.  A chapter of the Nature Conservancy holds a preserve in these Davis Mountains, which would be our shot to search for these mentioned birds among others.  Sadly, the Davis Mountains Nature Conservancy Preserve has a lot of limitations on when it is open, and that didn't fall in line with the April 28th and 29th that we would be visiting.  Caleb and Josh came up with an alternative plan of owling on the 28th, camping out, and then birding in mountainous oak and juniper habitat during the April 29th morning hours.

We stopped at a place called Limpia Creek as we pulled up at our first roadside stop, well after dark.  It was here that we would listen for owls and nightjars.  Things got fun as we heard our first owls for Texas, Elf and Western Screech-Owls.  Fenced off private property made it hard for us to access the habitat to pursue visuals further off of the road, but both species ended up treating us well and came within viewing range.  Two women pulled up, who were also birders from out-of-state, and they enjoyed the owls with us.

Western Screech-Owl

Elf Owl

After owling, the four of us were exhausted and went to camp out under the stars in our sleeping bags.  The crashing location was a place called Lawrence Wood Picnic Area, which would be our birding destination in the morning for the Davis Mountains due to the Nature Conservancy Preserve being closed.  I remember sleeping well throughout the night, and at times another new night bird made it's way onto our Texas lists that is Common and sang out loud "Poor-will.  Poor-will".

After a decent and much needed sleep, I woke up slightly before dawn as April 29th, the third full day of our trip, was upon us.  The Common Poorwill continued to say his peace at times, and a Western Screech-Owl briefly joined in with his.  Once dawn hit, a chorus of many different songbirds was impressive.  Before it was really all that light out, we started birding.  What we were really hoping for was Montezuma Quail, as the habitat was great with oak, juniper, and tall grassy areas on steep surrounding slopes.  Birds who filled up our outing included Wild Turkey, Acorn Woodpecker, Western Wood-Pewee, a handful of Gray Flycatchers, Cassin's Kingbird, Hutton's and Plumbeous Vireos, White-breasted Nuthatch, Canyon, Rock, Bewick's Wrens; Western Bluebird, Cedar Waxwing, Black-chinned Sparrow, Canyon Towhee, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Scott's Oriole, and Hepatic Tanager.

Wild Turkey 

Gray Flycatcher

A few clear whistles echoing loudly from the slopes above us into the flat terrain we were on indicated a new life bird for me as David called out, "Black-crested Titmouse".  I was pumped at the sound of a new life bird and I wanted to see it right away.  Josh chimed in and said, "Tommy, they will be everywhere on this trip.  Everywhere".  I was glad to know that they would be everywhere, but I have a knack for wanting to see a life bird after I hear it.  While I didn't rush running up into any slope after a bird that I knew would be abundant for a good portion of the trip, I did keep my ears out for them if they would come any closer.  It didn't take long for the whistles to start coming from the end of the picnic area, and I made may way over to catch my first glimpse of the Black-crested Titmouse.

The Black-crested Titmouse has a range in North America that covers a lot of Texas and some of Oklahoma.  It is tied to oak woodlands, and it's range continues much further south into similar habitats in Mexico.  This species used to be one species with the widely familiar and eastern-tied Tufted Titmouse.  The two have hybrid contact zones where their ranges meet near the central strip of Texas, but otherwise, their range doesn't overlap. 

Caleb, David, Josh, and I spent close to three hours birding Lawrence Wood Picnic Area, and we had close to fifty species.  It was a fun and productive location to bird.  From there we went down to the southern base of the Davis Mountains, where we stopped at a few places and birded before continuing further south into west Texas.  A rest stop along the Highway 118 that we were on was a good one.  It had tall cottonwood and other riparian trees along a creek.  A Common Black-Hawk flew out of the trees as it gave it's distinctive call.  Working the riparian habitat along the creek gave us migrants of Swainson's Thrush and Northern Waterthrush among 27 species in a quick stop.  

After leaving the area of the Davis Mountains, we started to make our way towards Big Bend National Park, which was a three hour drive.  Big Bend was where we'd bird in several places before hitting up the Chisos Mountains within the park for a long hike to conclude the day.  Along the three hour drive, we passed through this small town called Alpine, which probably wasn't named too well considering there weren't any pine trees in sight.  We got plenty of food and gear we would need for the hike.  After grocery shopping, we encountered Alicia's Mexican Restaurant.  The food there was incredible, and it marked that second day in a row of having a great lunch at a Mexican restaurant.  

Driving through some grassland-ish areas along the way was fun.  Birds we had included Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Cassin's Sparrow, and Lark Bunting.  We had dropped into Brewster County, which is the home of Big Bend National Park.  The aftermath of the lunch meal left us in need of some loud music, and I said, "Caleb, can we listen to Amaranthe?"  Caleb let me bust it out, and while Caleb already likes the music of my favorite band, after playing a 20 song playlist Josh and David told me they enjoyed Amaranthe's music too.  Score.

Lark Buntings

Before we knew it, we entered into Big Bend National Park.  As with most national parks, this one could be driven for long distances.  While the Chiso Mountains were our primary destination for entering this park, there were other places to visit too.  Cottonwood Campground was the first place we visited after driving a considerable distance south within the park.  I reached a point of tiredness and dozed off for a half-hour.  When I woke up again, we were driving into Cottonwood Campground, which I immediately thought was a cool-looking spot.  The campground is well named and is filled with cottonwoods, has grassy under-stories, and the open under-stories below the cottonwoods are lined with thick mesquite and paloverde trees.  Barely south of the campground is the Rio Grande River, and halfway across that river width is the country line of the United States and Mexico.  It was a crazy thing to think about.  But first, we stuck to the campground.

Lucy's Warblers and Painted Buntings filled up the campground sounds with their songs, but the first big highlight came quickly when Josh looked behind us and said, "Guys, I've got a Golden-fronted Woodpecker on that sign".  We turned to look and see the bird Josh called out and it became a lifer for us, my fourth already at the time just in west Texas.  The Golden-fronted Woodpecker didn't stay on the sign long, and flew to nearby trees.  Throughout the time spent at Cottonwood Campground, it was fun to study this species (as there was a pair of them present) and to observe them up close during the time spent.  

Golden-fronted Woodpeckers are very closely related to Gila and Red-bellied Woodpeckers.  The trio sounds similar to one another, and in most respects, they look similar to one another in appearance, size, and structure.  In the United States, Golden-fronted Woodpeckers reside throughout much of Texas and a small portion of southwestern Oklahoma.  They hybridize regularly with Red-bellied Woodpeckers where their range overlaps.  Golden-fronted is obviously the most striking out of the three species mentioned, and it is found mainly in decidious forests but also plenty of drier, mesquite dominated habitats as well.  South of Texas, it's range continues further down into Mexico. 

In close to two hours of birding Cottonwood Campground, other bird highlights we had among 52 species were Greater Roadrunner, Anna's Hummingbird (pretty scarce in Texas), Vermilion Flycatcher, Brown-crested Flycatcher, Bell's Vireo (some of which were definitely from the eastern population), Crissal Thrasher, Clay-colored and Black-throated Sparrows, Green-tailed Towhee, Orchard and Bullock's Orioles, Pyrrhuloxia, and stunning Painted Buntings.  

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

Lark Sparrow

Anna's Hummingbird

Summer Tanager

Vermilion Flycatcher 

Painted Bunting

It was also interesting to walk down to the Rio Grande River and look just across the river and into Mexico.  Seven common species filled our Mexico lists while we stood in the United States, including Northern Cardinal and Black and Say's Phoebes.  Caleb tried to chase a Greater Roadrunner into Mexico, but that plan didn't work out.  

As we finished up at Cottonwood Campground after throwing around a football for fun, we would make our way much further into the heart of Big Bend National Park to the headquarters and trailhead that would take us up into the Chiso Mountains.  That will be another story to tell.  What was cool about driving along on our way was a remarkable view point of the Rio Grande River that showed a big "bend" in the river, which is where the park gets it's name from.

In The Gila: Speaking of County Birds

Gila County often sits among others as one of Arizona's fifteen counties.  Despite long waits for attention, it is a diverse county in habitats, elevation, and it has awesome birding potential.  Out of those fifteen counties, it is one of the most under-covered by Arizona birders.  It has plenty of birds that can be found to fill wide gaps.  Those birds include a selection of state-wide rarities, as well as some local birds who aren't as rare statewide but do have potential to show up in Gila County in limited numbers.  There's also those birds that have been recorded once or twice in the county.  These birds are hard to discern with as far is their status and distribution are concerned within Gila.  Whatever the case, this place called Gila County has plenty of birds that still need to be found inside of it's limits, unknown status and distributions voids to discern for certain species, and just as important as birds, remote locations that need to be birded that are rarely birded or perhaps haven't been birded in at all.  What I've described here is a huge reason I love to bird Gila County as much as I do.  And I want to continue to find or see such birds and bird remote locations to help fill some of the birding holes in this mysterious region.

2017 was the year where I really got into Gila County and started covering it.  2018 would triumph 2017 for me as I spent late summer, all of fall, and early winter birding and exploring the region.  In 2018, I didn't bird in the area until late May.  I missed most of winter and spring.  Earlier into this year of 2019, I wanted to cover the months of January through March fairly well, unlike what the previous year was like.  While I haven't explored it as much as I've wanted to this year, a few recent trips have been key and have quickly topped my early efforts from last year.

Caleb Strand and I teamed up for two hardcore days of birding in Gila County on this recent March 21st and March 27th.  As Caleb and I both like to take long birding days, these two days wouldn't lack any sort of effort.  We hoped to bird locations extensively to increase Caleb's Gila County list, to possibly increase my Gila County list, and we hoped to find birds that have those mysterious statuses.  And before the trips were said and done, we would have some awesome examples of birds that have been unaccountable to my Gila journeys so far.

On March 21st, Caleb and I left Phoenix early and headed out east to spend the day birding within the San Carlos Indian Reservation.  We got out there rather early, and headed for Tufa Stone Tank as our first stop of the day.  Last year, Tufa Stone Tank was my favorite place to bird in Gila County.  It turned out to be a mecca of a birding location.  On a not as good of note, I didn't bird the Tank since a brief stop in early November.  Life got in the way, and if I would've been able to cover it more, who knows what could've been found there over the winter.  If driving into the tank, there is some rather desolate and flat desert that is dominated by creosote bushes.  In ways, it has always reminded me of a location where I could possibly land Sagebrush Sparrow.  I asked Caleb what he thought and he said he thought it could happen but wished the habitat was more expansive.  After speaking of Sagebrush Sparrows, we found ourselves getting out of Caleb's vehicle to start birding Tufa Stone Tank.  The songs and calls of birds were everywhere.  Looking out into the tank, it was evident that the water in the tank has evaporated significantly since last year.  It didn't stop a variety of ducks and some shorebirds from using the much smaller pool.  Caleb spotted a Lark Bunting flying around in the desert, and we were surprised to hear the drawn out tunes of Cassin's Sparrows.

Caleb and I had to split ways briefly for a few minutes to make important phone calls, but from where we were both standing, we heard a few call notes from a sparrow that sounded awesome.  "Hey Tommy!", Caleb said, "I think that's a Sagebrush Sparrow calling!".  I thought it sounded good for Sagebrush Sparrow too.  Prior to our trip, Sagebrush Sparrow had only been recorded once on eBird in all of Gila County.  I've looked for it in a few places where I've thought it could be present without luck.  Caleb and I had just discussed Sagebrush Sparrows minutes earlier.  As I started to make my way towards Caleb, he was already investigating the sounds.  Like a tune you want to hear start playing on a radio, Caleb's next words were no different, "Tommy, Sagebrush Sparrow!  I've got it!".  I ran across the desert and up to Caleb's spot on top of Tufa Stone Dam, and in some thick brush below him was my next Gila County life bird.  We didn't think a Sagebrush Sparrow would show up at Tufa Stone Tank, and the bird gave both of us great looks as it foraged in front of us for a few minutes.  A light colored malar and thick back streaking eliminated the similar Bell's Sparrow immediately.  I'm glad Caleb was there to track down the calls and confirm the original suspicion.  Wow, speaking of Sagebrush Sparrow...

The sparrow was a great start to the day, and we continued to navigate around the Tank.  It didn't take long for Caleb to love the place and see the awesome potential that it holds.  Cinnamon Teal, Northern Shoveler, Green-winged Teal, Gadwall, and a pair of Mexican Mallards were on the limited water.  Violet-green Swallow flocks flew overhead along with some Tree Swallows.  A few Lawrence's Goldfinches joined the fly-overs and broadcast-ed their flyovers to us with their distinctive call notes.  After walking down a path, we came to a heavily-wooded section of mesquite woodland.  There were big flocks of White-crowned Sparrows near the woodland, and as well as a drainage in the area.  Looking in the wooded area, I said, "This would be a good location for Long-eared Owl".  As we walked down the drainage for a short distance, we ended up going back along the thick mesquite woodland.  We stood along the edge listening for activity, when an owl suddenly sprung up near us, flew further into the thick before landing for a split-second, and then flying out of sight.  It struck me as a Long-eared Owl as I saw an orange-ish facial disk, although my look was brief.  If we could confirm it as a Long-eared Owl, it would be another quick Gila County lifer in the early stages of the day.  Caleb and I quickly pursued the owl in the woodland, and as we walked through the thick, we caught several glimpses of either one or two or three owls flying around.  "It flies and glides like a Long-eared Owl", Caleb said.  Despite seeing action, we could only be sure of one bird.  As Caleb and I stood and waited for a brief second, an owl flew in and landed close to us, and it was very obstructed by thick branches.  The branches weren't thick enough to prevent an accurate identification on the bird though, and looking through my binoculars, I could see that it was indeed a Long-eared Owl!  The bird stayed for a minute, allowing us to get some documentation photographs before it vanished further into the woodland.  Wow, speaking of Long-eared Owl...

We had over 60 species at Tufa Stone Tank, and Caleb was impressed with the location on his first visit.  Caleb and I then spent the rest of the 21st covering Talkalai Lake, San Carlos Lake, and a stretch of desert to search unsuccessfully for Bendire's Thrasher.  As I've said in the past, Talkalai Lake is Gila's mini version of Patagonia Lake, San Carlos Lake is a challenging goldmine of aquatic bird abundance, and well, I haven't said much about Gila County Bendire's Thrashers because they are a mysterious county species.  It was a solid day of birding overall, with the two Gila County life birds being the biggest highlight for me.  Caleb's list went from 198 to 212.

We built a lifelike sculpture of Caleb "The Boy" Strand.  It can be found at Talkalai Lake.

Because I enjoy birding Gila County as much as I do, I subscribe to hourly need alerts via eBird.  As I mentioned earlier, Gila County isn't birded all that often by others.  When a report was delivered to my email from eBird, it said, Gila County Needs Alert (Hourly), with Bendire's Thrasher being that bird that I could get as new.  A birder had reported a total of six Bendire's Thrashers up on a place called Peridot Mesa, which is just above the main town of San Carlos, and very close to Tufa Stone Tank, still on the San Carlos Reservation.  The report seemed to be good, and I quickly made plans inside my head that March 27th, my next day off, would be the day that I would search for these Bendire's Thrashers.  It didn't take long for Caleb to team up with me in my plans, and he would be in my search party with me for the day.

When March 27th came around, Caleb and I left Phoenix at 4 A.M. to get to San Carlos early.  Tufa Stone Tank became our first stop of the day before we would go up to Peridot Mesa.  At Tufa Stone Tank, bird numbers were produced in good numbers and we tallied close to 60 different species, again.  We had killer looks at a Bell's Vireo for the main highlight.  Other than the hearing the songs of Cassin's Sparrows, we didn't have anything at Tufa that was close to unusual.  But I told Caleb, "Any visit to Tufa Stone Tank is good, because it needs its data baby!".  We did get Tufa's first Black-chinned Hummingbird, which was the 155th species for the location.  Tufa Stone Tank is now a top 10 eBird hotspot in Gila County, gosh, I would love to see it as the number one hotspot for most birds recorded someday in Gila.  Folks, please pay Tufa Stone Tank a visit ;)

Vermilion Flycatcher, Tufa Stone Tank

Bell's Vireo, Tufa Stone Tank

Our main stop of the day, Peridot Mesa, was next.  I was anxious to get to the place and once we drove up to the level of the mesa, I was impressed.  The entire Peridot Mesa was entirely green and had tall green weedy stuff, scattered mesquites, wildflowers, and impressive views of the San Carlos valley below.  Places on the mesa had more desert-like looking habitat as opposed to the grassy weeds throughout the mesa that resembled more of a grassland.  Western Meadowlarks were singing everywhere, Kestrels hunted, and several Lark Buntings added fun.  We listened and looked for Bendire's Thrashers without luck, and the numbers that were reported to eBird seemed to be matched by the smaller Sage Thrasher.  I wondered if the report was a mistake of.......never mind.

Sage Thrasher, Peridot Mesa

American Kestrel, Peridot Mesa

Peridot Mesa

Peridot Mesa

Lark Bunting, Peridot Mesa

Caleb pointed out that the "grassy" stuff on the mesa wouldn't likely attract typical grassland species (outside of migration possibilities) like Sprague's Pipit, different longspurs, etc.  After more thought, Caleb added, "It would be a good place for a White-tailed Kite to show up".  I replied back, "winter would be a good time to check for a Kite".  In the next ten minutes, Caleb noticed a tank via satellite maps, called Telephone Tank, and we worked our way over to it.  We scared a herd of horses out of the tank, as well as large numbers of sparrows.  At this point, we looked over the edge of the Mesa and had good views of the town of San Carlos below us.   As I was scanning sparrows for awhile, Caleb simply said, "Hey, a White-tailed Kite".  I was freaking shocked, and Caleb pointed out the bird he just announced after he took a few photos.  A White-tailed Kite flew over the location we were standing at, continued northwest of us, soared for a few minutes before being harassed by Common Ravens, and continued on and out of sight.  A telephone pole line going center down the mesa was a perch that we hoped would be a landing spot for the Kite.  I gave Caleb multiple fist-pumps and high fives, because I knew that this bird was one that is a first known record for Gila County.  The Boy is clutch everyone!  We knew without saying but still said, "Everything else is icing on the cake now, and this bird is way better than a Bendire's Thrasher".  Wow, speaking of White-tailed Kite...

To conclude the second half of the birding day, we went up to Roosevelt Lake.  I've talked about Roosevelt Lake a lot on my Gila County stories, it's a fantastic place to bird.  Caleb and I scanned several spots on the lake.  American White Pelicans were present in large numbers of about 450 from Schoolhouse Point.  Also from Schoolhouse Point, we got to see Western and Clark's Grebes up extremely close.  Our visit got extended by about 30-40 minutes so we could enjoy these grebes up close from the boat dock.  They put on a show, and although they are abundant on the lake, they are awesome.

There were a lot of Clark's Grebes, but this was the only one who came in close.

These Western Grebes are getting serious about each other, time to take it elsewhere

They even got interrupted by a jealous bird who thought he was the "Best Western"

His efforts didn't pay off.  The two still danced off, not to be interrupted 

I wish they were closer when they danced on water, but this is still great to capture

I'm addicted to Gila County, and I plan to bird it more and more to give last year's efforts a good follow-up.  Recently, a Harris's Sparrow was reported in Gila County at the northern base of the Pinal Mountains.  Caleb, Jared, and I tried for it briefly on a recent trip to Graham County without luck.  As I read my needs alert the last few days, the sparrow had been relocated by Dave Pearson and company.  I hope to chase that in this upcoming week, because it would be a really fun bird to get in Gila County.  Thanks Caleb for birding with me on these trips, and for finding Sagebrush Sparrow and Gila's first White-tailed Kite.  Boy, you are great!

Caleb and I also mentioned that Talkalai Lake would be good for American Bittern, San Carlos Lake would be good for a rare dabbling duck like a Garganey, Tufa Stone Tank would be good for a rare Asian shorebird or waterbird like Roseate Spoonbill, and Roosevelt Lake would be good for Red-necked Grebe.  Speaking of those birds, I hope to find some of them in Gila County in these upcoming years...