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.

When The Stunning is Found in Phoenix

On Tuesday, June 23rd, 2015, a remarkable rarity was found at Tres Rios Wetlands in Phoenix.  Not surprisingly, Caleb Strand was involved in finding this bird.  Caleb has found rarity-after-rarity over the last few years throughout Maricopa County and the area right around his patch.  This time, Caleb and Walker Noe, two younger birders with a lot of promise, discovered an adult male Painted Bunting at the western end of Tres Rios Overbank Wetlands.  When I saw the report come in, I thought, "What the heck", but anything with Caleb's name attached to it means a legit sighting.  Take a look at the male Painted Bunting.  It is one of the best looking birds in North America, and most think it is probably the best looking.  It probably is.  True to it's name, it looks like an artist got super creative and painted this small bird all sorts of different colors.  Painted Buntings are rare in Arizona but are annual in the state during fall migration, especially in southeastern Arizona.  They are very rare outside of that time frame.  Last November, Caleb found me my Maricopa County first Painted Bunting.  It was a female in the area near his house.  Females aren't as striking as males are, but are certainly cool-looking too.  And Walker found a female-type Painted Bunting at Tres Rios last year.  What is with these two kids and Painted Buntings?  For them to discover one together added to the awesomeness of the fact that this is their luck bird in Arizona (for now anyways, they are far from done I'm sure and will probably add more luck birds).

The next day, June 24th, I had the craving to see this neat bird.  I have seen Painted Bunting males in southeastern Arizona before in fall migration.  They are striking at this time, but lose a lot of the green coloration on their back, thus they aren't nearly as cool as they are in spot-on breeding plumage like Caleb and Walker's bird is.  I joined Barb Meding, Susan Fishburn, and Steve and Joan Hosmer at Tres Rios in pursuit of the Bunting.  It would be a life bird for Susan if we could land it.  We actually parked at Baseline and Meridian Wildlife Area and walked a shorter distance to Tres Rios in the area where the Painted Bunting was found.  After 45 minutes went by, I heard the bird singing in a grove of mesquites in the area where Caleb and Walker had the bird.  I yelled to my party that I had the bird singing and we all began to look.  Susan and her eagle eye then spied our source perched high up in a distant willow.

Although distant at first, the bird was still distinctive as ever.  Blue head, red body, green back.  Holy Painted Bunting!  I had to get closer.  Walker and Caleb reported the bird to be highly vocal.  The case was the same when I was there.  This bird couldn't stop singing.

Branches got in the way here, but gosh, look at those colors..

I'll be honest, when I started birding avidly in Maricopa County, I thought I'd eventually get a female Painted Bunting in the County (which I already have), but I never thought I'd see an adult male singing in front of me.

Whether close or far, the Bunting's colors were evident.  Good grief.

The Painted Bunting was rather shy when I would get closer, but throughout the thirty minute observation I managed a few decent photographs and even better binocular views.

Hopefully the Painted Bunting will stay put, because it would be cool to see it again!  Thank you Caleb and Walker.  

My party of five were grateful for the sighting.  It was cool to see Susan get her lifebird on a scenario like this.  An adult male Painted Bunting in Phoenix in June was unheard of before this discovery.  Here's my group: Steve, Barb, Joan, and Susan.  Thank you everyone for a great morning of birding and succeeding on our main target in the Painted Bunting!

We saw two Barn Owls too.  I can't leave any post owl-less.  

Strand Strikes Twice for a Thanksgiving Surprise

For the last month I've been preparing for another trip to bird Apache County's White Mountains.  In fact, I just got back from that trip, and it was awesome!  I'm tired from the trip and can't write the recap up just now, but that will come later this week.  For now, I have an awesome story to tell, and one that came as a complete surprise.  As my work week came to and end, and a four day Thanksgiving vacation was around the bend, I got to see another great bird to start off the vacation, and it was on Thanksgiving morning.

On Wednesday, November 26th, 2014, I got another great phone call from Caleb Strand, and he had some awesome news for me.  In Caleb's patch near his house, he found a Painted Bunting on Tuesday the 25th, and it was continuing on the 26th.  The Painted Bunting was a female bird, and Caleb, who just found me my Maricopa-first-Varied Thrush, was on the verge of giving me another awesome bird.  Caleb has an awesome area surrounding his house near Buckeye, and he rides his bike places and finds an incredible amount of birds every time he birds his patch.  And yet, he found yet another rarity to add to his list.  After reviewing my plans, I called Caleb back and told him I would love to attempt a shot of sighting my first Painted Bunting in Maricopa County.

The male Painted Bunting is one of the most popular and colorful birds in North America.  The female is a lime green in coloration, and is unique and distinctive as is the male with that coloration, but not as colorful as the male.  Painted Bunting is a bird I've seen once in Arizona before.  It is rare but annual in the state of Arizona during migration in early fall, particularly in southeastern Arizona.  For Maricopa County, I have three out of the four Arizona buntings, with Painted being the last gap I needed to fill.  In Maricopa, records have indicated that Painted Bunting is very rare/casual, with several fall records as well as several records of wintering birds, most of which have been females.  The three other buntings: Indigo, Lazuli, and Varied; all have plain and dull female birds.  The Painted Bunting female is quite striking, and looks like a flying lime.

Early on Thanksgiving morning, November 27th, 2014, I drove to Caleb's house and picked up Caleb at 7 A.M.  We then headed to the spot where Caleb had his sighting, which was basically a patch of weeds in midst of an area of agricultural fields and canals.  Caleb noted the Painted Bunting specifically visiting one specific patch of tall weeds that were surrounding by tamarisk and paloverde trees.  Once we got to the spot at roughly 7:10 A.M., we started to look and wait for our hopeful target to come in.  It was seeming to take forever...and we were starting to worry that the Painted Bunting had moved on.

Fortunately, some birds just take a little while to wake up.  Once the sun came up, the finches and sparrows of the area started to become more active.  Right about 8, I was away from the weed patch checking a few other weedy areas when I heard a shout that is starting to become a regular phrase from Caleb: "Tommy!  It just came in!  I've got it".  I could see the weed patch from where I was, and there was that lovely Painted Bunting!

It was really amazing how she was the same color as the weeds!

Despite the fact that we had a slight scare of a missed bird chase, it just added to the fun.  Once the Bunting came in, it was really a taste of sweet victory.  And it really added to the list of the many things I had to be thankful for within this hobby of mine!

This bird could really be overlooked quite easily, don't you think?

With the thirty minutes Caleb and I spent watching the Painted Bunting, we were rewarded with awesome views!

This was my 365th bird for Maricopa County, and a great one to add.  A huge thanks goes out to Caleb Strand, who has been finding rarities left-and-right.  And thankfully, he's my buddy and I get to hear about a lot of his awesome discoveries.  My last two Maricopa County life birds have come in the last week, both of which have been found by Caleb.  Thanksgiving week-Varied Thrush and Painted Bunting.  What will come next?  I have a lot more searching to do in Maricopa County for the remainder of 2014.  This was my seventh addition for my Maricopa County list this year, which is very good for me.  Caleb Strand is an epic birder, and I have a strong feeling I will receive many more calls and emails in the future that are similar to this one about the Painted Bunting!