This year's group met with hopes of seeing four East Texas specialties: Henslow's Sparrow, Bachman's Sparrow, Red-cockaded Woodpecker, and the Brown-headed Nuthatch. We would not be disappointed. David Wolf, Mimi Wolf, and Jesse Fagan met 14 TOS members at the Econo Lodge in Nacogdoches, Texas for the first day's excursion to find Henslow's Sparrow and Red-cockaded Woodpecker. The weather was ominous as a warm front and cold front were colliding causing severe thunderstorms throughout Texas. However, not to be turned back, the group made its way to the Nacogdoches Regional Airport in search of Henslow's Sparrow.
This year has not been good for locally wintering Henslow's Sparrows. There had been several sightings of Henslow's Sparrows this winter, but many of the local "hotspots" had yielded very little in resent weeks. David Wolf, having scouted several backup areas, did find a single Henslow's at the Nac airport. After arriving at the airport, the group made its way to the field and began to march shoulder to shoulder through the grass. Almost immediately a bird flushed up and flew to a pine tree just adjacent to the field. With the wind howling, we managed to scope the bird for excellent looks at a Henslow's Sparrow. What a great way to start the day! However, the weather would soon turn against us.
We then moved south of Nacogdoches to River Access Road. Our hopes were in finding mixed-hardwood species, but the weather and wind proved too much. We did see two migrating Purple Martins and 28 White Pelicans high overhead. Not what you would expect from this area! The next birding stop was the Nacogdoches Sewage Ponds where we added several species of waterfowl including Buffleheads, Green-winged Teal, Blue-winged Teal, Wood Ducks, and Gadwall. Several participants also saw the Neotropic Cormorant that had spent several days here. This species is rare in Nacogdoches and this bird was only our third local record. After a nice lunch, we continued on to Ralph McAlister Park. At Ralph McAlister Park we had excellent looks at an immature Bald Eagle and distant looks at a Canvasback flock. Within this flock we found several Redheads, Ring-billed Gulls, Herring Gull, Bonaparte's Gulls, and Forster's Terns. We then made our way to Banister Wildlife Management Area (San Augustine County). This management area is home to several colonies of Red-cockaded Woodpeckers. After a nice introduction by David Wolf on the history and habits of these woodpeckers, we began to hear our first Brown-headed Nuthatches and soon after, Red-cockaded Woodpeckers. The woodpeckers made a quick appearance before disappearing into their tree cavities for the night. Several people were left with only glimpses of this elusive woodpecker.
On day two Jesse Fagan led the caravan north to Central Heights. Central Heights is approximately five miles north of Nacogdoches and is the home of Dave and Mimi Wolf. At their feeders, we found male and female Purple Finches, Pine Siskins, American Goldfinches, and a single Harris's Sparrow. The Harris's Sparrow is an excellent local record and the Purple Finches can be difficult to find in some winters in East Texas. Both species were life birds for several people in the group. Mimi Wolf and Jesse Fagan then led the group south to Boykin Springs in the Angelina National Forest (Angelina County) in search of Bachman's Sparrow and Red-cockaded Woodpecker. With Mimi's experience, it did not take the group long to locate a Bachman's Sparrow. We had excellent scope looks with every detail of the bird being studied.
The rest of the day was spent in search of Red-cockaded Woodpeckers. Though plenty of time was spent in good cockaded habit, we were unable to locate any birds. The day was by no means disappointing having seen Bachman's Sparrow, Brown-headed Nuthatches, Pine Warblers, and Pileated Woodpeckers. The trip ended with the group seeing 69 species and all of the East Texas specialties.
American White Pelican, Neotropic Cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Wood Duck, Gadwall, Blue-winged Teal, Green-winged Teal, Canvasback, Redhead, Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Ruddy Duck, Bald Eagle, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, Bonaparte's Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Herring Gull, Forster's Tern, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker, Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Loggerhead Shrike, Blue Jay, American Crow, Purple Martin, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Carolina Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Bluebird, American Robin, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, European Starling, American Pipit, Cedar Waxwing, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Pine Warbler, Bachman's Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, Field Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Henslow's Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Harris's Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco ("slate-colored"), Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, Purple Finch, Pine Siskin, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow (69 species)