Jesse Fagan and Mimi Hoppe Wolf.
16 participants were along for this year's TOS field trip to the Pineywoods in search of Henslow's Sparrow, Bachman's Sparrow, and Red-cockaded Woodpecker. The trip was from 21-22 February 2004 and the weather both days was splendid (not the case in some years!). Again, I had an awesome group who were energetic and excited about our target species. Thanks to all that attended!
We did fantastic this year. We saw all three target species very well; all were seen in scopes at maximum power. A few people had unsatisfactory looks at the Red-necked Grebe in Angelina County and others managed to see American Woodcock displaying. I think I will include a trip (possibly Friday evening?) for next year to look at American Woodcock displaying (both in air and on the ground).
21 Feb 2004: The leaders met the group at the Best Western in south Nacogdoches at 7:45 AM. After introductions, we headed to the first location for Henslow’s Sparrow Ammodramus henslowii. This site is the “traditional” location where Henslow’s were first located in the area a little over a decade ago. Unfortunately, this location is becoming overgrown and more difficult to cover. But it is still worth trying and is a good place to determine if the participants are “Henslow’s worthy.” As many know, we must first offer our bodies to the ground, our legs to the briars, and our curses to the air before we can truly “see” a Henslow’s. Mimi and I quickly determined that this group was “Henslow’s worthy” and decided to try a new spot where Henslow’s were recently discovered. This pasture, a bit further south of the first location, is easier to walk and within a few minutes of stomping we managed to flush our first Henslow’s Sparrow. The bird behaved in typical fashion as it posed in a bush for several minutes. We had several scopes trained on the bird at maximum power and a few people took digital photos. We all greatly appreciated the beauty of this grassland sparrow with the olive head.
After enjoying the sparrow, we all drove to Kurth Lake in Angelina County to search for the Red-necked Grebe Podiceps grisegena. This is a real East Texas rarity and had been present since January 1st. The light conditions on Kurth Lake were not very good with clear skies and strong reflections from the lake. The lake is also fairly large and it always seems that the birds are on the other side! With several cars in the caravan only the leader’s vehicle managed decent looks at the bird as it scooted away from the edge of the dam and quickly moved to the center of the lake (diving the entire time!). We returned to the hotel for a few hours break and a quick nap.
Reconvening, the caravan drove south to Sam Rayburn Reservoir for a bit of lake birding. Our first stop at McAllister Park at the Attoyac crossing was not very productive, but we did see a raft of Redheads Aythya americana. Redheads are rarely seen in large numbers in East Texas and this group of 50+ was an exceptional count. The next stop was at Townsend Park where we made a brief walk around the campground in search of a mixed-species woodland flock. A few new species were added to our group list including Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Sphyrapicus varius and Brown Creeper Certhia americana. The final stop before the Red-cockaded site was along the east side of the TX 147 bridge over Sam Rayburn. I was somewhat surprised to find only a few rafts of American Coots. We soon left for the Red-cockaded Woodpecker Picoides borealis colony just north of Broaduss in the Angelina National Forest. This colony has been active for several years and we arrived just in time to hear three individuals and see one bird at the cavity. It stayed long enough for everyone to see it in the scope. As the sun set and the robins flew to roost, we concluded a very exciting first day.
22 Feb 2004: This day began much earlier than the previous one. We headed out of Nacogdoches at around 6:30 AM driving south towards Boykin Springs in the Angelina National Forest. The target bird for today was Bachman’s Sparrow Aimophila aestivalis. Since Boykin Springs had recently been burned I decided to try a different area to the southeast where Bachman’s were heard singing in the last few days. We parked at the trailhead and immediately heard Red-cockaded Woodpeckers in the pines above us. We watched the woodpeckers forage and soon after I heard the first Bachman’s singing followed by several others in the surrounding habitat. It didn’t take long for us to locate a singing male that perched on an exposed branch and let us scrutinize every feather detail in the scopes. It eventually tired of us and dropped back down into the grassy understory. There are many things I love about this sparrow from the habitat, song, to the subtle, yet warm plumage.
We headed back to Boykin Springs for an hour of woodland birding along the nature trail. The woods were quiet, but the creek and surrounding flora were pleasant. This concluded the trip for most people, but several participants were interested in trying for the Red-necked Grebe as they did not have satisfying looks the day before. I liked the enthusiasm and commitment and I readily agreed to search for it again. The light conditions were much better today, but we were unable to locate the bird. This was not a big miss since it was not a target species, but I felt empty about not showing everyone this bird.
I would like to say “thank you” to all the participants. As I have stated in the past, any successful trip is dependent on a cooperative, energetic, and understanding group. This group had all of these characteristics and more. We saw a total of 72 species which may be a new trip record. I hope to see you on a trip in the near future or in the field
The following taxonomic order and nomenclature follows that of the AOU and
their checklist, The A.O.U. Checklist of North American Birds (7th edition w/
44th supplement). Those species in bold face are highlights and/or target birds.
I try to give an estimate of numbers seen where necessary. Additional comments
on the species may also be made. If I missed a species that a group member saw,
I apologize in advance.
1) Northern Shoveler
2) Canvasback (not many seen on area lakes and reservoirs where they can be
common to very common in large rafts during the winter. Overall waterfowl
numbers were low making me believe that many had already started moving north in
this mild winter.)
3) Redhead (50+, large raft on upper Rayburn at Attoyac crossing of TX 103
bridge. Big migrant push from the south.)
4) Greater Scaup (2, at least two on Kurth Lake at end of trip on 2/22/04.)
5) Lesser Scaup
6) Bufflehead
7) Common Loon
8) Pied-billed Grebe
9) Horned Grebe (1, a confusing bird that was in an early molt making the head
and neck appear darker than usual. Head shape and the still obvious dark
crown/cap were convincing field marks. For clarification see the note in Sibley
at the bottom of page 27.)
10) Red-necked Grebe (1)
11) Double-crested Cormorant (including several hundred at Kurth Lake that had
us searching through in vain for the grebe.)
12) Great Blue Heron
13) Great Egret (1 at the TX 147 bridge)
14) Black Vulture
15) Turkey Vulture
16) Bald Eagle (3, all immatures. One first-year bird near a nest in
Angelina NF and two sub-adults at Kurth Lake on 2/22/04. One 3rd-year bird was
continually dive-bombing the coots at Kurth Lake with little success. Maybe it
just enjoyed scaring them to death!)
17) Sharp-shinned Hawk (2)
18) Cooper’s Hawk (2)
19) Red-shouldered Hawk
20) Red-tailed Hawk
21) American Kestrel
22) American Coot
23) Killdeer
24) Spotted Sandpiper (2)
25) American Woodcock (3+, seen by two groups on the nights of 2/21 and
2/22/04 at Alazan Bayou WMA. I will try and include a visit to a display site
and owl prowl for next year’s trip.)
26) Ring-billed Gull
27) Herring Gull (1?, one large larid over TX 147 bridge that was probably this
species.)
28) Forster’s Tern
29) Rock Pigeon
30) Mourning Dove
31) Inca Dove
32) Belted Kingfisher
33) Red-bellied Woodpecker
34) Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
35) Downy Woodpecker
36) Hairy Woodpecker (1 heard at Lewis’ Farm)
37) Red-cockaded Woodpecker (4+)
38) Northern Flicker
39) Pileated Woodpecker
40) Eastern Phoebe
41) Blue Jay
42) American Crow
43) Carolina Chickadee
44) Tufted Titmouse
45) Brown-headed Nuthatch (frustrating looks on several occasions as the
birds would just not come close enough.)
46) Brown Creeper
47) Carolina Wren
48) House Wren
49) Golden-crowned Kinglet (heard at Lewis’ Farm)
50) Ruby-crowned Kinglet
51) Hermit Thrush
52) American Robin
53) Northern Mockingbird
54) Brown Thrasher
55) European Starling
56) American Pipit
57) Orange-crowned Warbler
58) Yellow-rumped Warbler
59) Pine Warbler
60) Bachman’s Sparrow (4-5+)
61) Chipping Sparrow
62) Savannah Sparrow
63) Henslow’s Sparrow (1)
64) LeConte’s Sparrow (1)
65) Song Sparrow
66) Swamp Sparrow
67) White-throated Sparrow
68) Dark-eyed Junco
69) Northern Cardinal
70) Red-winged Blackbird
71) American Goldfinch
72) House Sparrow