Total Species seen by Month's end: 376
Number of species added during month: 56
Miles Driven: 5895
Review Species Added: 2
-
Slate-throated Redstart - 13 March - Allen' Williams, Pharr,
Hidalgo Co.
-
Rose-throated Becard - 13 March - Santa Ana NWR, Hidalgo Co.
Summary & Highlights:
1 March (322
species)
I started the weekend of 1-2
March in Nacogdoches by meeting up with Jesse Fagan, who
had graciously
planned to join me for a few hours to try to locate Henslow's Sparrows. We
spent some time searching an area where Jesse had numerous birds the
week before (for a TOS trip), but
with only 2 people, we did not get as much coverage and Jesse was able
to flush only a
couple of birds, which I didn't see very well. From there, Jesse
directed us to a
location between Timpson and Garrison. Jesse and Randy Pinkston had
seen several
Henslow's during the Tenaha-Timpson CBC earlier that winter In just a short time, we were
able to flush at
least a couple birds. We then spent the next couple hours birding some
other spots
around Nacogdoches, including Alazan Bayou WMA, where Jesse pointed out
a few calling Winter Wrens and I was fortunate to see one of them.
2 March (327
species)
Sunday morning the 2nd, I slept in and didn't leave my parent's place in The
Woodlands until
after 7am. My first stop was just a few minutes away at WG Jones State
Forest, where I
was very quickly able to find a colony of Red-cockaded Woodpeckers, with
at least 4 noisy
birds in the area. I headed from there to Russ Pittman Park in Bellaire.
Thanks to
directions from one of the folks working at the Nature Center, I staked
out the area
around the feeders where an immature male Calliope Hummingbird had been for a couple
months. Within 15 minutes, I was
rewarded with nice perched views of it as well as a
gorgeous male Rufous Hummingbird.
I headed over to Galveston where I gave the gull flocks at East Beach a
quick search
before taking the ferry over to Bolivar. I had planned to spend the rest of
the day scoping
the beach out for scoters - Mike Austin had seen a flock of Surf Scoters with a
couple of Black Scoters in it
the week previous right at Rollover Pass. Near Crystal Beach, I was able
to pick out
(without binoculars) 2 ducks that seemed larger and darker than the numerous
Blue-winged
Teals I
had been seeing. With my scope, I was able to see that these birds were
male Surf
Scoters. I scanned the surrounding area and found 8 other Surf Scoters close
by. A little over
a mile further up the coast, I ran into more Surf Scoters - this time a group
of 13 birds.
Another stop one mile further up coast, and I was able find 2 female/first-winter
Black Scoters in
with a group of another 7 Surf Scoters. I drove the rest of the beach up to
High Island but
didn't encounter any more scoters. I did run into a single Whimbrel at
Yacht Basin Road
near Rollover Pass - a bird I assumed to be a migrant. I ended the day at Anahauc NWR
where I scanned several groups of dark Plegadis ibis and was able to pick out
a single Glossy
Ibis in a flock of 8 White-faced Ibis on Shoveler's Pond.
8-9 March (331
species)
The weekend of March 8th-9th illustrated the ups & downs of
birding during a Big Year Friday morning, I woke
at 6.30am, thinking that I might not sleep again until the following
evening. I worked
until 6pm and didn't leave Austin until about 9.15pm, heading towards
Amarillo. 500
miles and 2 short cat-naps later, I met up with Barrett Pierce at 7.30am
at Lake
Tanglewood just southeast of Amarillo, to look for Evening Grosbeaks. We spent most of the morning
looking for
these birds with no success. After a lunch break, we headed over to
Buffalo Lake NWR
where we did several hours worth of working the nearby canyons and think
cedars hoping
for a Long-eared Owl or two. No luck on that either (and further
discouraged by the
presence of a couple of Great Horned Owls). Nor did we have any
luck late that afternoon as we returned to a
different area of
Lake Tanglewood to again look for the grosbeaks. We did stop by a
prairie dog town where
I was able to add 3 Burrowing Owls (a new bird for the year). Barrett graciously offered me
accommodations at his
home that evening and I hopefully proved to be a low-maintenance guest as I was dead
to the world (and
sleeping) by 8.15pm, after having read an e-mail that one of my Sunday targets
(Long-tailed Duck)
had been looked for today as well, and was NOT seen.
Sunday morning, Barrett and I once again started out at Lake Tanglewood and
Rosemary Scott joined
us. An unexpected fog was present for most of the morning, and after a
couple hours of
combing the area, I was already contemplating the long drive back home.
Still searching the area, Rosemary and I were
in her vehicle and Barrett was ahead of us in his when he stopped, got
out and pointed up
to some trees ahead of us. Sure enough - Barrett had found
3 Evening
Grosbeaks! We got scope looks at these birds and I have to give Barrett
full credit for his persistence.
Feeling invigorated by this success, I decided to drive back home via Muleshoe NWR where I
would work the
cedars for Long-eared Owls. I spent some time at Paul's Lake on
the refuge, working
those trees but
didn't run across any owls. I next worked the trees along the west side
of 214, 0.3
miles south of the lake entrance. I circled around the thickest area and
started back
*thru* it. About 20 yards into it, an owl flushed less than 10 yards
from me and landed another 30 yards further up. I had goose bumps on my
arms when the bird stopped and
looked back to
check me out - it was a Long-eared Owl! Success#2 for the day! I abandoned my tromping efforts
at this point and headed
towards the town of Shallowater to stop at the pond where a Long-tailed Duck had
last been reported
some 6 days ago. I was completely surprised when I found the
female duck
on my first
scan of the small pond, where it was preening and resting. This quickly
changed as the
bird started diving/feeding a lot for the next couple of birders who
showed up a few
minutes after me. Perhaps one of my best days of the year, the drive
home was not so
long as I wondered how the day had turned out so well. Next to my
great success in the Davis Mountains on 5-6 January, March 9th would be
a close runner-up for best birding day of 2003.
11 March (332
species)
I headed over to Bastrop & Beuscher State Parks after work on 11 March.
Thanks to a tip from Brush Freeman, I quickly found my target bird - a
Barred Owl along Alum Creek. On the return trip home, I decided to
make a quick stop
back by Hornsby Bend Wastewater Treatment Ponds just before dark.
At the ponds, I didn't have any new
birds, but was
surprised to find a single Least Grebe on one of the ponds.
13 March (338
species)
I am in a fortunate position
to have a job where I can decide at a moment's notice to skip out on
work to chase birds. Wednesday night March 12th, I heard of a
Slate-throated Redstart at
Allen Williams' in Pharr (the same yard where the Blue Mockingbird was
still present). I took a
vacation day from work
the next day (March 13th). I made it down to Mr. Williams' by 7.15am in the morning when I walked
right in and folks
pointed me to the very cooperative redstart, which was also my first new Texas
life bird (#545)
of the year. I was on a mission (with a lot of miles to cover) that day
so I headed
immediately over to Santa Ana NWR. A Rose-throated Becard had been
reported earlier in
the week and I was able to locate the bird (a female, the same bird that was
present the
previous summer) near last summer's nest site at the Willow 1 Pond on
the refuge. So, in the span of less than an hour, I has ticked off my
first 2 Review-list species since mid-January. I
also picked up my
first Great Crested Flycatcher of the year (as well as good looks at
both Tropical Parula and
Clay-colored Robin) but didn't spend very much time enjoying my already
successful
morning as I quickly started driving north (and picked up my first Cliff
Swallows along
the way). A couple hours later and I was in Port Lavaca meeting up with
Petra Hockey.
Petra drove us from there to the Quintana Jetty area where we were eager
to look for a
possible Iceland Gull that had been photographed on each of the 2
previous days. We
spent from about 2pm until dark combing the area around the jetties with
no Iceland-luck
but we did have several other interesting critters. We ran across my first
Common Terns of
the year as well as my first Pomarine Jaeger. Other good birds included
4 Surf Scoters,
1 Black Scoter, 1 adult Lesser Black-Backed Gull, numerous very close Northern
Gannets as well
as the Purple Sandpiper that has been present for a few months now. We
had looks at a
possible Parasitic Jaeger as well, which would have been a real good
bird to get "ticked" for the year, but I was not able to
firmly identify it.
15 March (348 species)
Saturday March 15th would be
my first dose of spring migrants. I started off with David Sarkozi and a three other birders as
we drug ropes on
David's first Yellow Rail Walk of the year at Anahuac NWR. We flushed
a single Yellow Rail
pretty quickly and later flushed another bird two different times. We
also flushed a Virginia Rail (first of the year) plus one Sora. After the rope dragging I
birded some of
the ponds and fields on the refuge hoping for the Wood Stork that had
been reported
on/off this winter but settling for my first Stilt Sandpiper, American
Golden-Plovers and
Pectoral Sandpipers of the year. I then made my way over to High Island
and stops at
both Audubon Woods and Smith Oaks didn't yield a lot of migrants though
I did add
Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Hooded Warbler and Northern Parula for my
year list. I
worked my way along the beach (which was quite crowded with spring-break'ers) and
eventually made it
over to Bolivar Flats where I sorted through the large number of birds
there for my first
Red Knots and Least Terns.
16 March (350
species)
Sunday the 16th, I got a bit of a late start (sleep was becoming a
precious commodity)
and started birding around
9.00 am at Paradise Pond in Port Aransas where I ran into more of the
same stuff I had
the previous day (Northern Parulas and Black-&-White Warblers). Nearby was the
Port Aransas
Birding Center. As I walked out on the boardwalk with Jane Wicker from
Beeville, I heard
and then saw my first Upland Sandpiper flying way overhead. I
ventured
over to Blucher
Park in Corpus Christi a little after 11am and was able to get my first
Louisiana Waterthrush of
the year before leaving at noon. I spent the rest of the day hanging out
with some
friends of mine who live in Corpus before heading home.
19 March (351
species)
Wednesday morning, March 19th, before work, I stopped by Turkey Creek Trail at Emma
Long Park here in
Austin. Good luck was with me as I heard a couple Golden-cheeked Warblers
even as I was getting out
the car. Very quickly, I had a nice look at a singing male - my first
Golden-cheeked of the year.
22 March (353
species)
Saturday 22 March, I took a ScatCat deep-water Fishing trip offshore
from Port Aransas. This was my
first ever
ScatCat trip and I was able to see three Pomarine Jaegers as well as my
first Parasitic
Jaeger of the year. I also encountered a couple of migrants offshore, including
my first Chimney Swift of the year, my first migrating Franklin's Gull (a very pink
adult) and 2
Yellow-rumped Warblers, one of which made a nice snack for an
opportunistic Laughing Gull.
23 March (360
species)
Sunday the 23rd, I made it over to Devil's River State Natural
Area, northwest of Del Rio. My plan was to scout out the area for
a Houston Audubon Society field trip that I would be leading out there in a few weeks. Black-capped Vireos were present in
numbers already
and I also had FOY (first-of-year) Gray Vireo, Bell's Vireo, Scott's
Oriole, Hooded
Oriole as well as Ash-throated Flycatcher. From Devil's River, I headed over
towards Ft Clark &
Brackettville a little after noon. On the drive over there, I saw an odd
bird on a
telephone pole that looked initially like a "mini-crow" in shape and
glossy color. It
turned out to be a Lewis's Woodpecker and I was able to get some photos
of it. Not a new bird for the year, but the first Lewis's I've discovered on my own in
Texas. After that,
I did make it over to both Fort Clark (near Brackettville) and then for a couple hours to Park
Chalk Bluff
(between Uvalde and Brackettville), where I had a good mix of birds,
including my first
Yellow-throated Vireo of the year.
26 March (361
species)
Wednesday March 26th, I had my first batch
of Baird's
Sandpipers (30+ birds) in a little pond near the BFI Landfill here in
Austin.
29-30 March (376
species)
A strong
cold front and north winds rolled thru Austin Thursday night and then
hit the coast
sometime later on Friday so I was anxious to hit the coast on Saturday,
29 March.
I started out
Saturday morning at Sabine Woods and spent the entire day in Jefferson
County, birding
the woods, the Willows at Sea Rim and also along the beach. Lots of
migrants had been
put down by the winds/storm and it was easy to walk along the trails and
kick up good
numbers of Hooded, Kentucky and other warblers (I think I had 14
species). New birds for
the year were: Broad-winged Hawk, Purple Gallinule, Eastern Kingbird,
Wood Thrush,
Red-eyed Vireo, Warbling Vireo, Blue-winged Warbler, Prothonotary
Warbler, Swainson's
Warbler, Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush, Kentucky Warbler and Orchard
Oriole. Sunday, I
started at Anahuac NWR where I added Semipalmated Sandpiper for my year
list. I went over
to High Island
and only spent a short time there (added Worm-eating Warbler) before
wandering back home
via Galveston and San Bernard NWR.