Category: Vermont Birding

Are We There Yet?

Today was a “round them up, move them out” travel day through hot, dusty Southwest Texas.  If I never see another thorn shrub or natural gas pipeline, it won’t break my heart.  Of course, the speed limit is often 75 mph but I keep below 70 while hauling the trailer.

Laredo was awful — traffic lights, depressing fast food joints and rundown businesses — and Eagle Pass and Del Rio were not a lot better.  It’s interesting — you can look up ahead near the border and see this massive Mexican Flag just across the border.  We had at least two situations where you needed to turn right to stay in the U.S. and not head to the International Bridge.  

Of course, have two American immigration guys shot yesterday adds to the “stay out of Mexico” mindset that most of us have.

Just west of Laredo were these amazing highway overpasses, all stucco-colored and lovely looking.  I was trying to figure out which Congressman/Senator brought that pork home when we came to the Laredo Welcome Center.  It makes the Williston and Brattleboro sites in Vermont look like poor cousins — to say it was ornate is an understatement.  Here’s a picture of Mary in front of it.

I got to watch a Border Patrol stop at the site.  They had a pickup hauling a trailer stopped and were apparently also using it as a training because four or five extra guys were there.  The interesting thing was the Xray truck — a big van which slowly drove closely past one side of the stopped trailer and then past the other side.  Obviously, they have gear that can look through metal side of vans.  I think they let the guys move on after going through the items in the trailer.

Shortly thereafter, we went through a Border Patrol stop.  Of course, Penny saw the drug dog, a Doberman, and started to go nuts while I reached back for her and her collar came off — all while trying to talk sanely to the young guy asking me questions.  We’re pretty white bread tourists — he just waved me on.

We are at Amistad, a national recreation area on the shore of Lake Amistad which is formed by the dammed Rio Grande.  No one here besides a host camper and one other family.  We have a site overlooking the water and while there’s a little noise from the highway not too far away, it’s a nice location.  We are going to a “Cowboy Coffee” in the morning where they make coffee the old way, over a campfire — and the park superintendent is going to talk some about border issues.

Are We There Yet?

Today was a “round them up, move them out” travel day through hot, dusty Southwest Texas.  If I never see another thorn shrub or natural gas pipeline, it won’t break my heart.  Of course, the speed limit is often 75 mph but I keep below 70 while hauling the trailer.

Laredo was awful — traffic lights, depressing fast food joints and rundown businesses — and Eagle Pass and Del Rio were not a lot better.  It’s interesting — you can look up ahead near the border and see this massive Mexican Flag just across the border.  We had at least two situations where you needed to turn right to stay in the U.S. and not head to the International Bridge.  

Of course, have two American immigration guys shot yesterday adds to the “stay out of Mexico” mindset that most of us have.

Just west of Laredo were these amazing highway overpasses, all stucco-colored and lovely looking.  I was trying to figure out which Congressman/Senator brought that pork home when we came to the Laredo Welcome Center.  It makes the Williston and Brattleboro sites in Vermont look like poor cousins — to say it was ornate is an understatement.  Here’s a picture of Mary in front of it.

I got to watch a Border Patrol stop at the site.  They had a pickup hauling a trailer stopped and were apparently also using it as a training because four or five extra guys were there.  The interesting thing was the Xray truck — a big van which slowly drove closely past one side of the stopped trailer and then past the other side.  Obviously, they have gear that can look through metal side of vans.  I think they let the guys move on after going through the items in the trailer.

Shortly thereafter, we went through a Border Patrol stop.  Of course, Penny saw the drug dog, a Doberman, and started to go nuts while I reached back for her and her collar came off — all while trying to talk sanely to the young guy asking me questions.  We’re pretty white bread tourists — he just waved me on.

We are at Amistad, a national recreation area on the shore of Lake Amistad which is formed by the dammed Rio Grande.  No one here besides a host camper and one other family.  We have a site overlooking the water and while there’s a little noise from the highway not too far away, it’s a nice location.  We are going to a “Cowboy Coffee” in the morning where they make coffee the old way, over a campfire — and the park superintendent is going to talk some about border issues.

Buff-bellied Hummingbird at Roma Bluffs

One of the nice aspects of birding in South Texas in winter is the chance to see hummingbirds.  Some overwinter and others just show up at feeders.  The Anna’s that we saw at Goose Island was of the latter category.  So was an Allen’s that we missed in Bentson State Park the other day.

Saturday we went down to the Roma Bluffs World Birding Center site — one of six such sights in the Lower Valley of Texas.  Roma get some hummers including this Buff-Bellied Hummingbird – one of the species that has been there all winter.  They have a few of these and they are relatively tame — allowing visitors to get rather close.  Mary noted that given their irridescent green back, they are misnamed buff-belly.

We missed a Black-Chinned Hummingbird that supposedly shows up but hope to catch up with one further west.  Coming from a state which usually just gets Ruby-throated hummers, it’s quite something to have a chance to see so many varieties.  And in the months ahead, after we’ve left, there will be dozens of varieties.

As an aviator, as a novice birder, just as an observer – they are just amazing creatures to watch and appreciate.  Feisty, beautiful, spectacular, mesmerizing.

I’ve talked about the people of Falcon State Park and their cordiality. We will recall with fondness Bud and Charlotte from Enid, OK who befriended us last year and were our neighbors again this year. Married 64 years, they are a wonderful couple – who also love Penny.

We’ve met a number of Canadian couples, including Bert and Maryanne — fellow beekeepers and many mid-Westerners. The people are a big part of the attraction of this facility.

The sunrises and sunsets are often spectacular — especially the sunsets over Falcon Reservoir. We went down tonight to watch it and see how fast the sun moves as it approaches the horizon. Western skies are just amazing to Easterners like us. I recall years ago when I was flying in the Navy out west and returning to Vermont briefly for an event. How closed in I felt — in spite of being a Vermonter I’d gotten used to the openness.

Falcon is one of the top fishing lakes in the country. With hundreds of miles of coastline, it attracts many bass tournaments — from local clubs to national events. It’s not unusual to see fifty or more truck/trailer rigs in the parking lots and they fish from sunrise to twilight.

And of course, the birds here are wonderful. A western birder told me yesterday, “I’ve birded throughout the west but never down here. I’m amazed at all the different species.” We tend to get a little blase’ about one more Green Jay or Altimira Oriole. While we didn’t have the rarer birds that sometimes frequent this place, it’s easy to pick up 40 species or more in an hour walk.

So we leave what has become one of our favorite places. It was in the 80’s today but has cooled down with a nice breeze this evening. The coyotes tuned up a while back and the three-quarters moon and starlight will light up this place tonight. I’d hate to be here in July but it sure is nice in February.

Last year, we stayed here at Falcon State Park for some time and then, because of issues with trailer lights, decided to forego going out to Big Bend National Park. This year, figuring we are this far and may not get here again, we are pressing onward in a few days. We’ll go to Amisted National Wildlife Area (Del Rio), stay a couple of days at Seminole Canyon, and then hit Big Bend.

The stay at Falcon has been great. The weather has finally warmed into the 70’s and we have enjoyed the birding and the campers. This is quite unique – many folks come here for a month or more – and have done so for years. There is a very active recreation center with many social and education activities. Neither Mary nor I am big on sitting around talking about whatever, but we have gotten to know some of the regulars. We went to a Valentine’s ice cream social/ Yankee swap (they had some other name for it), and actually danced a little. The kids think we’re losing it.

A highlight of this stay is the puma I saw the other morning while walking the dog – the big cat was just sauntering across the road. I had binoculars but no camera with me.

The night sky here is amazing. There is no air traffic at all – which is too remindfull of the post-9/11 days. We get nothing but Mexican TV and radio but keep current with our iPhones. The campground is very quiet – all I can hear as I write is a coyote. Sounds like a young one trying out his voice. Penny gives a little growl just to let us know she’s on top of things.

So we’ve got some laundry and camper stuff (propane, parts, etc) to do before launching Wednesday morning. Got a couple of birds I’m looking for as well so Penny and I will be out looking for the Say’s Phoebe that’s supposedly here. Weather up ahead looks great so Wagon’s Ho!

Ultralight-led Whooping Crane Found Dead in Alabama
$6,000 Reward Offered for Information on the Killing of Whooping Crane 12-04

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating the death of a whooping crane reported by an Alabama conservation officer at Weiss Lake, in Cherokee County Ala., on Jan. 28, 2011. The lake is located midway between Atlanta, Birmingham, and Chattanooga.  Investigators believe the crane was shot.
The male whooping crane, designated 12-04, was equipped with a transmitter and leg bands to help track his movements. Trackers located it in January with other whooping cranes in a Cherokee County field not far from the lake where it was killed.
Scientists at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Forensics Laboratory in Ashland, Ore., are conducting a necropsy on the dead crane. It is the only lab in the world dedicated to crimes against wildlife.
Raised in Wisconsin at Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, whooping crane 12-04 learned how to migrate behind ultralight aircraft flown by Operation Migration.

Operation Migration is a partner with the Whooping Crane Eastern 
Partnership, and for 10 years has lead between seven and 20 cranes per year on their first migration from Wisconsin to Florida to increase whooping crane numbers to recover this magnificent endangered species.

The bird made its first migration to the Chassahowitzka National 
Wildlife Refuge in Florida during the fall of 2004. It annually wintered in Florida until 2009.  Since then it has spent winters on the marshes in and around Weiss Lake, Ala.

“We are extremely disappointed by the killing of this whooping crane,” said Jim Gale, Special Agent in Charge of Law Enforcement in the Service’s Southeast Region. “We recently lost three whooping cranes to gunfire in south Georgia, now this one in Alabama. This senseless killing has just got to stop.”

Gale has asked for the support of the public, especially the fishing, hunting, and boating community who may have seen or heard about the killing on Weiss Lake to help prosecute whoever shot this crane.

A $6,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to a 
conviction. To provide information, call Special Agent John Rawls at 334-285-9600, or e-mail him at john_rawls@fws.gov.
Several organizations are contributing to the reward including Operation Migration, which led this bird south with Ultralight aircraft on its first migration in 2004, The Turner Foundation, the International Crane Foundation, the Alabama Wildlife Federation, and the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service.

The Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership uses two techniques to establish the Eastern Migratory Population. One method trains cranes to follow costumed pilots flying ultralight aircraft from Wisconsin to Florida. 
The other releases young birds directly into wild populations of 
whooping cranes and sandhill cranes – called Direct Autumn Release.

Last spring, whooping crane 12-04 had paired with 27-05, the oldest Direct Autumn Release bird. The new couple successfully mated and had a late season nest with two eggs in Juneau County, Wis., south of Necedah National Wildlife Refuge. One egg hatched and the pair raised the chick for several weeks until it disappeared, presumably taken by a predator — possibly a bobcat or coyote.

Captive whooping cranes produce Direct Autumn Release cranes at the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, Wis. These eggs are hatched there, then raised in isolation by costumed caretakers for the first six weeks. Specialists then move them to an isolation facility in natural habitat on Necedah National Wildlife Refuge where costumed caretakers raise them. They are later released into the company of older whooping cranes around Necedah National Wildlife Refuge for the fall migration in November. They then follow those experienced whooping cranes and sandhill cranes, learning the migration route to the wintering habitat.

It has taken five years for the birds in the Direct Autumn Release program to learn to nest — a milestone for the program that began in 2005.

The cranes are part of the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership effort to reintroduce whooping cranes into the eastern United States.  There are about 570 whooping cranes left in the world, 400 in the wild. There are about 100 cranes in the Eastern Migratory Population.

In addition to the Endangered Species Act, whooping cranes are protected by state laws and the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

For more information about the reintroduction effort, visit 
http://www.bringbackthecranes.org.

Crested Caracara

I mentioned last post about the hundreds of Red-winged Blackbirds that hang out in Falcon State Park (and many sites in the Southwest.)  I also mentioned the Pyrrhuloxia which are everywhere.  These members of the Cardinal family are native to Texas and Mexico and are fun to watch.  Here’s a shot I took this afternoon of a female alongside the park road.

The Crested Caracara, sometimes called the “Mexican Eagle,” is a spectacular low-flyer who is easy to identify and very common along highways in this area.  It feeds on carrion and lizards and small mammals and it’s unusual not to see a few any time you bird in this area.  They too are Texas/Mexico birds.

Pyrrhuhuloxia

One of the most prevalent birds here seems to be the orange-crowned warbler.  The plain little green birds are everywhere — to the point that I have yet to take a picture of one.  Of course, like most warblers, they don’t sit for portraits but rather move briskly along from branch to branch.  They have no markings per se — and that in itself is an identifying characteristic.

Another common bird here is the Great-tailed Grackle.  We started seeing them as we hit Texas and they are everywhere — not in Red-winged Blackbird numbers, but noticeable because of their size and their raucous calls.  They love to hang out in mall parking lots.

Great-tailed Grackle

Other birds we see each walk are Greater Roadrunners, Northern Cardinals, Inca Doves, and Northern Mockingbirds.  I suspect that the warming weather will crank up birding activity — both the birds and the birders have been waiting out this wintry blast.

It has been pretty windy for good birding here at Falcon although I’m seeing some interesting stuff and have picked up a couple of life birds — a Long-billed Thrasher and a Cactus Wren.  These were both birds that I should have seen last year but didn’t.

Falcon, like many areas, is infested with Red-winged blackbirds.  They really are a pest: you put out a feeder and before long, dozens appear.  They tend to drive off the other birds with their noisy aggressiveness — but I know that I’ll enjoy them once we, and they, get to Vermont.

Pyrrhuloxia are one of the signature birds here — I remember seeing them for the first time last year.  They are quite friendly, coming to feeders, and are pretty birds — not as spectacular as their Northern Cardinal brethren but still quite attractive.

Greater Roadrunner

Of course, Northern Mockingbirds and Greater Roadrunners are everywhere.  Crested Cara-caras are also very numerous.

This afternoon on a walk, I came upon a very accommodating Cactus Wren who posed for pictures while the dog strained at her leash, and then went through a whole song cycle for us.  I was surprised at the size of the wren — I had been looking for a more furtive smaller bird.

Cactus Wren

I’ve seen quite a few birds that I’m not sure of — some quail that were either scaled quail or bobwhite, a little brown job that I have a picture of (and will get folks to ID it for me), and meadowlarks that are either Eastern or Western. 

The weather forecast is probably going to put a damper on birding for a few days although once the wind dies down, it may be productive if only in the high 30’s.  That’s a day we’d bird in Vermont so why not here?  I’ll let you know what I find.

Visit our Airstreaming blog

Yesterday, we decided to look for the Great Horned Owl that was reportedly nesting here at Fontainebleau State Park.  Early in the morning, I had gone down to the pier and seen Brown Pelicans, Killdeer, Tree Sparrows, and an unidentified hawk — and heard an owl somewhere.

When I saw the camp hosts sitting on their four-wheelers talking, I asked them whether they knew where the owl was.  The guy from Minnesota said, “You mean, my owl?”  And before I knew it, we were following in the truck to the spot, not too far away, where we got out and walked to a viewing spot.  “She’s right up there in the flat spot, see her?” he asked.  Here’s what we saw — it wasn’t easy at first, and then you couldn’t miss her.

The host explained that the owls have used this site in three out of the last four years (last year was apparently too wet and they went elsewhere.)  He thinks that one of her eggs has hatched since she has moved up slightly in the nest.  She was dozing when we saw her and once I got my scope out, both Mary and I, and some visiting Canadians, got great looks.  It was beautiful to see the tufts on her head waving gently in the breeze as she slept and every so often, she’d pop open an eye and check on her human spectators.  Last night, after dark with a full moon, we went back down and sitting in the dark truck nearby, could hear her sort of purr hooting sounds while a bit further off, her mate gave forth with a full Great Horned Owl series of hoots.  Quite a treat, and a life bird for me.

Here’s closeup of her — the “ears” are hard to miss once you spot them.

Check out our Airstreaming blog

Tufted Titmouse

We stopped for two nights at Clarko State Park in Quitman, MS and ran into some nice birds.  The park was nearly vacant and birds were all over it — this is a Tufted Titmouse that was around our site.

There were tons of Northern Cardinals and high in the trees, warblers.  Of course, I didn’t have any better luck down south than I do in Vermont identifying them.

The first walk with Penny just before dark revealed this Great Blue Heron all hunched down, waiting.  The plumage was such that I was not sure what it was — but saw it again the next day all stretched out, looking normal.

Mary and I went out together so that she could try out her new binoculars — a Christmas gift — and we practiced on Cardinals and a bouncy warbler.  The highlight was this cooperative Golden-crowned Kinglet which we watched from a viewing platform for some time.  He hopped around but much less frenetic than a warbler, and a great look for new birder Mary.

I saw several Grey Catbirds, a Red-bellied Woodpecker, Carolina Chickadees left and right, as well as others that I see regularly in Vermont.  The new camera is working well with the tele lens.

This morning I was treated to good looks at a Great Egret.  I got a bunch of shots — this is one I particularly like. 

This afternoon, arriving at Fontainebleau State Park in Louisiana, we were met by two red-headed woodpeckers.  I hear there is a Great Horned Owl in the park with a nest and babies due any day.  Bodes well for good birding up ahead.