Category Archives: Southwest trip 5

Father Bird

Yesterday morning, Mary and I ( and our bird dog) were at Estero Grande Llano State Park to check out some of the wonderful array of birds there – it was Mary’s first visit. As is my custom, I did a quick scan of the parking lot for birder license plates and found this interesting one.

We wondered for a moment about it (not realizing it belonged to one of the pillars of Valley birding) and went on to a great couple of hours with the birds, and a bellowing male alligator, before heading home.

Last evening, I started reading a book, Heralds of Spring in Texas, that I had borrowed from the RV park’s library.
I was just reading the Preface skimming the acknowledgements when I saw, "Father Tom Pincinellli, a Catholic priest with a deep interest in birds of the Rio Grande Valley and in helping other birders;" and I was on to Google to see if this might be the owner.

Three pages of articles flashed up and it was obvious that a.k.a. "Father Bird" had been at Estero as well. He’s a well-known birder, environmentalist, spokesperson, and articulate person of faith and I think we passed him on the trail, but of course, did not know him. From all that I have read, he would (will) be a wonderful guy to talk with. Mary, as a retired Episcopal priest would have a lot in common while I, a "learning" birder, would have a lot of questions.

Here’s a snip from one article describing his leadership role in the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival:

That expert would be Tom Pincelli, a Catholic priest who has been a fixture in RGV birding community since arriving in south Texas in 1980. In birding circles, all you need to say is "Father Tom" or "Father Bird," and many in the Rio Grande Valley and beyond will know exactly who you are talking about. Pincell is a Connecticut native, who started birding in 1972. By the time the church offered him a congregation in Harlingen in 1980, he was well acquainted with the special birding opportunities in south Texas. For a birding priest, this assignment must have been like winning the lottery. Ever since, Father Tom has tirelessly promoted birding and bird habitat conservation in the Valley. When the festival organizers came calling, he was arguably the region’s most well-known birder, thus his involvement brought the fledgling event instant credibility.

Here is a short interview with him.

So, while we are heading westward in a few days, I’m sure that we will try to connect by email now, and in person on a future visit. I’ll also be more aggressive in tracking down the owner’s of birding plates – right then. As this exercise taught me, there are a lot of interesting people driving vehicles with avian vanity plates. Do you know any?

Pop-up Birds

Often when birding, a bird pops around a tree trunk or up to the top of a shrub and you want to get it in your binoculars but at the same time, take a photo. Good photographers are fast and shoot like paparazzi’s when a good bird shows itself while the rest of us fumble and often miss the opportunity. (I usually have a Vizsla on leash jerking my arms as I try to lock on the bird.)

Practice does help and when birds are at feeding stations, they tend to stick around for more photo ops.  Other times you just fire away and check the results later.  Here are a few photos from the last week or so, including one (the Verdin) yesterday morning. They are a nice example of the diversity of birds we just see in our travels (“Oh, it’s just another Altimira Oriole.)

An Altimira Oriole feeding at Bentsen Palm State Park this week.

An Altimira Oriole feeding at Bentsen Palm State Park this week.

A juvenile oriole earlier this week.

A juvenile oriole earlier this week.

A molting Vermillion Flycatcher at the county park.

A molting Vermillion Flycatcher at the county park.

A Northern Cardinal "hiding" yesterday morning.

A Northern Cardinal “hiding” yesterday morning.

A pretty Verdin that posed just long enough before departing.

A pretty Verdin that posed just long enough before departing.

We have a few more days here in the Valley before heading up to Falcon Lake State Park. While it will be tough to leave the birds, we won’t miss the traffic and the barking of local dogs who are left out all night. I’m looking forward to some peace and quiet in the boonies.

Chasing Mister Yellowthroat

It started about eight-thirty one night over a week ago when a sharp knock on the Airstream door launched Penny into a barking frenzy. I got her leashed as I opened the door to two Canadian birder friends who were doing a Paul Revere imitation, spreading birding news. "Dick, did you hear about the rare Gray-crowned Yellowthroat discovered at Estero today?"

I not only had not heard about it, but had never heard of it. They filled me in a bit and then went on to notify other birders in the park. Here’s what I read online the next morning:

Gray-crowned Yellowthroat is common shrubland species from northern Mexico throughout Middle America to Panama. It was formerly a breeding bird in the ABA Area, but more or less disappeared at the turn of the 20th Century. It’s become somewhat regular in south Texas since 1988 or so, with a number of records scattered throughout the area. A pair of birds even attempted nesting in Cameron County in 2005, though at least one of them was likely a hybrid with Common Yellowthroat. The last record of this species in the ABA Area was in 2006.

With Mary watching the dog, I was off to Estero Llano Grande State Park, about 45 minutes away. There was a bird walk scheduled but I decided to look for the Yellowthroat and joined 20-30 others on a path soon to be called "the stakeout." We watched, pacing to and fro, for a couple of hours and seeing/hearing nothing, most of us decided to go on an informal walk with a couple of the park hosts. We saw a wide variety of birds ( the place is one of the top spots in the Valley) but returning, met a couple of guys with big smiles, who told us, "We saw it about 15 minutes after you left." Returning to the stakeout, we spent another hours seeing nothing but brush and tall grass. C’est la vie.

I took a day off for other stuff but returned two days later about 9:30 A.M. to the news, "Sue (one of the hosts) and some folks just saw it. Go get it." There were even more birders waiting, some napping, some reading, some chatting. It was like old home week, I saw a couple of folks I first met last year. And the photo gear – several had "baby joggers" to carry in their massive lens. All was for nought – I waited nearly three hours and the bird never showed again. I decided to forget it.

So every day for a week, I read eBird reports on morning sightings, as I went elsewhere for other birds or activities. Finally, I decided to try one more time. I left before daylight yesterday and was the first onr there. After an hour, three other birders showed up and wouldn’t you know, walked right past the bird in the first ten minutes. The problem was, I was back on the path searching, just out of sight. One came back to let me know (which was very nice to do) but by the time I got there, nothing – except a nice picture they took. I watched for another half hour, getting pretty discouraged, thinking that I wasn’t destined to see it.

More birders showed up and shortly, there was a yell (someone had heard it call) and as I got there, some people were seeing it in the grass but I couldn’t. Looking through binoculars, just willing that bird to show up is hard work. But, one eagle-eyed gal from Illinois was caling out positions ans suddenly, it moved up the bush and we all had decent looks. My camera’s autofocus went wild on the branches so the documentary shot I took was pretty sad.

However, Dan Jones, one of the top birders in the Valley, took a shot two days ago when the bird was perched. As you can see, it’s beautiful.

So much of birding is being at the right place at the right time. If I never again hear, "Oh, you should have been here 15 minutes ago," I won’t be heart-broken. Meanwhile I am enjoying the memory of finding such a neat bird for life bird #417.

Free Range Porkers

When I bird with Penny in our woods at home I never have her on leash and her wildlife encounters are usually with red squirrels or chipmunks – she tends to ignore deer. We have encountered a few Black Bears, which either I have spotted first or at least grab her, one moose chase years ago, and a couple of coyotes/coydogs that she deigned to chase.

In the South/Southwest, I tend to keep her leashed – often because of park rules but also for her safety. Yesterday morning was a good example: we were birding a scrubland looking for desert birds and had seen a Harris’s Hawk, several Verdin, even a Greater Roadrunner. No one was around as we trudged down a long truck trail and I had her leash looped through my belt and we were getting tangled every so often.

I was about to let her loose for a bit when up ahead, a black object stood in the path. A javelina, no three, no even more. Penny hadn’t seen them as I took a picture of these two watching us.

They scooted across, melting into the brush, then this one ambled over. You can see how black they are against the clay trail.

By now, Penny had them spotted and one last one tore across the opening. We move down the road and her nose was at full alert. I could hear a little rustling on both sides so I clapped my hands, told them to get lost, and we continued on. These porkers had some young ones but unle the big feral hogs in other parts of Texas, these guys are wary of us. Or at least that’s my story.

It’s interesting that just two nights ago, I suggested to Mary that we not but pork until we get back to Vermont. Antibiotics, feedlots, gestation crates – it’s the only type of pork you can get in most of the country. These guys, while free of that stuff, would probably be like eating a leather belt. Hard to fatten up on sagebrush, tumbleweed, and cactus.

The best bird of the morning was a Green-tailed Towhee which I heard, and glimpsed. I’m at 127 species for this county and hope to hit 140 before we leave. We hiked about five miles today – no hills but lots of soft clay – and Penny has started her 12th year with a good workout.

A Couple of RGV Raptors

I spotted a flash of grey as I drove up over the levee to the County Park this morning. I had already counted four American Kestrels on the short road in and pulling over, I saw a Grey Hawk sitting in the trees. They are a specialty of the lower Rio Grande but I’d only seen a couple over the years so this was a treat – and a nice omen to the early morning outing.

I walked Penny on leash for two hours plus and picked up 33 species, including 10 I haven’t seen in the County this year. The other highlights were a Black Phoebe, two Couch’s Kingbirds, several Vermillion Flycatchers, and a dozen House Finches (which are rare in this area.)

It was a nice contrast to some chasing I’ve been doing of a rarity spotted last Saturday – a Grey-capped Yellowthroat. I just missed it by 15 to 20 minutes on two different days and spent quite a few hours, side-by-side with other birders, looking for it. It was neat to watch the people – folks with cameras so large that they use baby jogger trailers to transport them. The lack of success was a bit disappointing but it’s also a lesson in “being at the right place at the right time.” I’ve moved on – even if it gets sighted again.

Two days ago, after shopping I took Penny to a wildlife area to which I had never been and the first thing we spotted was this pair of Crested CaraCara – sometimes known a the Mexican Eagle. The habitat, on the edge of County, was more desert-like and I saw Verdin, Black-throated Sparrows, and Pyrrhuloxia.

I am waiting for better internet service before adding a number of nice photos of birds I’ve seen. The weather has been good (as we monitored the Blizzard) and all in all, we like this area. Good birds but too many people. Lots of wonderful birders including our own Chris and Fred Pratt, who everyone seems to know, but with whom our paths have not crossed. Make sure you read this great post by Ken Benton to get a sense of the “madness” of birders. It captures the spirit and enthusiasm of the North Branch Nature Center Staff. Good Birding.

An iPhone Red, White, & Blue Trifecta

This morning, a few of us brave souls met at the pier for a bird walk. I had every piece of warm clothing I had brought, including “hot hands” insert for my mittens, and managed to stay relatively warm. I was keeping score on my iPhone so that entailed working with bare hands but we had a good time. We recorded 40 species – nothing particularly unusual – but like many walks, too much talking, not enough looking and listening. It was too windy to steady the camera so I decided to do some shooting in the afternoon.

I brought the iPhone adapter along and did some digiscoping. The Red, White, and Blue Trifecta ( Snowy Egret, Roseate Spoonbill, & Little Blue Heron) was the first group of birds I encountered. They were at a distance but happily feeding away. Many of the other shorebirds were too far for clear shots, particularly on a cloudy, windy day. The Great Egret posed nicely for me before flying off so I called it quits to return to the snug trailer.

A Snowy Egret, Roseate Spoonbill, & Little Blue Heron in one scope view.

 

A Little Blue Heron.

 

A Great Egret posing for an iPhone digiscope.

 

So far, I have 76 species in three days in the County and would like to break 100 this week. We’ll see if improving weather stirs up some. We plan to drive down to the boat ramp tonight in hopes of getting a look at some Black-crowned Night Herons.

Checking Out The Whoopers

Today was a day to catch up a bit since the weather is cool and rainy, so we drove into Rockport for some groceries and way too much bird feeding gear and supplies. We also picked up some comfort food (apple turnover, cinnamon roll etc) to get us through the morning.

Returning, we invited our neighbor, Gail from Nova Scotia, over for coffee and goodies. I am often surprised about the backgrounds of fellow campers: it turns out Gail is a recently-retired psychologist who specialized in dealing with special needs kids and who now is traveling the U.S. in an old VW camper, teaching herself to paint watercolors, while her husband tends the fort at home including caregiving for an aging parent. Good conversation, calories, and caffeine made for a nice late morning in spite of the weather.

One of the things you do at Goose Island is to check out the Whooping Cranes who return to some ranchers’ fields (where they are fed) just north of the park. Mary and I (and of course, Penny) motored up there this afternoon and sure enough, there were five Whoopers and about 32 Sandhill Cranes.  Here are a few shots that I took with freezing fingers in a minor gale.

The Whooping Crane flock journeys 2,500 miles south from Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada to Texas.

The Whooping Crane flock journeys 2,500 miles south from Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada to Texas.

About thirty Sandhill Cranes are also enjoying the local hospitality.

About thirty Sandhill Cranes are also enjoying the local hospitality.

Not to be outdone by exotic visitors, a couple of elegant Great Blue Herons also grace the field.

Not to be outdone by exotic visitors, a couple of elegant Great Blue Herons also graced the field.

Whoopers and Sandhills often feed together here, providing a nice comparison of size and marking differences.

Whoopers and Sandhills often feed together here, providing a nice comparison of size and marking differences.

It’s great to see the cranes each year after their long return from up north.  They are a wonderful success story.  Like the Peregrine Falcon, the Bald Eagle, the Osprey, and several other species, they remind us that we can succeed with conserving threatened species, but it takes lots of effort and more vision and leadership than we often see these days in the halls of our public servants. These elegant survivors give us hope.

Sorting Sparrows at Goose Island State Park

Our six-day trip to Texas was highlighted by:

  • Trekking down our icy driveway with last minute luggage for a 5:45 AM launch Monday
  • Whiteout with treacherous driving for 20 miles around Saratoga on the Northway
  • Awful crosswinds for the first three days
  • Black ice on I-81 in PA below Chambersburg
  • Freezing rain and 30 degrees in MS
  • Heavy rain around Beaumont and steady rain through Houston (and a backup that I luckily circumvented, pulling the Mass-h_le trick of driving up the right side of everything)
  • Four comfortable nights in La Quinta Inns which, while seeming to lower in quality as we went south, still were clean, warm, and restful.)

Once out of Houston, the weather cleared and we stopped for fuel at Buc-cees (and topped off our fat levels with some great barbecue sandwiches.  Soon, I was starting to see more birds –  and at 70 mph (on low traffic roads) I noted Eastern Meadowlarks, Great-tailed Grackles, a Crested Caracara, several Northern Harriers, many Red-tail Hawks, and the ever-present Turkey Vultures. We are now settled at Goose Island State Park for a week and whilebit’s cool and windy, the only white stuff around are American White Pelicans and Great Egrets. The park is one-third full and we have a quiet spot to relax and get the trailer organized.  And bird.

I took Penny on four walks today and the bird activity was good — too early for warblers except for many Yellow-rumps, but loaded with sparrows. Sparrow identification is not something I would list when considering KSA’s (Knowledge, Skill, Ability.) It’s not easy when they keep flying up from the tall grass to spots just out of binocular range while the Vizsla on leash pulls your arm off.  I missed more than I even got a look at.  Yet, I got a lifer, a Harris’s Sparrow.  It popped up on a bush not too far away and I got the glasses, then the camera, on it. I didn’t know what it was but went back, downloaded the photos, and tentatively identified it as a juvenile Harris’s.  Then I emailed my friends at North Branch Nature Center and Chip, the Executive Director, agreed with my call.  So it was life bird #412 — first of the year and the trip.

This was one of two juvenile Harris's Sparrows I saw this morning. Lifer #412

This was one of two juvenile Harris’s Sparrows I saw this morning. Lifer #412

I ended up with six sparrow species (and may have missed others):

  1. Song
  2. Field
  3. Savannah
  4. Lincoln’s
  5. Harris’s
  6. House

I hope to sort ducks and gulls in the next couple of days.  There are rafts of Redheads and Northern Pintails and it will be time to relearn the gulls and shorebirds. Good birding.

Slip, Sliding, Away

We have been watching the weather forecast for several weeks and were not happy to see a winter storm scheduled for the day before our departure. However, the snow was going to be followed by freezing rain, and then rain — so I figured we had a chance to get going as scheduled. When we looked out this morning, it was not pretty.

Two days ago, I had managed to back the Airstream up the driveway to a flat spot where we can load it. My neighbor Jason, seeing me struggle to get the rig up around the big rock, came up and gave some great guidance.

I hit it hard, moving stuff from the house, loading the kayak in 10 degree temperatures,  and burning through a tank of propane just warming the unit up.

The storm hit as expected and we awoke to a less than happy site — four inches of snow with a nice crust of ice.

The Airstream was covered with ice and snow this morning

The Airstream was covered with ice and snow this morning.

The truck was coated and the kayak was wondering what it was doing on the rack.

The truck was coated and the kayak was wondering what it was doing on the rack.

I spent several hours getting the driveway passable and then tackled the truck and trailer.  Temperatures were warming and little by little, the frosty units thawed out.

By suppertime, I had the rig hooked up, lights tested, and ready to move.

By suppertime, I had the rig hooked up, lights tested, and ready to move.

The forecast for this evening is for much colder weather in the morning, and the driveway I had so carefully scraped with the Kubota, and a patina from the day of freezing rain and rain on frozen ground. I decided to not chance an ice-skating party in the morning so I carefully, in low range, crawled down to the bottom of the driveway — to leave the rig there for launch at early dark thirty. Two chunks of firewood block the wheels and if we can hobble down without mishap, we’ll be off for Harrisburg, PA. I’ll let you know how our first few days go — we’re aiming for dull and non-newsworthy.

Trash Talk

The other morning, as I dragged our two large containers down our driveway, I marveled again at how our recycling bin is full while the one for trash is less than half full. Over the years, as more and more materials can be recycled, the ratio of recycling to trash has grown. I say this not to pat ourselves on the back — it’s as much a Vermont thing as a Mansfield thing. It seems that roadside trash, always rather limited, is also improving over the last few years.

149291467_895e4f69a1_mThen my thoughts turned to the terrible situations we will soon encounter as we travel with the #Airstream to the Southwest. Every year we get discouraged about the trash along roadways and the lack of recycling. So I decided to recycle a post I wrote several years ago, since nothing has changed for the good.  Here it is from February 2012:

One of the big disappointments about Texas birding is the amount of trash you encounter along roadways – about anywhere. Many times I’ve spotted a Crested Caracara up ahead to find it’s only one more Walmart plastic bag tangled on a fence post. Of course, with no recycling, no returnable deposit, and a “toss it out the window” mentality, what can you expect?

Recycling is about non-existent throughout the South. It hurts to crush plastic milk cartons and toss them with the cardboard, cans, and other recyclables. State parks are pretty lame, with only aluminum cans collected. Since we drink no soda or beer from cans, well you get the picture.

The other day I drove over to a large wildlife management area for some birding. It is used for grazing as well and some of the residents didn’t seem too impressed by the Vermont plates and kayak on the red truck.

It was a foggy morning and on the way on the access road, I saw a life bird – a White-tailed Kite perched in a dead tree. I took a photo through my scope which was pretty fuzzy but ok for documentation. 

Once I left the truck and began birding alongside the Guadeloupe River, I was shocked by the debris. Some was from recent high water but much was crap left by hunters and fishermen. Beer cans galore, fishing line in trees, it was really depressing. But some great birds helped make up for it. Red-bellied woodpeckers made a racket while dozens of yellow-rumps did their flycatchers act.

The highlight was a big bird that flew off and perched in a tree up ahead. Thankful that I didn’t have the dog with me, I got right underneath a Great Horned Owl who watched me through the branches but stayed perched as I photographed it and then quietly moved on. 

It was a good birding outing but I could not help but contrast it with my trips to rather pristine New England WMA’s. Sure, you’ll always run into idiots who litter, but in Texas, it seems to be genetically imprinted. Mary and I are far from alone at our disgust for the situation – many from Canada and the upper mid-West share our opinion – as I’m sure do many Texans.

We have found a few parks and municipalities where there is more recycling so often we rattle along with several weeks worth of recycling in the truck, looking for a home.