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Trip Reports
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Navasota River Bottoms ~ May 7, 2006
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| The Navasota bottoms trip in Brazos County was scheduled for May 6th, but was postponed to the 7th due to thunderstorms. Four participants had to cancel for Sunday, but there were 12 participants on Sunday not counting myself. Skies were overcast for much of the trip. There was a breeze out of the north and it was comfortable in the woods. We birded from 7:30AM-12:30PM. There were still many migrants around in the virgin bottomland hardwood forest on Sunday. Several participants got lifers during the trip. Several of the neotropical species we observed will spend the nesting season on the property such as Acadian Flycatcher, Northern Parula, Prothonotary Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Indigo and Painted Buntings and perhaps Gray Catbird and Common Yellowthroat. Hairy Woodpeckers are permanent residents on the property. We did not make it down to the Navasota River due to high water. White-breasted Nuthatches are present on the property near the river. I will talk to one of the owners of the property about scheduling another trip in the bottoms in mid-June. We would start at 7am and wrap up the trip around noon with it being summer. Here's the bird list from Sunday, May 7th. Wood Duck Blue-winged Teal Anhinga Great Blue Heron Great Egret Cattle Egret Green Heron Yellow-crowned Night Heron Turkey Vulture Red-shouldered Hawk sandpiper species overhead Mourning Dove Yellow-billed Cuckoo Barred Owl Chimney Swift Ruby-throated Hummingbird Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker(one by call- "pit") Pileated Woodpecker Eastern Wood-Pewee Acadian Flycatcher- several calling Least Flycatcher(one by call- "che-bek") Great Crested Flycatcher White-eyed Vireo Warbling Vireo Philadelphia Vireo Red-eyed Vireo American Crow Cliff Swallow Barn Swallow Carolina Chickadee Tufted Titmouse Carolina Wren Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Eastern Bluebird Gray Catbird Tennessee Warbler Nashville Warbler Northern Parula Yellow Warbler Chestnut-sided Warbler Magnolia Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Black-and-white Warbler American Redstart Prothonotary Warbler Kentucky Warbler- 2 singing Common Yellowthroat- several Hooded Warbler- singing Wilson's Warbler Canada Warbler- singing Yellow-breasted Chat Summer Tanager- several singing Northern Cardinal Indigo Bunting- several Painted Bunting- several Dickcissel- one calling overhead Brown-headed Cowbird Orchard Oriole Baltimore Oriole- several |
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Piney Woods ~ May 20-21, 2006
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| May 20-21 I lead members of the Aransas Bird and Nature Club and a friend of their's from Dallas on a birding trip in the Piney Woods of east Texas. We birded the western and eastern portion of the Sam Houston National Forest on Saturday. We birded the Big Thicket National Preserve on Sunday morning. A total of 78 species were observed or heard singing during the trip. Most of our attention was focused on nesting neotropical birds, plus finding the seven species of nesting woodpeckers in east Texas. Eleven of the fourteen species of nesting warblers were observed and we observed six species of woodpeckers. Highlights of the trip included an unexpected White-tailed Kite in the Big Thicket, Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Brown-headed and White-breasted Nuthatch, Wood Thrushes singing in the morning, Prairie Warblers seen singing, Worm-eating Warblers seen singing, and many Swainson's Warblers singing on territory. Black-and-white Warbler, American Redstart, and Louisiana Waterthrush were the nesting warblers that we did not see. We missed Northern Flicker and were unsuccessful in finding Bachman's Sparrow. Below is the complete list of species that were found during the Aransas Bird and Nature Club trip in the Piney Woods of east Texas. Wood Duck Great Blue Heron Great Egret Little Blue Heron- 1 Cattle Heron Green Heron- 2 Yellow-crowned Night Heron White Ibis- 1 adult Roseate Spoonbill- 1 Black Vulture Turkey Vulture White-tailed Kite- 1 Mississippi Kite- 1 Cooper's Hawk- 1 Red-shouldered Hawk Broad-winged Hawk- 5 Killdeer- 1 Eurasian Collared- Dove Mourning Dove Yellow-billed Cuckoo Barred Owl Common Nighthawk Chimney Swift Ruby-throated Hummingbird Red-headed Woodpecker Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Red-cockaded Woodpecker- 3 Hairy Woodpecker- 1 Pileated Woodpecker Olive-sided Flyactcher- 1 migrant Eastern Wood-Pewee Acadian Flycatcher Least Flycatcher Great Crested Flycatcher Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Eastern Kingbird White-eyed Vireo Yellow-throated Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Blue Jay American Crow Purple Martin Cliff Swallow Barn Swallow Carolina Chickadee Tufted Titmouse White-breasted Nuthatch- 1 Brown-headed Nuthatch- 7 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Eastern Bluebird Swainson's Thrush- 1 migrant Wood Thrush- 4 singing and/or calling American Robin- 1 Gray Catbird Northern Mockingbird Brown Thrasher- 3 European Starling Northern Parula- numerous Chestnut-sided Warbler- 1 migrant Magnolia Warbler- 3 migrants Yellow-throated Warbler Pine Warbler- numerous Prairie Warbler- 10+(including 3 seen) Prothonotary Warbler Worm-eating Warbler- 4 or 5 Swainson's Warbler- 15+(including one seen very well) Kentucky Warbler Common Yellowthroat Hooded Warbler- numerous Yellow-breasted Chat- numerous Summer Tanager Northern Cardinal Blue Grosbeak- 4 Indigo Bunting Common Grackle Orchard Oriole House Sparrow Notables that were found by Doug Hanna and me at a location in the eastern portion of the Sam Houston NF after the piney woods trip officially ended: Yellow-crowned Night Heron- 1 Wood Thrush- 1 singing Notables seen by me at a location in the western portion of the Sam Houston NF after the pineywoods trip officially ended: Hairy Woodpecker- 1(great looks, came right in to the tape) Pileated Woodpecker- 1 landed within 10 feet of me on a tree trunk White-breasted Nuthatch- 1(came in quickly to a recording) Yellow-throated Warbler- 1 singing, did not see Common Yellowthroat- 1 adult male singing, seen well Summer Tanager- 2(including one that came down low to a tape recording) |
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Burton Breeding Bird Survey Route ~ June 6, 2006
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| On Tuesday, June 6th I ran the Burton Breeding Bird Survey route. This route lies entirely in Washington County, Texas and for the most part follows a west to east course. The habitat along the route is mostly post oak/juniper woodlands and pastureland. A total of 647 individuals and 40 species were counted. Once again, the three most common species encountered along the route were Northern Cardinal, Painted Bunting, and American Crow. N. Cardinals were encountered on 40 of the 50 stops and 118 individuals were counted. Painted Buntings were encountered on 44 of the 50 stops and 75 individuals were counted. American Crows were found on 26 stops and 53 individuals were counted. Belted Kingfisher was added to the route species list this year. One individual was seen in flight during a stop. Two Chuck-will's-widows were calling where the survey begins on Sandstone Road before the start of the survey. One Chuck was calling when the survey began, but I couldn't hear the second bird because of excessive noise. |
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Navasota River Bottoms ~ June 10, 2006
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| A group of us braved the Texas heat and had a nice list of birds in the Navasota bottoms of Brazos County on Saturday, June 10th. Highlights included a group of 6 Wood Storks(FOS) perched in dead trees and Yellow-throated Vireos, Prothonotary Warbler, Summer Tanager, and Indigo and Painted Buntings singing on territory. If it hadn't been so hot we would have looked for the other Prothonotary Warblers singing on territory and the Black-and-white Warbler that is singing on territory. I was dissapointed that we didn't hear a Hairy Woodpecker calling and a White-breasted Nuthatch did not respond to a tape along the Navasota River. The Ash-throated Flycatcher seen on the 7th was not seen on Saturday. That's how birding goes sometimes. Another trip on the property will be scheduled in the fall(probably September) and hopefully during the winter season. Will have to work around the hunters schedule. I will be adding several trips to my tour schedule for the late summer season, fall season, and winter season. They will be posted on my website in the coming weeks. So stay tuned! Below is our bird list for the morning of June 10th. Anhinga- one soaring Great Blue Heron Great Egret Cattle Egret White Ibis- 2 Wood Stork- 6 new bird for the property list, but expected on the property Black Vulture Turkey Vulture Red-shouldered Hawk Yellow-billed Cuckoo Chimney Swift Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Pileated Woodpecker Acadian Flycatcher Great Crested Flycatcher White-eyed Vireo Yellow-throated Vireo- 2 singing males Red-eyed Vireo- 4 American Crow Purple Martin Carolina Chickadee Tufted Titmouse Carolina Wren Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Eastern Bluebird Northern Parula- 8+ Prothonotary Warbler- 1 singing male Summer Tanager- 1 singing male Northern Cardinal Indigo Bunting- 6+ singing males Painted Bunting- 5+ singing males Brown-headed Cowbird- overhead |
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Identifying empidonax flycatchers and other Fall Migrants
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| Empidonax flycatchers and other migrants put in a good showing during Saturday's field trip in the Chappell Hill area. We birded the area from 7:30AM- 12:20PM. It was hot the latter part of the morning, but we were rewarded with good birding for our efforts. There were a number of Alder Flycatchers present during the trip and they were very vocal. In the birds in odd places category, we found a Louisiana Waterthrush foraging in a milo field. An oxbow lake nearby should account for the odd sighting. At the end of the field trip a Swallow-tailed Kite made an appearance over New Year's Creek in the Brazos river bottoms. The kite was soaring with Mississippi Kites. The sighting represents only my third record for this species in Washington County. My next trip will be Fall Migration in Washington County on Saturday, September 9th. Large numbers of neotropical migrants will be passing through at that time. I have new rates for my field trips and have added a group rate. Contact me for more information. Below is our complete bird list for the August 26th trip. Great Blue Heron 2 |
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Winter Sparrows Trip ~ January 28,2007
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| Yesterday(1/28) I took a group of birders on a tour in northeastern Washington County. Our main focus was on finding winter sparrows. It was cold early in the morning and very windy most of the time in the field. Skies were clear. Birders from the Houston area and Sugarland stated that the temperature was 10 degrees warmer in their area than it was in the Washington on the Brazos area. The wind kept some of the birds hunkered down, but we did okay for the trip. The most exciting find was a female Baltimore Oriole near the visitor's center at Washington on the Brazos SHP. Kudos go to Carrie S. for spotting the bird. We watched the oriole feed alternately in the trees and on the ground for several minutes. She flew into a tree above our heads and offered great looks. I heard her call ("ray" call) before she flew out of sight. Later in the day I saw the bird again at the park. I notified the park staff in the visitor's center that an oriole was seen in the park, showed the staff an illustration of the oriole in my Sibley Guide, and mentioned that orioles are attracted to orange halves. Below you will find the entire bird list for yesterday's trip. We saw fewer sparrow species than I was expecting, but birding is unpredictable. The windy conditions likely factored in to absence of some sparrow species. American Wigeon Pied-billed Grebe Great Blue Heron Black Vulture Turkey Vulture Red-shouldered Hawk Red-tailed Hawk American Kestrel Killdeer Spotted Sandpiper Mourning Dove Inca Dove Greater Roadrunner Red-bellied Woodpecker Yellow-bellied Sapsucker- flyover Downy Woodpecker Northern Flicker- heard Eastern Phoebe Loggerhead Shrike Blue-headed Vireo Blue Jay American Crow Carolina Chickadee Tufted Titmouse Carolina Wren Ruby-crowned Kinglet Eastern Bluebird Hermit Thrush American Robin Northern Mockingbird American Pipit Cedar Waxwing Yellow-rumped Warbler Chipping Sparrow Field Sparrow Vesper Sparrow Savannah Sparrow Swamp Sparrow White-throated Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Northern Cardinal Eastern Meadowlark Western Meadowlark- several singing Brown-headed Cowbird Baltimore Oriole- female American Goldfinch House Sparrow After the trip was officially finished I spotted Lark Sparrows, Song Sparrows, and Sandhill Cranes. |
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East Texas ~ March 3, 2007
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| Saturday's trip in the Lufkin/Nacogdoches area was a good one. We heard 5 Bachman's Sparrows singing and saw two of them. The birds were a new Texas bird for all of my clients and a life bird for one participant. We encountered the Bachman's Sparrows at two locations. We had "killer" looks at one sparrow shortly before noon. The creature alternately sang and preened from an exposed perch in good sunlight at close range. This was the best look that all of us who had seen the species before had ever had of a Bachman's Sparrow. We also had good looks at Red-cockaded Woodpeckers and Brown-headed Nuthatches. A pair of Brown-headed Nuthatches were observed building a nest in a tree cavity. At times the nuthatches carried a bill-full of bluestem grass to the nest. We walked great habitat for Henslow's Sparrow and Sedge Wren, but could not find any:( The Pineywoods of East Texas does not attract the same amount of attention from birders as sites along the Texas coast and the Lower Rio Grande Valley Area, but its a wonderful area and so important to many species of birds and other wildlife. I have known about the Pineywoods since I was a child. My father spent a year of his life on a tract of land east of Woodville before he married. He spent a great deal of time hunting in the Neches River bottom and I often wonder now if he may have seen an Ivory-billed Woodpecker during that time. I hope yesterday's visit will inspire my trip participants to support conservation groups in their efforts to preserve our Texas Pineywoods heritage. Several of you were interested in attending yesterday's trip, but had scheduling conflicts this weekend. I will be offering another trip to the Lufkin/Nacogdoches area either on March 17th or 24th. Let me hear from you if you are still interested in signing up for a trip to the Pineywoods and which weekend works best for you. I am flexible with my schedule those weekends. I will be offering another trip to East Texas the latter part of May. The main goal of this two-day trip will be to find all fourteen species of wood warblers that nest in East Texas. Last year we found 11 species, plus many of the other neotrops that nest in East Texas. I have another game plan for this year's trip that will hopefully produce all fourteen nesting warblers. Below is our bird list from yesterday. I hope I have not omitted a species from the list. Wood Duck Great Blue Heron Great Egret Black Vulture Turkey Vulture Red-shouldered Hawk American Kestrel gull species Eurasian Collared-Dove Mourning Dove Red-bellied Woodpecker Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Downy Woodpecker Red-cockaded Woodpecker- at least four Northern Flicker Pileated Woodpecker Eastern Phoebe Blue-headed Vireo(singing) Blue Jay American Crow Purple Martin Carolina Chickadee Tufted Titmouse Brown-headed Nuthatch- at least five Brown Creeper Carolina Wren Winter Wren Golden-crowned Kinglet- a few singing Ruby-crowned Kinglet Eastern Bluebird Hermit Thrush American Robin Northern Mockingbird European Starling Orange-crowned Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Pine Warbler Bachman's Sparrow- five! Chipping Sparrow Song Sparrow Swamp Sparrow White-throated Sparrow Dark-eyed Vireo Northern Cardinal Common Grackle American Goldfinch House Sparrow Plus, coming over on Friday afternoon I had an Osprey in flight west of Huntsville |
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Navasota Bottoms ~ April 7, 2007
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| Saturday morning 6 hardy souls joined me for a trip in the Navasota Bottoms in southern Brazos County. Forest ecologist Paul Harcombe from Rice University and Rice U. botanist Sandi Elsik were eager to see the bottomland property. So, some of us donned our hip waders and waded through water until it reached near the top of our hip waders. It was something seeing the bottom flooded like it was yesterday. Paul stated that he had not seen a bottomland forest like the one he saw yesterday. It is a unique place. Sandi, Sandi's friend Warren Pruess, Paul, and Paul's wife were tickled pink to see the bottom flooded and want to come back when the forest dries out. Jerry Taylor and Jessica Taylor were troopers and stayed the duration of the trip. It rained on us at times yesterday and sleet came down as well. Four folks chose to cancel and bird the property at a later date when it was not cold and wet. I will try to conduct a field trip on the property on Sunday, April 22nd. That will depend on the bottomland drying out between now and then. My next "scheduled" tour on the property is Saturday, May 19th. If you would like to bird the property with someone who has an intimate knowledge of the birds and the trees on the property, send me an e-mail or give me a call at 979-251-4986. I know where all the territories are located of the good nesting species on the property. I also do personal tours on the property. Mid-week this coming week I will be guiding on the Upper Texas Coast and mid-week next week I am guiding in the Hill County northwest of San Antonio. If you need a guide in either of these locations contact me. There are a few slots still available for my May 5th tour in the Brazos Bottoms east of Chappell Hill. The trip will be conducted in a 287-acre bottomland forest that has very restricted access. All of my spring birding tours are listed on my website: www.DarrellVollertNatureTours.com Here are the bird species we saw and/or heard yesterday in the Navasota Bottoms. Blue-winged Teal- 5 Neotropic Cormorant- 1 Great Blue Heron Great Egret Yellow-crowned Night Heron- 1(FOS) Black Vulture Turkey Vulture Sharp-shinned Hawk- 1 Red-shouldered Hawk Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker- 1 White-eyed Vireo Yellow-throated Vireo- 1 singing Red-eyed Vireo- 2 singing Blue Jay American Crow Cliff Swallow Carolina Chickadee Tufted Titmouse Carolina Wren House Wren Ruby-crowned Kinglet Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Northern Parula- 8+ singing Northern Cardinal Red-winged Blackbird |
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Hill Country Birds ~ April 18 and 19, 2007
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| Guided in the Texas Hill Country west of San Antonio on April 18th and 19th. Birding was good and the weather was very nice. Missed some of the Hill Country birds on this trip that I was hoping to show clients. We did get the two big ones- Black-capped Vireo and Golden-cheeked Warbler. Below is the complete bird list for the two-day tour. Black-bellied Whistling Duck Cattle Egret Black Vulture Turkey Vulture Swainson's Hawk Zone-tailed Hawk- 2 Red-tailed Hawk Rock Pigeon Eurasian Collared-Dove White-winged Dove Mourning Dove Inca Dove Chimney Swift Ruby-throated Hummingbird Black-chinned Hummingbird Green Kingfisher Golden-fronted Woodpecker Ladder-backed Woodpecker Eastern Wood-Pewee Black Phoebe Eastern Phoebe Vermilion Flycatcher Ash-throated Flycatcher Great Crested Flycatcher Couch's Kingbird Western Kingbird Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Loggerhead Shrike White-eyed Vireo Bell's Vireo Black-capped Vireo- 2 seen very well Yellow-throated Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Western Scrub-Jay Common Raven Purple Martin Northern Rough-winged Swallow Cliff Swallow Cave Swallow Barn Swallow Carolina Chickadee Black-crested Titmouse Cactus Wren Canyon Wren Carolina Wren Bewick's Wren Ruby-crowned Kinglet Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Eastern Bluebird Hermit Thrush Northern Mockingbird Orange-crowned Warbler Nashville Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Golden-cheeked Warbler- great looks at 2 and 10+ heard singing Yellow-throated Warbler- 2 singing Black-and-white Warbler Louisiana Waterthrush- 2 singing on territory Wilson's Warbler Summer Tanager Spotted Towhee Canyon Towhee Rufous-crowned Sparrow Chipping Sparrow Clay-colored Sparrow Field Sparrow Lark Sparrow Black-throated Sparrow Lincoln's Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Northern Cardinal Pyrrhuloxia Blue Grosbeak Indigo Bunting Painted Bunting- 3 adult males Red-winged Blackbird Eastern Meadowlark Common Grackle Great-tailed Grackle Bronzed Cowbird Brown-headed Cowbird Hooded Oriole- male and female Scott's Oriole- one adult male Lesser Goldfinch House Sparrow |