TEXAS - KING RANCH

On April 14th I joined the day tour of King Ranch led by researcher Tom Lanschied (sorry if I spelled your name wrong Tom). Tom was a fantastic guide, with a great sense of humour, and he really produced the birds. He also provided some great stories of the rich social history of this fascinating place.

Our four main targets here were Northern Beardless Tyrannulet (which was nabbed right away when we first exited the vehicles), Audubon's Oriole (again a pair picked up quickly only an hour into the tour - an often difficult species), Tropical Parula (it took us until early afternoon to get good views but it was worth the wait) and finally THE bird that everyone wants here - the FERRUGINOUS PYGMY OWL. We tried several sites for this bird before one responded. We walked in on it and got superb scope views for about five minutes before it moved away.




The day on the ranch is really a worthwhile experience. Tom provided a rich commentary on the remarkable history of the area. This beautiful King Ranch quarter horse was one of several we came across on the day.



Its great to have access to these habitats and the birding is really quality. Both the guides I have had here have been top notch and the full day trip is good value due to the high quality of the experience and the birds. A visit to King Ranch is highly recommended!

TEXAS - BLUCHER PARK, CORPUS CHRISTI

The central coast of Texas is full of great migrant traps. Blucher Park is an easily accessible one right in the center of Corpus Christi. Unfortunately this means it also home to some seedy characters and lots of homeless folks, but the birding is still great. I would recommend you don't visit this park late in the evening on your own and if birding there probably best to hang out with other birders (there are usually a bunch there).

I spent a few hours there earlier this week and there were lots of 'southern' songbirds. This male Summer Tanager was one of several present.



Blucher is a great place for ground dwelling warblers including tough ones like waterthrushes. We had great views of Louisiana Waterthrush and at least TEN Worm-eating Warblers including several point blank lengthy studies.



Other flashier warblers including this male Hooded. We had about a dozen of these plus a comparable number of Kentucky Warblers. This bird is always a stunner no matter how common.

TEXAS - LAST OF HILL COUNTRY

Hill country is such an amazing place in April, so I couldn't help putting a few more pics on the blog before heading south to the valley. The first is of a very co-operative female Golden-cheeked Warbler. This one has a mouthful of crane fly... there was a big hatch during our visit. Golden-cheek is an endemic breeder to the state of Texas and a really beautiful bird.


The bat cave at Concan really is something special. I always tell birders they have to go there and they frequently are hesitant. However I have never had anyone visit this spectacle who didn't go away wowed by the experience.



This area is really a meeting ground for species from east west north and south. For many species it is the '...est' limit of their range. For example for Barred Owl it is the southwest limit of their range. They are quite common in the larger wooded riparian areas of the hills. This one responded well to an imitation of its call.




I really MUST get myself a Texas flower book. This year provided incredible opportunities for wildflower photography. I wish I knew how to properly capture this spectacle. I took a lot of shots with the new macro lens that Kathi got me for my birthday last year. This was one of the ones I liked the best. My apologies for not knowing the species!

TEXAS - INCREDIBLE WILDFLOWER SHOW

This has been a wet winter in Hill Country in Texas and the result is an incredible show of spring wildflowers. In the eleven years I have enjoyed spring here, this is by far the best wildflower show. There are carpets of flowers filling entire fields in many locations and the roadsides are a flurry of colour almost everywhere. It is a real spectacle.

TEXAS - CONCAN BAT CAVE

Kathi and I had a great evening at the bat cave at Concan a few nights ago. The weather was perfect and the bats emerged early enough to catch lots of bat raptor interactions. We watched as Red-tailed Hawks, Swainson's Hawks, a single Cooper's Hawk and a single Merlin all made successful attempts to capture Mexican Free-tailed Bats emerging from the cave. I managed to capture two images which really give a feel for this dynamic interaction.

In this first image you can see the moment of impact when the red-tailed goes talons out to grab the bat.



This is my favourite image as it really captures the raptor, the fleeing bats nearby and the single bat that has been snagged!

PELEE SPRING BIRD HIKES

Spring is definitely in the air this week with local temps 'soaring' to the high 40s (Farenheit!). This should bring loads of waterfowl, blackbirds and gulls, and the first sparrows and smattering of later migrants like Eastern Phoebe, Tree Swallow and the first shorebirds. Its a reminder that May is not far off.

For those folks coming to Pelee this May I wanted to let you know that I am now working in partnership with the Comfort Inn, Leamington (www.choicehotels.com) to offer birding hikes and accommodations. The hikes are offered on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from May 2 - 21, 2010. Maximum group size is six participants and special discounts on accommodations and hike fees are available for guests of the Comfort Inn, Leamington. All the details are available on line at www.netcore.ca/~peleetom/webdoc14.htm I welcome you to check out this link and join me on a hike this spring!

The number one focus of these hikes will be getting repeated good looks at spring songbirds, with a particular emphasis on warblers. Over the years 42 species of warblers have been recorded at Pelee, with 36 being annual in the park. On a three or four day visit, you could reasonably expect to see between 20 and 30 species of warblers in the park. Every visit is different due to the dynamic nature of migration.


This Magnolia Warbler is one of the most commonly encountered species in mid month, but early on it can be hard to find. However, early in the month Yellow-rumped, Nashville, Palm and Pine Warblers are much easier to find. They often get tough later in May.


This snappy male Cape May Warbler is one of three species often referred to as 'spruce bud worm warblers'. This is because their abundance and breeding success is often linked to cycles in the spruce bud worm population in their boreal forest breeding grounds. The other two species in this group are the Bay-breasted and Tennessee Warblers. In some years, these species can be everywhere in the park, while at other times they can be darn tough.



Many warblers like this Golden-winged Warbler choose either an overland route or trans Gulf route for getting around the Gulf of Mexico to and from their wintering grounds. This means that most of these sites miss some species (Golden-winged is mighty tough in coastal Texas). A big advantage of northern migrant traps like Point Pelee or Crane Creek is that migration corridors converge here, so we get all the warblers breeding at this latitude or farther north.


For Canadian birders, Point Pelee is THE most reliable site in the country for finding 'southern' breeding warblers like this Hooded Warbler. Others in this category included Kentucky Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, Cerulean Warbler, Blue-winged Warbler, Worm-eating Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush and Yellow-breasted Chat.





This endangered Kirtland's Warbler graced the northwest beach parking lot for seven days a few years ago. It was seen by thousands of birders during the period. Although this species is only likely to be seen on its breeding grounds in Michigan, they have been seen with increasing regularity at Pelee in the last decade. At Pelee, the best dates for finding this rarity are between May 12 - 17 th.

This is just a small selection of some of the exciting possibilities that make a visit to Point Pelee in May a time to remember. I hope to see you on the trails there!

ADULT MALE COOPERS

There seems to be at least three different Cooper's Hawks visiting the feeders this past week. After the young female, we were visited by an adult female, and then today Kathi noticed an adult male at the feeder. He sat for at least two minutes just eight feet away from the living room window allowing me to snap off about twenty pics. The one below is probably the best.


As you can see from this cropped head and shoulders shot, this adult male was calling a single loud note much like the call heard last week. I guess this is a common call which I somehow have never heard before - a good reminder that there is always so much to learn!


There were also some signs of spring this week with returning Pine Siskin heard and a small group of Canada Geese flying over in early morning. With the warmer weather this coming weekend there should be lots of waterfowl pouring in. Can't wait!