Central Texas has always been a target location for me to search for some birds. Yes, the Lower Rio Grande River Valley is also high on my list, but with limited time, one has to choose their priorities when planning birding trips. When Chris and I were planning this trip to Texas and New Mexico, one of our prime targets was the Lesser Prairie-Chicken which was covered in my last blog post. That bird alone was the deciding factor to drive instead of fly to Texas.
We had contacted a good friend of ours, Laurie Foss, who lives in the Austin vicinity. She is an excellent birder and is very actively involved with the local Audubon Society in that area and she possess a wealth of knowledge concerning some of the endemics in central Texas. She graciously volunteered to show us around and help us find some of our target birds. I was able to add 10 new life birds on this trip, plus the 11th lifer was the Lesser Prairie-Chicken in New Mexico.
Two of the main targets were the Golden-cheeked Warbler and the Black-capped Vireo. The warbler has a breeding range in the hill country of Texas only and no where else. It is a habitat specialist and relies on Ashe Juniper trees to provide nesting material for their nests. They strip pieces of bark from this tree for lining of their nests. They are listed as endangered due to the fact that this specialized habitat is in jeopardy, due to urban sprawl. Thankfully, Laurie knew exactly where this habitat could be found. After hearing several of them calling and catching glimpses of one, I stayed in one spot and figured out a pattern of one of the calling males and then waited for it to return. And it did, and I got great views through the trees and managed a few photos. What a handsome warbler!
Golden-cheeked Warbler
The Black-capped Vireo is another species that has a restricted range in the United States. The biggest area lies in Texas, with a small area in Oklahoma and southward into Mexico. In my humble opinion, this is probably the best looking vireo in North America. This bird was once classified as endangered, but was removed from the endangered list in 2018 and is now classified as 'threatened'. They too require a certain habitat called 'shinneries', which primarily consist of brushy areas with scattered trees of Shin Oak or Sumac.
Black-capped Vireo
Other lifers that I was able to photograph were Carolina Chickadee, White-eyed Vireo, Upland Sandpiper, Black-crested Titmouse, and Eastern Screech-Owl.
Carolina Chickadee
White-eyed Vireo
Upland Sandpiper
Black-crested Titmouse
Eastern Screech-Owl was one of the last 2 owl species of the United States that I needed. I am still missing Boreal Owl. (Josh W, if you are reading this, I might have to visit you some winter when the Boreal has another irruption year!) This photo is the best view that I had of the Eastern Screech-Owl and obviously the best photos. We did manage to see a red morph as well, but my photo is far below acceptable for adding to this blog post.
Eastern Screech-Owl
The next few photos are birds that were NOT lifers for me, but birds that I don't see that often since I live in Arizona, The Golden-fronted Woodpecker and the Sedge Wren were the first photos that I was able to obtain for these 2 species.
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Sedge Wren
Pectoral Sandpiper
American Golden Plover - Have only seen 2 of these before. To see 10 of them was outstanding!
Purple Martin
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
The two most common wildflowers were these 2 and when they occurred side by side, the color combination was outstanding!
Texas Bluebonnet
Texas Indian Paintbrush
This butterfly represented a new species of butterfly for me. A gorgeous Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.
This trip was really turned out to be a great adventure. Getting 11 life birds was pretty special. I do need to plan a trip to the Lower Rio Grande Valley someday. There are definitely some life birds to find down there and others to boost my ABA list as well.
