Texas: a Melospiza lincolnii morning and love is in the air at Hemisfair Park

Another 6:00 am conference session this morning - this one on chronic myeloid leukemia and not as good as yesterday's 6:00 am session. Following this I headed back out to Hemisfair Pair to see if I could find last night's migrants.

I like sparrows.  Every time I write a blog entry featuring a sparrow, it's always one of my favorite sparrows.  Yesterday it was the extremely cute Clay-colored Sparrow (Spizella pallida.)  Today it's the Lincoln's Sparrow (Melospiza lincolnii.)  I saw four or five this morning.  

In Michigan and for me, at least, I don't often find a Lincoln's Sparrow in a tree.  I like the above photo for this reason.  Migration creates circumstances where we see birds in places we are not accustomed to seeing them.  This reminds me of the female Smith's Longspur (Calcarius pictus) I found at Tawas Point State Park in April, 2005.  My MBRC report of that bird was not accepted.  In my report, when I described the bird's behavior, I wrote that it occasionally flew into a tree. When I received the scant feedback on my rejection, apparently one of the records committee members asked, "why would a Smith's Longspur be in a tree?" When a records committee member asks a question like this, it's not going to be good.  Of course, I did not have a photo of the Smith's Longspur either.  Another lesson I've learned.

Without any scrub to hide in, this Lincoln's is still out of habitat, but at least it's on the ground.

Trying to hide without much success.

Overall I did not find it as birdy this morning.  It's cooler here this morning so perhaps there was a wind shift.  The Yellow-breast Chat (Icteria virens) was still here.  Other warblers included a female Northern Parula (Parula americana), American Restarts (Setophaga ruticilla) and Common Yellowthroats (Geothlypis trichas.)  There was also a female Lazuli Bunting (Passerina amoena) in the flower garden. Not a single butterfly presented itself.

You've heard of Central Park's Red-tails in Love; perhaps Hemisfair Park should be known for its White-wings in love.

Copulating White-winged Doves (Zenaida asiatica.)  There were doves trying to attract mates, doves building nests and doves on nests all over the park.

Another close photo of this attractive dove.

Unless something remarkable happens, this will probably be my last blog entry from San Antonio, Texas.  The birding has been spectacular and I've enjoyed a great conference.

Historic St. Joseph's Catholic Church on Commerce Street - photo taken from the riverwalk.

Texas: birding the Riverwalk and Hemisfair Park

Still in San Antonio here and the conference has been great.  During conference downtime I have continued birding around the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center and the Riverwalk. The riverwalk is quite green as is the Hemisfair Park; both with tall and mature trees and, after all, it is migration here, too.

Yesterday afternoon I was seeking lunch along the riverwalk and I didn't have my camera.  I was completely stunned when I saw a medium-sized wading bird hunting on a "waterfall," of sorts on the other side of the riverwalk - a bird I have not seen since leaving Maryland.  Now I was torn; lunch or return to hotel for camera.  The camera trip won out, but the bird was not at the waterfall when I returned.  I left to attend another conference session.  Later I returned to the riverwalk for dinner and found the bird again, this time hunting from the edge on the opposite side. 

Peering into the murky waters of the river.  

Hmmm, let me get a closer look.

Reconsidering.

Giving it another look.

This bird actually did catch something here, although it is entirely unclear what.  From across the river it appeared to be something black.

In this photo the Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (Nyctanassa violacea) is choking down his meal.  Why he selected the riverwalk for his meal search is unclear.  The water is completely filthy and visually impenetrable.  From the Sibley range map this bird appeared to be slightly too far west on its migration path.  After he found this meal, whatever it was, he flew off down the river and I did not see him again. Later I emailed Mark Lockwood, Secretary of the Texas Bird Records Committee, and he told me that Yellow-crowned Night-Herons nest in San Antonio and can be quite common in some places like Breckenridge Park near the zoo. 

The White-winged Dove (Zenaida asiatica), a beautiful bird, is possibly even more common here than is our Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) in Michigan.  In flight the bird is very attractive when its white wing patches flash and its tail spreads out revealing its wide white band with central rust spot.

This morning I attended a 6:00 am breakfast meeting on multiple myeloma.  Following this I headed over to Hemisfair Park.  It was quite birdy with migrants.  I saw a couple of empidonax flycatchers and several warblers that I'll see again when I return home but which were all first of the year for me here in Texas.  Possibly the best of these was Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens.)  Additionally, I found a couple of Clay-colored Sparrows (Spizella pallida).

One of the two Clay-colored Sparrows I saw this morning.  Texas is exactly in the middle of their migration path and I saw several this trip. One of my favorite sparrows;  I love how they reveal themselves with their buzzy vocalization. These guys still have a way to go before reaching their breeding grounds.

During migration Common Yellowthroats (Geothlypis trichas) can be found in the unlikeliest of places.  This is probably the only Common Yellowthroat I will ever see on a park bench.

Even though Hemisfair Park has a large central flower garden, butterflies were scant.  Less than scant.  It was cloudy this morning, (as it has been every morning thus far) but very warm and it still seems like there should be more butterflies.

This Texan Crescent (Phyciodes texana) is a beautiful butterfly but its beauty is not revealed in this photo.  The straight line of spots along both hind wings were yellow as were the edges of both wings. Unfortunately, all that color is lost here possibly because of the glare of the gray, overcast sky.  The white blob at the edge of the lower hind wing is the flower the butterfly is nectoring on.

Another image of the Texan Crescent with the same color problems, but with the flower in view. 

In flight this fast-flying butterfly superficially looked like a Viceroy. When it landed to nector it did not open its wings and then revealed itself to be a Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae).

 

It was sunny, hot and humid this afternoon and when I could not find more butterflies I did find a couple of other birds to photograph.

Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis), first of the year for me.

Readers of this blog know I am fond of this common bird, Inca Dove (Columbina inca), a small and cute dove.  Earlier in the morning I heard their plaintive no hope call and saw two copulating on the windowsill of the convention center.  I wonder if anyone else noticed?

I took about 50 photos to get the following three of this Black-throated Green Warber (Dendroica virens), cousin of my target bird Golden-Cheeked Warbler, busily feeding. 

 Too bad the photos are not in better focus., but any warbler is much faster than my camera shutter.  The bird's bill looks funny in this photo because a leaf is obscuring it.

Tomorrow is another day in Texas.

  

Texas hill country: three for three plus ...

I'm now in San Antonio for the Oncology Nursing Society Congress. This is a different blog entry entirely, but sticking with birds for the moment, I had a big day yesterday with three target birds planned for my Texas hill country visit.

My first stop was Kerr Wildlife Management Area near Hunt, Texas, about 100 miles northwest of San Antonio.  On road FM 1640 and almost to Kerr WMA, I finally found my Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (Tyrannus forficatus).  I had been told that this would be an easy and plentiful bird.

It was certainly easy; they're hard to miss perched on utility wires.  But, they were not plentiful. I saw only two during my long drive and much of it through perfect Scissor-tailed habitat.  I later met birders from Virginia who had driven to the hill country from the south.  They guesstimated having seen 50 to 75 Scissor-tailed Flycatchers along their drive.  Though the weather was not cooperative, the bird certainly was and I was happy with this life bird sighting.

I arrived at the Kerr Wildlife Management Area around 8:30 am.  The guys who work here had not begun their day yet and I spoke with a very nice and knowledgeable guy who told me exactly where to look for the Black-capped Vireo (Vireo atricapillus).  He was not a birder and he warned that the wet and overcast weather might harm my chances of seeing the bird.  It was warm and a light rain fell  continuously.  This kind of weather mirrored what I find to be very accommodating spring migration birding weather in Michigan so, despite his caution, I was not discouraged.   The Black-capped Vireo area happened to be very birdy.  I listened for a vireo song and the Black-capped was the second bird I put my bins on after Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus).  Other vireos here were the very common White-eyed (Vireo griseus) and Blue-headed (Vireo solitarius).  With the exception of its big red eye, the female Black-capped Vireo is superficially like the adult Blue-headed. The male Black-capped really stands out with its striking black head and, even in flight, is easy to identify.  Its voice has the tone and texture similar to White-eyed Vireo, but the song is more complex and disorganized.  

My pitiful Black-capped Vireo photo.  He was facing me and singing but before I could snap the shutter he turned and I got his shadowy back end instead.  This bird is completely cute and a pleasure to see.

Copied from XBAT, Extensible Bioacustic Tool, here's the Black-capped Vireo shown beautifully.

While I was seeing the Black-capped Vireo the area was enjoying a fallout of migrant birds, many on their way up north, but I had only this one day to bird and I needed to stay focused. One of the things about Texas is how distant places are; places look close on the map, but the scale of Texas is so huge.  I did a lot of driving this day.

Golden-cheeked Warblers (Dendroica chrysoparia) are also found in the Kerr WMA and this is their best spot.  Almost immediately I heard one bird sing once from well back in the trees. After approximately one half hour, I decided to give up here and head off to my next Golden-cheeked Warbler spot. 

At the intersection of 39 and 187 and under low, gray skies, this sign points the way to the Golden-Cheeked Warblers.

After so much driving, I was grateful that my search for the Golden-cheeked Warbler required walking - about a mile - to an area called "the ponds."  Here, too, it was easy to get distracted, but I tried to stay focused.  I arrived at "the ponds" around 2:00 pm and it was hot; not a great time of day to find a special bird.  The birding couple from Virginia, the Thornhills, arrived shortly after I did and we birded together for the Golden-cheeked.  Finally, I heard one bird sing - but it was across the river and seemed to be quite deep in the trees.  We continued to walk along the river and about a half-hour later I heard another bird sing - also across the river.  However, the river was not as wide here and this bird sounded close.  Mr. Thornhill was the first to see the singing male bird and he got his wife and me on the bird as well.  Our looks were not long, but they were complete.  We finally left very satisfied.

Golden-cheeked Warbler photo by Steve Maslowski, FWS and copied from the Audubon: State of the Birds Watchlist website.  On this website, you can also listen to the Black-capped Vireo and Golden-cheeked Warbler vocalizations.  Our bird was foraging in an oak tree and would pop out of the leaves just long enough for us to get our quick looks.

While at the ponds, I was able to get a couple of decent photos of non-target birds, but those I was still happy to see.

I was looking for a yellow and black bird, so when I glanced at this red-orange bird I wrote him off as a Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis).  Only on second glance did I realize that this was a posing Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra).  I also saw several while at Kerr WMA.

After reading my blog, a Michigan birding friend corrected my ID of this bird.  It is not a singing Olive Sparrow (Arremonops rufivigatus) as I originally wrote here.  Rather, he is a singing Rufous-crowned Sparrow (Aimophilia ruficeps) and was still a pleasure to see.  The Olive Sparrow at Estero Grande State Park in Westlaco last January remains, secondary to this missed ID, still the only one I've ever seen.

I wrote about Red-eared Slider turtles in an earlier blog entry - see my post Sparrows and sunbathers dated April 18,2009 .  Texas is their natural range and I saw many at Lost Maples sunbathing on rocks. The water here is very clear and this turtle came swimming down the middle of the river - nice to see this way.

Prior to this trip to Texas I had only seen Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris) twice - a female bird in Ontario in my early birding career was my life bird.  In February, 2008 I saw my first male Painted Bunting on my Florida trip with Don Chalfant and friends.  This trip I saw many at Lost Maples.  Extraordinary bird!  This bird was photographed at the Lost Maples feeder station while we waited for a hoped for Varied Bunting (Passerina versicolor) that had been seen the day before. Unfortunately, the Varied Bunting did not show for us. There were a lot of other good birds at the feeders, but ... c'est la vie.

Finally, I'll add this dramatic-looking Texas wildflower.  Antelope Horn (Asclepias asperula) is in the milkweed family.  I saw it in many places.  The plant is considered to be poisonous but many medicinal herbs are made from it.

Yet to bloom

Bloomed.

For comparison, the Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) most familiar to me and our Monarch butterflies.  This photo was taken at Crosswinds Marsh, Wayne County, Michigan on July 4, 2009.  You can enlarge this photo by clicking on it.  The milkweed plant is very different, but can see small similarities in the flower.  

Whitefish Point Bird Observatory - cold and Snowy (Owl) spring fling

The past weekend was occupied by a trip to Whitefish Point Bird Observatory in Chippewa County, Michigan.  On Thursday morning I picked up my friends, the Eysters - Diana, Harold and Artemis - in Chelsea and we set off from there for WPBO.  The first surprise was having my brother, Tom, drive up alongside us on US 127 just south of Clare.  When a driver in a big pick-up truck in the left lane came alongside me and blew his horn, I was trying to figure out what I had done to offend this driver.  I looked closely at the driver and then looked away.  I looked back and saw the driver smiling, waving and making funny faces.  It was my brother!  Now how often does that happen?  Furthermore, I have not seen Tom since before Christmas.

Tom and Cathy, photo by Diana Newman.  How often does this happen?

The rest of the trip up to the upper peninsula was uneventful - none of us met up with any other family members.  We arrived at the Vagabond Motel around 6:00 pm, enough time to check-in, unpack and take a quick trip to the point.

Whitefish Point lighthouse on Thursday evening - it was cold and the sun was setting.

Friday morning was sunny and looked to be the start of a great day.  Out at the point it was cold, but bright, and the Sharp-shinned Hawks (Accipiter striatus) were flying.  Unfortunately, there was a head wind that prevented them from flying across the water to Canada.  Some hawks, like the Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus), flew without hesitation.  A few Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis)  also set off on the 14 kilometer trans-water flight.  The sharpies were forced to remain behind.

One Sharpie perched on the "merlin pole" contemplating his chances and perhaps looking for small bird meal at the same time.  

 

Northern Flickers (Colaptes auratus) were also flying around the tip and seemed also to want  attempt the crossing.  For both these species the wind was too strong.

  

There were a few Rough-legged Hawks (Buteo lagopus) flying around and some made the attempt to fly across the water when others remained behind.

Sharpies are fast flyers and they flew with the wind to make their flight even speedier.  I attempted many shots like the one above, and this was one of my better shots.  Many of the frames did not even contain a bird.

This Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina), along with White-throated and Song, was hanging around the feeders. 

Out on the water this handsome Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) was just one of several expected waterfowl species.  Red-breasted Mergs (Mergus serrator), Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola), Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) and Red-necked Grebe (Podiceps grisegena) were perhaps the common mergs' most numerous companions.   There was one flyby Red-throated Loon (Gavia stellata) and several Common Loons (Gavia immer) floated out in front of the harbor.  A female Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis) wearing scruffy plumage also made an appearance.

Since the birding was slow at the point, we took a drive to Tahquamenon Falls State Park. Here our best birds were a calling Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) and an eye level Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphrapicus varius.)  This is the exact moment my batteries decided to run out of juice.  Later I settled for sapsucker holes found in a jack pine tree.  Not quite the same but still interesting.  I found a dead White-winged Crossbill (Loxia leucoptera) at Tahquamenon that I found interesting for its diminutive size and visualization of the crossed bill, often difficult to see in the field.

I am not trying to be gory, but the construction of the crossed bill is easily seen on this dead bird.  After I finished my photographs, I gave this bird a proper burial beneath some leaves under a jack pine.

Around the time of our visit to Tahquamenon, the weather heated up significantly.  We all began to shed jackets and sweaters.  Not much was happening at Tahquamenon, not even in the ice cream department, and we left there to go to the Rivermouth Campground on the other side of M-123.  We walked a trail and the best bird here was a vocalizing Merlin (Falco columbarius.)  It took some time to locate this bird and to identify it.  None of use had heard this plaintive and insistent vocalization before.  The bird obliged us by flying over while continuing its rapid kek kek kek (or something like that) calling.

We also had time for tree climbing.  Did I say that the birding was slow?

Even if the birding was slow, the beauty of this location is breathtaking.  Secondary to the exposure, the above photo does not really reveal the full beauty, but you get the idea.

After the long drive up on Thursday I had not slept well the night before.  I had little enthusiasm for returning to the cold point (the weather had returned to being cold) for owling at dusk.  But Diana, Harold and Artemis talked me into it.  And, it's a good thing, too.

Nearly to the point we found this beautiful Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus) taking a stroll across the middle of the road.  Literally, it appeared to be in no hurry.  Of course, it was difficult to escape the joking I received for my earlier reluctance for going back to the point. What a beautiful bird!

We made no attempt to find Spruce Grouse (Falcipennis canadensis) this trip and this is the closest we came to seeing them.  The penny is for size reference.  Without the expertise of my friends, Harold and Artemis, I would never have identified this as Spruce Grouse scat.

Despite thunder and lightening, that three of the four of us never heard on Friday night, we all slept well.  Saturday morning was cold and damp.  Our first indication that the prior night's weather might bring promising results was the report of a Snowy Owl (Nyctea scandiaca) camped out at the very tip.  We raced out there to see just a tiny bit of the top of the bird's head peeking over a long log.  This was disappointing as Snowy Owl was a life bird for both Harold and Artemis.  Understandably, neither wanted to count such a limited look.   Much later in the day, when all the excitement had died down, I took my scope out so that Diana and Artemis would get a proper look.  Earlier, Harold had done the same with other friends. 

     

Before we could get out to the Snowy, we were distracted by seven beautiful breeding plumaged female Snow Buntings (Plectrophenax nivalis).  The birds were well-camoflaged against the Lake Superior stones.  They still have a long way to go before reaching their breeding grounds.

Much later in the evening, Harold saw this beautiful juvenile bird launch off from the beach and head out over the water flying low and just above it as it continued its migration to Canada and on to the northern tundra.

Artemis scoping and sketching her life Snowy Owl.

A little later on Saturday morning, the waterfowl counter reported a Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus) flying around the tip.  We intercepted this report on our radio and ran out to get great looks of the owl flying around the beach.  It landed in a location well down from the tip and we carefully followed it.  Harold was able to get a couple of decent photos before it took off again.  We did not pursue the owl further.

This White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) was out on the beach and found a pile of driftwood to hide in.  After a short time it escaped back into the dune grass and then back into the woods.

In the bushes behind the feeders a couple of Hermit Thrushes (Catharus guttatus) were hopping around. This photo taken and edited by Artemis Eyster.

This cute Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) was also in the trees behind the feeders; that is, when it wasn't on the feeders.

Attendance at the Spring Fling workshops was good secondary to the cold and windy weather. Almost everyone headed over to the Whitefish School for lunch and the guest speakers.  The lunch was a fund-raiser for the only senior at the Whitefish School.  While eating lunch the buzz got around that there was a good bird at the harbor.

This male American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana), photographed by Artemis Eyster (below), was only the second Chippewa county record for this species.

The harbor is one of my favorite places at the point.  It's like stepping back in time. After photographing the avocet we got a look at some of what makes it feel that way.

The sign on the door says Fish House and the sign over the big door says Brown's Fishery.

I stuck my camera in a broken window to take this photo.  There was a calendar on the wall that said 1992.  The desk was cluttered and messy, but overall it looked like the business owners had just got up and walked away one day and never returned.

By the end of our weekend we had tallied quite a few species, but as is typical for Whitefish Point we had to work hard for our sightings.  Even when the birding is slow the place is so beautiful.  It has some special feeling to it - the light, the air ... until our next visit.