Coastal Bend Birds 10/22-11/1

Birding in the coastal bend has been very good this past week. Many of our winter residents are back in good numbers and there are still a few migrants around. Sandhill Cranes, geese, our winter ducks, and a few sparrows have been showing up in good numbers.

On 10/24 we saw an adult Bald Eagle building a nest at the Fennessey Ranch near Refugio. Several others have reported multiple eagles 2 weeks prior to my sighting.

On 10/25 I had about 40 Mountain Plovers near Chapman Ranch. They were at the intersection of CR67 and CR14A. Mel Cooksey found them the day before.

On 10/28 Craig and Connie McIntyre saw and photographed a rare Black-Tailed Gnatcatcher at their house in Rockport. Also at their house was a young male Rufous Hummingbird last seen on 10/30.

On 10/30 while birding the Aransas NWR I had a juv. Bald Eagle (see photo) fly over the picnic area. Also at the refuge was Pine Warblers, Carolina Chickadee, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Sandhill Cranes, and we had a single Sprague's Pipit on the way to the refuge. Also, the EXCELLENT birding area of oak trees next to the visitor's center is apparently off limits to the public now. We were told by the refuge law enforcement officer that nobody is allowed back there anymore. This is a great birding area, 2 years ago a Red-Headed Woodpecker stayed the winter there and one year I had a Tropical Parula there. Something must be done to keep this area open to the public.

On 11/1 I birded the Port Aransas Birding Center getting lots of ducks, several Marsh Wrens, Clapper Rails, Soras, Least Flycatcher, Blue-Headed Vireo, Peregrine Falcon, and all the other regulars.

Jon McIntyre
http://www.mcintyrebirdingtours.com/

Birding Update 10/12/09

As reported by Billy Sandifer

In this picture is a Lesser Black Backed Gull presumed to be of the intermediate or Fuscus race seen for several days in the 18 mile area of Padre Island National Seashore. Our typical Lesser Black Backed Gull is the lighter race; graellsii.

Up to 9 Peregrines are seen daily with an average of 4 individuals per day on the Padre Island National Seashore beachfront. 1,300 Brown Pelicans were present between the 54 and 59 mile markers on October 11, 2009. Red Knots are still present but numbers are down. Many Common Terns are being seen. Ospreys, White-tailed Hawks, Caracara, Long-billed Curlews and occasional wimbrels are seen daily. Few Black Terns remain and it appears Least Terns have migrated for the year.

Sandwich, Royal and Caspian Terns are in good numbers as are Ring-billed, Herring and Laughing Gulls and a variety of Plovers. We still have 20 plus hummingbirds in the yard and I have seen both Grey Catbirds and a female Scarlett Tanager this morning. As of October 11^th, the aerosol effect of red tide was present along the beachfront although no dead fish were observed.

Good Birding.

Capt. Billy

Port Aransas Birds 10/5-10/7

The last 3 days I birded Paradise Pond, the Port Aransas Birding Center, and the beach between Port Aransas and Corpus Christi. I tallied a total of 97 species in the last 3 days, all within the Port Aransas city limits. The biggest surprise was a female Black-Throated Blue Warbler at Paradise Pond on 10/5. The bird was found by Larry Jordan earlier in the day and I saw the bird twice between 4:30 and 5pm. The bird was seen again the next day by several others. Another rare bird for the fall was a Swainson's Warbler seen by Connie and Craig McIntyre at Paradise Pond on 10/6. Paradise Pond is still alive with migrants. In the last 3 days I had Nashville Warblers, Northern Parula, Yellow Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Black-and-White Warblers, American Redstart, Common Yellowthroat, Wilson's Warbler, Canada Warbler, Summer Tanager, Scarlet Tanager, Indigo Bunting, Swainson's Thrush, Empids, and Red-Eyed Vireo. Good numbers of Red Knots still remain on the beach, I counted 39 on a 2 mile stretch on 10/6. Piping Plovers are also present in good numbers and huge numbers of Common Terns are on the beach as well. A Green Kingfisher is still present at the Port Aransas Birding Center. Soras are also beginning to show up in good numbers and I had a Clapper Rail at the birding center on 10/7.

Jon McIntyre
www.mcintyrebirdingtours.com

And Then – There Were Hawks
By: Nan Dietert

It was Friday, about 12 o’clock, noon, and we were at Indian Point Park on the edge of Corpus Christi Bay showing a few birds to a friend. We had already loaded up and we were driving out of the park. Our friend was “quite taken” with the Great Blue Herons, so we stopped to observe a young second year bird who was putting on quite a show. Realizing that he could “push” four White Ibis off of his hunting grounds by crouching, flaring out his wings, lofting all his feathers to become larger than life, and walking toward his unwelcome neighbors in a threatening manner, he managed to control an entire small peninsula of land. Full of pride, he suddenly came to a halt, craned his head over to one side – and turning an eye skyward – froze. “What is he looking at?” I exclaimed. I couldn’t see over the roof of the car, but finally I got my head out of the window far enough to see a large kettle of hawks above us. “Out of the car, out of the car, everyone get out of the car as fast as you can!” I hollered. Our friend was hopelessly trapped in her seat belt, but finally managed a fairly graceful exit. Directly above us, was a kettle of a hundred and twenty Broad-winged Hawks and about twenty-four Anhingas. They were kettling, as hawk watchers call it – swirling around in a thermal or a rising column of hot air – trying to gain height. They were too far to the south. They had ridden a slightly unfavorable current too long and now they were caught on the edge of the bay. There are no thermals over large bodies of water and most hawks avoid the water by seeking routes that steer them well clear of it. But these had misjudged. They were seeking altitude and an upper air stream with a more westerly or northwesterly course. When they got further inland, they would seek another thermal and find another stream of air heading south again. We were the recipients of their miscalculation. Usually you must travel farther inland yourself, to have a good chance of seeing migrating raptors and that’s precisely what was scheduled for the next day.
Saturday, September 26 was the annual Hawk Migration Trip on the Fennessey Ranch. Located just six miles south of Refugio and situated along the Mission River, it is on the main flyway for migrating raptors.
Saturday’s weather seemed favorable; we were still on the heels of a cold-front. We started the morning off in a wetland and quickly spotted an adult Bald Eagle only a few hundred feet away. It was the first one seen on the ranch since our successful breeding pair left in early April. It was a good beginning and I hoped a good omen. By 9 AM the thermals were beginning to rise and we headed towards the river. As we drove, we began to discover roosting Broad-winged Hawks. Just a few at first, and then swarms of them began to lift-off and rise. They formed kettles and began to stream-out as they found their train rides south. They were all around us. Which way to look was the question? To stop or to move to more open ground was the problem. “How to estimate…?” I asked myself. Less than a thousand – would be my gut feeling. That Saturday, somewhere between five to eight hundred Broad-winged Hawks had spent the night along the Mission River on the Fennessey Ranch and lifted-off on top of us! Folks, it doesn’t get much better than that! Go birding!

Hazel Bazemore Park Hawk Watch

On Friday, September 25: Broad-winged Hawks: 13,159 (GBHeron day)

On Sat. Sept. 26: Broad-winged Hawks: 57,102 (including one dark). (Fennessey day)

On Sunday, Sept. 27: Broad-winged Hawks: 35,373 (including 7 dark).

On Monday, September 28: Broad-winged Hawks: 92,572 (including 2 dark).

Season Totals of Broad-winged Hawks: 262,393 .....Broad-winged hawks passed over Hazel Bazemore Park -- since August 15th (this summer).

Suter Wildlife Refuge Report

As reported by Mary Mauel...

Location: Suter Wildlife Refuge
Observation date: 9/8/09
Notes: The weather was overcast from rains the night before. The sun did not come out until 10:30am. The trails were muddy from the good rain and there was water in the creek where the bridge one crosses before entering the board walk. That is where the Louisiana Waterthrushes were observed. More rain is expected here at this site during September 9-12, 2009. A possible female American Wigeon was spotted today. However someone else and I will have to verify it because I could not see it clear enough with my binoculars. It was mixed in with the Mottled Ducks on the shore line to the right of the end of the board walk. Good birding!
It was cooler on this morning and probably about 75 degress F. Butterfly species observed were 7 Western Pygmy Blue, and 1 male Pipevine Swallowtail. The butterflies were observed from entering the South Entrance to the park. The Western Pygmy Blue is only observed along the shore line by entering at the South Entrance to the park and walking down to the shore line and observing them on their larval host plant. There were some Sea Oxeye Daisy still blooming which they do like to nectar on also.
Number of species: 44

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck: 12— Flew over head while on the board walk.
Mottled Duck: 20
Pied-billed Grebe: 7— Swmimming and diving in the bay.
American White Pelican: 100
Brown Pelican: 6
Neotropic Cormorant: 8
Least Bittern: 1
Great Blue Heron: 25
Great Egret: 15
Snowy Egret: 5
Little Blue Heron: 1
Tricolored Heron: 3
Reddish Egret: 2—Observed 1 as the white morph feeding in the bay near the shore line and the
dark morph perched on top of a tree like shrub near the lagoon.
Green Heron: 2—Feeding for fish along the lagoon.
Black-crowned Night-Heron: 1— Observed the adult standing in the lagoon at 7 am.
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron: 2—Observed the adult in the bay and the immature in the lagoon.
White Ibis: 1—Feeding by the end of the board walk along the shore line.
Roseate Spoonbill: 7
Sora: 3—Juvenile was feeding on the dry land picking up washed up small fish and other items of interest right where the water meets the dirt. He was flicking up his beigy brown tail for about 10 minutes having a good time feeding after the good rains filled up the lagoon and the Oso Bay on Monday night, September 7, 2009. The waters in the bay were high along all the shores. The adults were feeding along the lagoon. Both adults were observed for about 3 hours. It was a good day for herons and rails.
Common Moorhen: 2
American Coot: 4
Black-necked Stilt: 19
American Avocet: 3
Willet: 1—Was in his winter plumage.
Sanderling: 5
Semipalmated Sandpiper: 1
Western Sandpiper: 1
Laughing Gull: 50
Caspian Tern: 2
Forster's Tern: 1
Mourning Dove: 5
Black-chinned Hummingbird: 1
Golden-fronted Woodpecker: 2
Eastern Wood-Pewee: 2
Eastern Phoebe: 1
Couch's Kingbird: 2
Loggerhead Shrike: 2
Nashville Warbler: 1
Yellow Warbler: 2
Louisiana Waterthrush: 3
Northern Cardinal: 2
Red-winged Blackbird: 6
Great-tailed Grackle: 10



Location: Suter Wildlife Refuge
Observation date: 9/3/09
Notes: Sunny, clear, skies; very humid, probably about 77 degrees F. This was the temperature at the beginning of the birding time at 8am and was probably around 87-90 degrees by the end because of the humidity factored in for the day time heating already. Good birding!
Number of species: 34

Mottled Duck: 10—Swimming in the lagoon.
American White Pelican: 75
Brown Pelican: 5
Neotropic Cormorant: 4—In the lagoon.
Least Bittern: 1—Fishing in the lagoon.
Great Blue Heron: 20
Great Egret: 4
Tricolored Heron: 1—Fishing in the lagoon.
Green Heron: 3—The immature and the 2 adults were fishing in the lagoon.
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron: 1—in the lagoon
White Ibis: 1—Only had the brown on the neck remaining as a juvenile.
Roseate Spoonbill: 25
Purple Gallinule: 3—Juveniles foraging with the adult in the lagoon.
Common Moorhen: 2—Foraging in the lagoon.
American Coot: 2—Swimming in the lagoon.
Wilson's Plover: 1—Full breeding plumage.
Black-necked Stilt :15
American Avocet: 1—in breeding plumage in the bay.
Willet: 5
Marbled Godwit: 4
Ruddy Turnstone: 2—Molting between breeding and winter plumage.
Sanderling: 10
Short-billed/Long-billed Dowitcher: 5
Laughing Gull: 50
Black Skimmer: 3
Black-chinned Hummingbird: 3—Nectaring and perching at times by the flowers and shrubs at the Butterfly Garden.
Loggerhead Shrike : 2
Tennessee Warbler: 2
Yellow-throated Warbler: 1—Observed him to be the Interior East with the white lores and had just caught a dragonfly and was working on eating it along the trail.
Northern Cardinal: 2—Coming the sprinkler along the beginning of the trail at the parking lot.
Red-winged Blackbird: 10
Great-tailed Grackle: 6

Join us for the Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony and Grand Opening of Blucher Park

Blucher Park Enhancements to be unveiled at September 17 Grand Opening

Blucher Park, a well-known park popular with birders, has undergone a transformation receiving about $86,000 worth of improvements, which will benefit both the birds and the birders who enjoy them.

The Corpus Christi Convention & Visitors Bureau and the City of Corpus Christi will host a Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony and Grand Opening of the Blucher Park Enhancement Project during a press conference at 11 a.m. September 17, 2009 at the park located at the corner of Carrizo and Blucher streets.


Blucher Park is one of the major "Fall Out" or resting stops along the migratory pathway. The park is known worldwide among the birding community. The goal of the project is to enhance the visitor experience in Blucher Park through a defined trail system and educational signage with the protection of bird habitat at the forefront.


The improvements include a trail system mulched with native wood chips, a pedestrian bridge, eight individual seating units, 12 way-finding markers, removal of invasive plants and the addition of two chimney swift towers within an interpretive kiosk. The Chimney Swift kiosks will serve as nesting and roosting sites for the birds. Improvements will be completed in time for fall migration.

Chimney Swifts are sleek birds with crescent-shaped wings and acrobatic flight patterns. They migrate to North America from the Amazon River Basin each spring to breed and raise their young. They can be seen arriving in Corpus Christi in March and usually make the city their home thru the summer months to roost and nest, leaving the area with the first major cold-front. Large flocks of Chimney Swifts will roost in a single chimney or tower, however only one nesting pair will nest in a chimney at a time. To help conserve the Chimney Swift the CVB partnered with local birders and architects to design the two chimneys.

The CVB spearheaded the Blucher Park Enhancement Project and challenged the public and private sector to fund the $86,000 project with matching funds provided by the CVB. Funding was secured by in-kind services, grants and sponsorships from: Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program, American Birding Association, AEP Texas and the City of Corpus Christi Parks & Recreation Department. The project was generated from the Coastal Bend Nature Tourism Initiative, a project of the CVB.

The Coastal Bend Nature Tourism Initiative fund-raising effort allows stakeholders the ability to improve several sites throughout the area that can draw significantly more visitors when improved, interpreted and packaged for marketing. Blucher Park is the first of three planned park improvements, which have been initiated and organized by the CVB.

It is the goal of the CVB to be a nationally recognized Nature Tourism Destination within five years and internationally renowned in 10 years.

The Coastal Bend alone has an impressive 153 nature & birding sites in the area available to birders and nature lovers year round. For more information on Blucher Park and other birding sites in the Coastal Bend, visit http://www.birdthebend.com/