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and Trip Reports
Report sightings to Carroll Moore
*FOS = first of season for the observer.*
Owl Prowl Report
On March 31, 2012, two dozen members and guests of the Pineywoods Audubon Society and Pineywoods Group of the Sierra Club met at the Alazan Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in southwestern Nacogdoches County for an annual Owl Prowl. The leaders were Julie & Cliff Shackelford and Howard Williamson. The group piled into the backs of 2 pickup trucks, including one that pulled a hay-bale-lined trailer, and drove down into the Angelina River bottoms of the recently-soaked WMA in search of Barred Owls. After about 9 minutes of hooting and waiting, our patience paid off as a very vocal pair of Barred Owls finally came in for viewing and enjoying. Thanks to the recent rains, a lot of frogs and toads were calling as well including bronze frog, green tree frog, and several others.
Bird Survey Inside the NE Loop of Nacogdoches
Observer: Dean Fisher
Dates: January 1-30, 2012
Survey Area: approximately 3 square miles in the NE sector of Nacogdoches city, inside the loop -- bordered on the S. by Starr Ave., on the W. by the Lanana Creek floodplain, and on the N. and E. by NE Stallings Dr. (the loop)
Habitat: upland mixed pine-deciduous woodlands and borders -- 25%
bottomland hardwood forests, borders, and swampy areas -- 20%
residential houses, yards, and gardens -- 15%
upland dry grassland -- 15%
scrub and thickets -- 10%
floodplain grassland with wet and marshy areas -- 10%
commercial areas and city streets -- 3%
three very small ponds (2-3 acres each) -- 2%
Weather: variable but generally 35-65 degrees F temperature, sunny to
cloudy skies, light to moderate wind, and 3 or 4 days with
light to briefly heavy rain
Total hours observing: approximately 90
SPECIES RECORDED and numbers counted or estimated (an * sign indicates that
the individual or group of individuals was encountered one time only)
Wood Duck -- 2* (Bill Gibson's pond)
Gadwall -- 3*
Pied-billed Grebe -- 1 (Bill Gibson's pond) Great Blue Heron -- 1 Black Vulture -- 100 (50 or 60 roost behind Bill Gibson's pond every night) Turkey Vulture -- 150 (includes one group of 100 over Bill Gibson's pond
late one afternoon, but they didn't roost) Northern Harrier -- 1* Sharp-shinned Hawk -- 1 Cooper's Hawk -- 1 Red-shouldered Hawk -- 1* (Tucker estate) Red-tailed Hawk -- 6 American Kestrel -- 3 Killdeer -- 9 Common Snipe -- 1* American Woodcock -- 1 (flushed from under my foot in mid-day, on a dry
scrubby hillside!!)
Rock Pigeon -- 8
Eurasian Collared-Dove -- 6
Mourning Dove -- 50
Inca Dove -- 5
Eastern Screech-Owl -- 1* (a mid-day sighting) Great Horned Owl --1* (seen and heard at dusk) Barred Owl -- 3 BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD -- 1 (Molly Smith's feeder, an adult male which
first appeared in October!)
Belted Kingfisher -- 1* (Vandrovec's pond) Red-headed Woodpecker -- 1* (Tucker estate) Red-bellied Woodpecker -- 20 Northern Flicker -- 13 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker -- 11 Downy Woodpecker -- 5 Pileated Woodpecker -- 4 Eastern Phoebe -- 7 Blue-headed Vireo -- 1* Blue Jay -- 65 American Crow -- 35 Tufted Titmouse -- 14 Carolina Chickadee -- 18 Brown Creeper -- 3 White-breasted Nuthatch -- 3 Brown-headed Nuthatch -- 4 Winter Wren -- 1 (same individual seen on two different occasions) Carolina Wren -- 14 Marsh Wren -- 1 Sedge Wren -- 2 Golden-crowned Kinglet -- 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglet -- 4 Eastern Bluebird -- 25 Hermit Thrush -- 3 American Robin -- 1,200 Northern Mockingbird -- 22 Brown Thrasher -- 7 European Starling -- 120 American Pipit -- 90* (a single flock came into a low-lying wet meadow at
dusk, and settled down for the night, between Lanana Creek and Univer-
sity Dr.; I did not detect any vocalizations) Cedar Waxwing -- 500 Orange-crowned Warbler -- 1* Yellow-rumped Warbler -- 60 Pine Warbler -- 12 SUMMER TANAGER -- 1* (Tucker estate, thanks to Cliff and Julie Shackelford;
a female or young male)
Eastern Towhee -- 1*
Field Sparrow -- 30
Chipping Sparrow -- 300
Le Conte's Sparrow -- 3
Savannah Sparrow -- 15
Song Sparrow -- 10
Vesper Sparrow -- 2
Swamp Sparrow -- 4
HARRIS'S SPARROW -- 1* (appeared only one time, quite suddenly, at Molly
Smith's feeder, then left after several minutes) White-throated Sparrow -- 110 Dark-eyed Junco -- 40 Northern Cardinal -- 45 Eastern Meadowlark -- 16 Red-winged Blackbird -- 750 Common Grackle -- 2,000 (abundant throughout the month) Rusty Blackbird -- 12 (groups of 2, 4, and 6 at three sites along the west
side of Lanana Creek, including Cliff's house on Sarah Anne St., where
they were feeding in treetops with a group of 50 cowbirds on Jan. 30) Brewer's Blackbird -- 1* (on the ground with a group of 100 red-winged
blackbirds in a small horse pasture on the south side of Starr Ave.,
just a short distance above the Appleby Sand intersection; a female) Brown-headed Cowbird -- 55 (all males except for a very few; the species
was not seen until the last week in January, mostly on the 30th) Purple Finch -- 1* (a female just outside the Kenbrook subdivision on
the south side of Maroney Drive)
House Finch -- 5
American Goldfinch -- 200
House Sparrow -- 75
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS; I would like to thank Cliff and Julie Shackelford for
informing me of birds at the Tucker estate, and Molly Smith for
allowing me access to her backyard bird feeders, and to Bill Gibson
and Marlys Vandrovec, individually, for allowing me access to their
small ponds
Title: Bird Survey Inside the NE Loop of Nacogdoches
Observer: Dean Fisher
Dates: January 1-30, 2012
Survey Area: approximately 3 square miles in the NE sector of Nacogdoches city, inside the loop -- bordered on the S. by Starr Ave., on the W. by the Lanana Creek floodplain, and on the N. and E. by NE Stallings Dr. (the loop)
Habitat: upland mixed pine-deciduous woodlands and borders -- 25%
bottomland hardwood forests, borders, and swampy areas -- 20%
residential houses, yards, and gardens -- 15%
upland dry grassland -- 15%
scrub and thickets -- 10%
floodplain grassland with wet and marshy areas -- 10%
commercial areas and city streets -- 3%
three very small ponds (2-3 acres each) -- 2%
Weather: variable but generally 35-65 degrees F temperature, sunny to
cloudy skies, light to moderate wind, and 3 or 4 days with
light to briefly heavy rain
Total hours observing: approximately 90
SPECIES RECORDED and numbers counted or estimated (an * sign indicates that
the individual or group of individuals was encountered one time only)
Wood Duck -- 2* (Bill Gibson's pond)
Gadwall -- 3*
Pied-billed Grebe -- 1 (Bill Gibson's pond) Great Blue Heron -- 1 Black Vulture -- 100 (50 or 60 roost behind Bill Gibson's pond every night) Turkey Vulture -- 150 (includes one group of 100 over Bill Gibson's pond
late one afternoon, but they didn't roost) Northern Harrier -- 1* Sharp-shinned Hawk -- 1 Cooper's Hawk -- 1 Red-shouldered Hawk -- 1* (Tucker estate) Red-tailed Hawk -- 6 American Kestrel -- 3 Killdeer -- 9 Common Snipe -- 1* American Woodcock -- 1 (flushed from under my foot in mid-day, on a dry
scrubby hillside!!)
Rock Pigeon -- 8
Eurasian Collared-Dove -- 6
Mourning Dove -- 50
Inca Dove -- 5
Eastern Screech-Owl -- 1* (a mid-day sighting) Great Horned Owl --1* (seen and heard at dusk) Barred Owl -- 3 BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD -- 1 (Molly Smith's feeder, an adult male which
first appeared in October!)
Belted Kingfisher -- 1* (Vandrovec's pond) Red-headed Woodpecker -- 1* (Tucker estate) Red-bellied Woodpecker -- 20 Northern Flicker -- 13 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker -- 11 Downy Woodpecker -- 5 Pileated Woodpecker -- 4 Eastern Phoebe -- 7 Blue-headed Vireo -- 1* Blue Jay -- 65 American Crow -- 35 Tufted Titmouse -- 14 Carolina Chickadee -- 18 Brown Creeper -- 3 White-breasted Nuthatch -- 3 Brown-headed Nuthatch -- 4 Winter Wren -- 1 (same individual seen on two different occasions) Carolina Wren -- 14 Marsh Wren -- 1 Sedge Wren -- 2 Golden-crowned Kinglet -- 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglet -- 4 Eastern Bluebird -- 25 Hermit Thrush -- 3 American Robin -- 1,200 Northern Mockingbird -- 22 Brown Thrasher -- 7 European Starling -- 120 American Pipit -- 90* (a single flock came into a low-lying wet meadow at
dusk, and settled down for the night, between Lanana Creek and Univer-
sity Dr.; I did not detect any vocalizations) Cedar Waxwing -- 500 Orange-crowned Warbler -- 1* Yellow-rumped Warbler -- 60 Pine Warbler -- 12 SUMMER TANAGER -- 1* (Tucker estate, thanks to Cliff and Julie Shackelford;
a female or young male)
Eastern Towhee -- 1*
Field Sparrow -- 30
Chipping Sparrow -- 300
Le Conte's Sparrow -- 3
Savannah Sparrow -- 15
Song Sparrow -- 10
Vesper Sparrow -- 2
Swamp Sparrow -- 4
HARRIS'S SPARROW -- 1* (appeared only one time, quite suddenly, at Molly
Smith's feeder, then left after several minutes) White-throated Sparrow -- 110 Dark-eyed Junco -- 40 Northern Cardinal -- 45 Eastern Meadowlark -- 16 Red-winged Blackbird -- 750 Common Grackle -- 2,000 (abundant throughout the month) Rusty Blackbird -- 12 (groups of 2, 4, and 6 at three sites along the west
side of Lanana Creek, including Cliff's house on Sarah Anne St., where
they were feeding in treetops with a group of 50 cowbirds on Jan. 30) Brewer's Blackbird -- 1* (on the ground with a group of 100 red-winged
blackbirds in a small horse pasture on the south side of Starr Ave.,
just a short distance above the Appleby Sand intersection; a female) Brown-headed Cowbird -- 55 (all males except for a very few; the species
was not seen until the last week in January, mostly on the 30th) Purple Finch -- 1* (a female just outside the Kenbrook subdivision on
the south side of Maroney Drive)
House Finch -- 5
American Goldfinch -- 200
House Sparrow -- 75
Total species: 79
Total individuals: 6,322
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS; I would like to thank Cliff and Julie Shackelford for
informing me of birds at the Tucker estate, and Molly Smith for
allowing me access to her backyard bird feeders, and to Bill Gibson
and Marlys Vandrovec, individually, for allowing me access to their
small ponds
Sparrows Field Trip - December 10, 2011
On this frosty morning 6 members and guests of the Pineywoods Audubon Society gathered at the gate to the SFA Experimental Forest area to especially look for "sparrows". No other group of birds is as prominent in our local winter avifauna as sparrows, but many observers find them confusing, and we all need to review them before the Christmas Count. It was a frosty morning, and at first very few birds were seen, but by walking the roadsides we accomplished our mission. Ten species of sparrows were seen, most of them well and with time to discuss the field marks and behavioral clues. The best were a Harris's Sparrow that briefly popped up in front of us and then a lovely Fox Sparrow that sat still for a long time, but we also studied Chipping, Savannah, Vesper, Song, White-throated and others. And yes, the junco IS a sparrow. Before breaking up we decided to check yet another habitat, the very specialized grasslands around the Nacogdoches Airport. With effort and a serious stomp we eventually "treed" a lovely Henslow's Sparrow, one of the scarcest and most secretive of its tribe. More frustrating was a Sprague's Pipit that gave its diagnostic call once as it flushed and disappeared, not to mention several possible sightings of longspurs that were never confirmed. A total of 44 species were recorded on the field trip. - David E. Wolf (leader).
Bird List:
Black Vulture - 20
Turkey Vulture - 15
Red-tailed Hawk - 2
American Kestrel - 1 male
Killdeer - a few
Wilson's Snipe - 2
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove - 25
Red-bellied Woodpecker - heard
Downy Woodpecker - heard
Northern Flicker - 3
Pileated Woodpecker - 1 heard
Eastern Phoebe - 6
Loggerhead Shrike - 1
Blue Jay - 4 (plus more heard).
American Crow - 60+ (including a "murder" of 44 at the Airport).
Carolina Chickadee - 2 seen and more heard
Tufted Titmouse - 1 seen and more heard
Brown-headed Nuthatch - heard
Carolina Wren - 1 seen and a few more heard
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 2
Eastern Bluebird - 30
Hermit Thrush - 1 heard
Northern Mockingbird - 5
European Starling - 4
Sprague's Pipit - 1 (called once when flushed, at the Airport).
Cedar Waxwing - 6
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 10
Pine Warbler - 5
Chipping Sparrow - 3
Field Sparrow - 2
Vesper Sparrow - 8
Savannah Sparrow - 40
Henslow's Sparrow - 1 (seen perched at the Airport).
Fox Sparrow - 2 (scope study of one; another heard singing).
Song Sparrow - 3
White-throated Sparrow - 15
Harris's Sparrow - 1 (quick look at an immature, likely the same bird seen here Dec 3).
White-crowned Sparrow - heard singing
Dark-eyed Junco - 1
Northern Cardinal - 15
Red-winged Blackbird - 15 (females and immatures).
meadowlark species? - 30 (a few Eastern call-notes heard).
Pine Siskin - at least one heard by Susie
American Goldfinch - 25
Total: 44 species total (including 11 species of sparrows).
Kurth Lake Field Trip Report
Dec. 11, 2011
Kurth Lake
Clear to PC, 36-55 F
Nice weather, 5-10 MPH winds
Participants: Louis Debetaz, Allen and Kara Kaplowitz, Les Stewart, David Wolf
Species: 53
Gadwall - 45
American Wigeon - 40
Mallard - 2
Northern Shoveler - 100
Northern Pintail - 3
Canvasback - 150
Ring-necked Duck - 20
Lesser Scaup - 4
Bufflehead - 3
Ruddy Duck - 90
Common Loon - 2
Pied-billed Grebe - 250+
Horned Grebe - 2 - FOS
American White Pelican - 2
Double-crested Cormorant - 200
Great Blue Heron - 2
Black Vulture - 2
Turkey Vulture - 15
Bald Eagle - 5 - 2 ad.; 3 imm
Northern Harrier - 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 1
American Kestrel - 1
Common Moorhen - 1
American Coot - 6500+
Killdeer - 1
Bonaparte's Gull - 1
Ring-billed Gull - 12
Mourning Dove - 1
Belted Kingfisher - 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 2
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 5
Downy Woodpecker - 1
Northern Flicker - 6
Pileated Woodpecker - 3
Eastern Phoebe - 9
American Crow - 10
Carolina Chickadee - 4
Tufted Titmouse - 2
Carolina Wren - 1
Marsh Wren - 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 4
Eastern Bluebird - 20
Northern Mockingbird - 1
American Pipit - 1
Orange-crowned Warbler - 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 10
Pine Warbler - 5
Chipping Sparrow - 3
White-throated Sparrow - 2
Dark-eyed Junco - 12
Northern Cardinal - 2
Red-winged Blackbird - 1
American Goldfinch - 25
*******************************************************
Lingering Common Gallinules
Louis Debetaz spotted an adult with a juvenile on September. November 30 he re-discovered the adult. David Wolf photoraphed this bird on December 11, 2011.
Cackling Goose Sighted
November 27, 2011
I spooked a Cackling Goose next to the dam. The goose flew westward along the dam and eventually landed among foraging ducks and coots. Initially, my first thought was a Cackling Goose based on its small size, short neck and short stubby bill. After looking at the bird with the scope, my initial observation was confirmed. This sighting of the Cackling Goose represents a first for the county.
Louis Debetaz
Posted December 5, 2011 Correction:
The posting of the Cackling Goose as a new species record for the county was in error. Discussions with David Wolf indicate that there were three previous records in addition to the sighting at Kurth Lake for Angelina County.We were unaware of some other sight records. The Cackling Goose was split from the Canada Goose, attaining its own full species status. A specimen collected by Dean Fisher was considered a lesser form( parvipes) of the Canada Goose in 1974. A 1988 sighting was an indication of lesser forms in a flock of Greater’s. The March 2001 sighting by Jesse was never reported to us so there wasn’t any reason for us to think that the sighting was a cackling goose (or lesser Canada Goose) since that designation was more of a reference to a sound (gabberling, cackling) produced by this bird. Never the less, the specimen, only known to David Wolf recently, is the only documented record for this species. By the way, there are four subspecies of the Cackling Goose( Branta hutchinsii) now recognized by ornithologists. The larger Taverneri subspecies is similar in size to the lesser form( parvipes) of the Canada Goose( Branta canadensis) .
Louis Debetaz
Posted
December 3, 2011
Hummingbirds Sighted
If anyone is interested in trying to see this bird, give us a call at 569 6531.
Mimi & David Wolf
A young male Rufous
Hummingbird and a male Black-chinned hummingbird
have also been spotted pretty consistently this week at
the Tucker House (2900 Raguet, Pineywoods Native Plant
Center). There's
a large yaupon full of red berries right in front of the
house next to the sidewalk by the front door on the the
Raguet Street side that they really like to sit in. I hung a
feeder up hoping to supplement them a bit. Julie Shackelford
Tucker Woods Field Trip: November 13, 2011
Eleven folks participated in the November 13, 2011, Pineywoods Audubon Society’s bird walk through the Tucker Woods in Nacogdoches. Folks came from as far as Lufkin, Whitehouse, and Missoula (to be fair, Julie’s sister, also a field biologist, was visiting us from Montana).
While winding on various trails through the property, we tallied 31 species with the highlights being a female-plumaged Summer Tanager (late date) and a low-circling Northern Harrier (interesting over town and forest). While birding from the boardwalk over the marsh, we also saw 5 species of sparrows (plus Dark-eyed Junco) that included: White-throated, Song, Chipping, Field, and Swamp. As with any field trip, we missed several expected species including Tufted Titmouse, Northern Flicker, and Orange-crowned Warbler.
Cliff & Julie Shackelford (co-leaders)
Posted
November 20, 2011
Kurth Lake Field Trip: November 19, 2011
The fieldtrip was led
by Louis Debetaz. Photos taken by Allizon Maxwell are
available on her Facebook page. See the photos. The photos
below were also my by Allison Maxwell on the fieldtrip.
Overcast
to PC, 55-70F, breezy( 5-10mph)
Leader:
L. Debetaz
Birding
Group: Lois Clemens, Richard Farrell, Ruth Heino, Charles
Kent, Tom and Allison Maxwell, Bruce and Tammy Oliver, Les
Stewart, Carol Wells
Species:
40 
Gadwall - 25
American Wigeon - 35
Northern Shoveler - 250
Canvasback - 20
Redhead - 30
Ring-necked Duck - 45
Lesser Scaup - 5
Ruddy Duck - 4
Common Loon - 1 - FOS
Pied-billed Grebe - 100
Double-crested Cormorant - 100
Great Blue Heron - 1
Black Vulture - 2
Turkey Vulture - 45
Bald Eagle - 6 - 4 ad.; 2 imm.
Cooper's Hawk - 1
American Kestrel - 1
Killdeer - 1
Ring-billed Gull - 4
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1
Eastern Phoebe - 1
Blue Jay - 1
American Crow - 3
Carolina Chickadee - 1
Carolina Wren - 1
Marsh Wren - 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 2
Eastern Bluebird - 9
American Robin - 10
American Pipit - 1
Cedar Waxwing - 25
Eastern Towhee - 1
Savannah Sparrow - 5
Swamp Sparrow - 1
White-throated Sparrow - 7
Northern Cardinal - 3
Red-winged Blackbird - 100
Common Grackle - 10
Brown-headed Cowbird
Swallow-tailed Kite Video
Allison Maxwell videoed two swallow-tailed Kite on August 9, 2011. See the video on UTube.
New bird for the Central Pineywoods!
On October 20, a rather mild and ordinary fall morning, David Wolf found a beautiful female Black-throated Gray Warbler at Alazan Bayou WMA (Nacogdoches County). It was foraging in an isolated clump of young oaks amidst the dried-up "marshes" and observed for 15 minutes. This is the first record for our area. There are only two previous sightings for the entire Pineywoods region, and they are both old records from the far southwest in Walker County (in 1984 and 1989). Dave says "warblers are my favorite group of birds, and I have dreamed of finding this stray in our area for more than 40 years, but when it finally happened I was sure surprised! I only wish that it had stayed around so more people could have seen it". This western warbler is a very rare, but annual, stray to the Texas and Louisiana coasts at this time of year.
October 15, 2011. Kurth Lake
Cool(47-75), Clear, excellent weather
8:00- 11:45 AM
Leader: L. Debetaz
Participants: Tim and Beverly Johnson, Allan Kaplowitz, Susie Lower, John Moore, Bob and Jimmie Putnam, Shobha and Raghuveer Reddy, Les Stewart, James and Jetta Wilder.
Species: 45
Wood Duck - 3
Gadwall - 10
Blue-winged Teal - 250
Northern Shoveler - 25
Northern Pintail - 4
Redhead - 6
Ruddy Duck - 2
Pied-billed Grebe - 250
Double-crested Cormorant - 15
Anhinga - 2
Great Blue Heron - 3
Great Egret - 1
Black Vulture - 2
Turkey Vulture - 10
Bald Eagle - 2 - ad.
Northern Harrier - 1
Cooper's Hawk - 2
American Kestrel - 2
American Coot - 2000+
Killdeer - 2
American Avocet - 6 - fly-by, excellent sighting
Franklin's Gull - 40 - excellent migrant group
Black Tern - 20 - made one pass then left lake area
Forster's Tern - 5 - feeding with the Black Terns
Belted Kingfisher - 4
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 2
Northern Flicker - 6
Pileated Woodpecker - 1
Eastern Phoebe - 3
Blue Jay - 10
American Crow - 10
Carolina Chickadee - 1
Tufted Titmouse - 1
Carolina Wren - 3
Marsh Wren - 2
Eastern Bluebird - 5
Northern Mockingbird - 1
Brown Thrasher - 3
Pine Warbler - 1
Common Yellowthroat - 2
Savannah Sparrow - 3
Swamp Sparrow - 1
Northern Cardinal - 5
Western Meadowlark - 2
Common Grackle - 25
October 1, 2011 Alazan Bayou WMA Hawk Watch
four participants and leader David Wolf showed up at Alazan Bayou WMA for a Pineywoods Audubon Society “Hawk-Watch”. If we weren’t so drought-stricken, we would have called the weather for this field trip “gorgeous”, with a cool morning, clear skies and light north breeze. These are NOT the best conditions for observing migrating raptors, however, and initially we struggled to spot just a few distant kestrels and accipiters heading south. It was only as the morning warmed up that we spotted Broad-winged Hawks getting up over the Experimental Forest. The numbers were not large – only 43 total – but the looks were good, and we got to observe the kettling and then gliding dynamic as these birds departed the area. We also spotted two Ospreys amidst them and had a nice Cooper’s Hawk dash past us fairly low and close. Just as interesting were some of the migrant songbirds found as we waited. We had excellent looks at both Marsh and Sedge wrens, a great comparison of two sneaky species, and we found some arriving sparrows, including 2 Clay-colored and 1 Grasshopper, both uncommon in our area. A total of 44 species was noted for the field trip.
October 2, 2011. Ellen Trout Park and VFW pond
8:00- 10:00 AM, 52-69 F, clear, no wind, excellent birding weather. Observer: L. Debetaz
Species: 43
Wood Duck - 85
Blue-winged Teal - 4 - VFW
Double-crested Cormorant - 3
Great Blue Heron - 4
Great Egret - 5 - 1 at VFW
Black-crowned Night-Heron - 1
Bald Eagle - 2
Red-shouldered Hawk - 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 1
American Coot - 1 - VFW
Killdeer - 3 - VFW
Solitary Sandpiper - 1 - VFW
Mourning Dove - 1
Inca Dove - 2
Chimney Swift - 5
Belted Kingfisher - 3
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – 1 (FOS)
Downy Woodpecker - 1
Northern Flicker - 1
Least Flycatcher - 1
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher - 2
Blue Jay - 3
American Crow - 5
Carolina Chickadee - 1
Carolina Wren - 1
Sedge Wren - 2 - excellent views(FOS)
Marsh Wren - 1 - with Sedge wrens(FOS)
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 1
Gray Catbird - 2
Northern Mockingbird - 2
Brown Thrasher - 1
European Starling - 1
Nashville Warbler - 2
Northern Parula - 1
Black-and-white Warbler - 1
American Redstart - 1 - male
Waterthrush sp. - 1 - most likely a N. Waterthrush
Common Yellowthroat- 3
Wilson's Warbler - 2 - male and female
Lincoln’s Sparrow- 5(FOS)
Indigo Bunting - 7
Common Grackle - 15
October 1, 2011 Kurth Lake( KL); VFW pond
44-73 F, clear and cool Observers:L. Debetaz, W. Forrest
Species: 25
Wood Duck - 2 - VFW
Gadwall - 15 - KL
Blue-winged Teal - 150 - KL
Northern Shoveler - 10 - KL
Pied-billed Grebe - 50 - KL
Double-crested Cormorant - 7 - KL
Great Blue Heron - 1 - KL
Great Egret - 1 - VFW
Turkey Vulture - 10 - KL
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1 - KL
Red-tailed Hawk - 1 - KL
American Kestrel - 3 - KL, VFW(1)
American Coot - 500 - KL
Killdeer - 3 - VFW
Greater Yellowlegs - 1 - KL
Belted Kingfisher - 3 - KL
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1 - KL
Pileated Woodpecker - 1 - KL
Blue Jay - 3 - KL
American Crow - 5 - KL
Carolina Wren - 1 - KL
Eastern Bluebird - 2 - VFW
Brown Thrasher - 5 - KL
Savannah Sparrow - 3 - KL
Northern Cardinal - 5 - KL
18 September 2011 – Upper Sam Rayburn (Attoyac arm and TX 103 at the Angelina at Etoile Park): A very successful Pineywoods Audubon field trip with 5 participants from Nacogdoches and David Wolf as leader. 75 species were recorded by the group, our highest total so far on the lake trips. Migrants were not especially numerous, but with patience, persistence, and Thomas Riecke’s great young eyes and persistent scope work we had looks at a wide variety of birds. We birded the shoreline at Townsend Park from 7 - 10 a.m. and then zipped over to TX 103 at the Angelina at Etoile Park from 10:15 - 11:45 a.m. The weather was interesting as heavy clouds and scattered thundershowers moved over from the south; few areas got more than a quarter inch of rain but even that is most welcome! Highlights included multiple Merlins chasing around the flats and landing for scope views; a juvenile dark ibis at close range; a nice variety of shorebirds to challenge us, including scarcer ones like Willet, Sanderling, Long-billed Dowitcher and Wilson’s Phalarope; and 13 species of warblers lurking in the woods amidst the hordes of gnatcatchers. We’ve almost become casual about spoonbills and Wood Storks, but must remember that they won’t be with us much longer. Most unusual was a beautiful albino swallow, probably a Barn, that fluttered ghost-like over the channel amidst its normal kin.
Blue-winged Teal - 25
Northern Pintail - 25
Neotropic Cormorant - 5
Double-crested Cormorant - 4
Great Blue Heron - 16
Great Egret - 200 (175 concentrated along Attoyac arm off Townsend Park).
Snowy Egret - 16
Little Blue Heron - 7 (4 adults).
Tricolored Heron - 1 juv.
White Ibis - 20
dark ibis sp? (Plegadis sp?) - 5
Roseate Spoonbill - 62 (16 on the Attoyac arm; 46 off Etoile Park).
Wood Stork - 23 (Attoyac arm).
Black Vulture - a few
Turkey Vulture - 30
Osprey - 1
Bald Eagle - 2 (adults).
Northern Harrier - 2 juvs.
Cooper’s Hawk - 1 (near Etoile).
Red-shouldered Hawk - 3
American Kestrel - 4
Merlin - 4 (a lot for one morning! At least 3 from Townsend Park (1 ad, 2 juv.) and one on the
flats off Etoile Park).
Semipalmated Plover - 24 (all but one off Etoile Park).
Killdeer - 16
Spotted Sandpiper - 1
Greater Yellowlegs - 3 (off Townsend Park).
Willet - 1 (distant bird on Nacogdoches Co side of Attoyac arm off Townsend).
Lesser Yellowlegs - 20
Sanderling - 1 (on an island just off Etoile Park).
Semipalmated? Sandpiper - 1 (hard to be sure).
Western Sandpiper - 40 (mostly off Etoile Park).
Least Sandpiper - 375+
Baird’s Sandpiper - 3 juvs. (One off Townsend and Thomas Riecke had 2 at Etoile).
Pectoral Sandpiper - 2
Long-billed Dowitcher - 1 juv. (off Townsend Park on San Augustine Co side).
Wilson’s Phalarope - 1 (distant bird off Townsend Park on Nacogdoches Co
side; my first this fall, a bit surprisingly).
Forster’s Tern - 80 (Attoyac arm).
Eurasian Collared Dove - 1 heard
Mourning Dove - a few
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 5
Downy Woodpecker - 1
Pileated Woodpecker - heard
Eastern Wood-Pewee - 3
Least Flycatcher - 2 (Etoile woods).
Eastern Kingbird - 1
White-eyed Vireo - 3
Blue Jay
American Crow
Bank Swallow - 3
Barn Swallow - 110 (including a spectacular albino).
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Brown-headed Nuthatch - heard
Carolina Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 60 (30+ in both areas).
Eastern Bluebird - 1 (en route).
Nashville Warbler - 1 (Etoile Park).
Northern Parula - 1 heard
Yellow Warbler - 5 (not so many).
Magnolia Warbler - 1 (Townsend, where I saw one on 15 Sept in same plumage; same?).
Yellow-throated Warbler - 1
Pine Warbler - 15
Black-and-white Warbler - 2
American Redstart - 3 (all female-plumaged though one probably a young male).
Northern Waterthrush - 2
Common Yellowthroat - chipnotes heard.
Hooded Warbler - 2
Wilson’s Warbler - 4 (Etoile Park).
Canada Warbler - 1 (drab juv. at Townsend Park).
Summer Tanager - 1
Northern Cardinal
Indigo Bunting - 4
Dickcissel - several heard going over
Baltimore Oriole - 3
American Goldfinch - 1 (Thomas Riecke; out-of-season but not unprecedented).
Total: 75 species
Another New Species for Angelina County!
Louis Debetaz spotted a Whimbrel at the Angelina County airport on September 19, 2011! While somewhat common in spring migration, particularly on the Upper Texas Coast, the whimbrel's normal fall migration occurs off the eastern and western coasts at sea. A fall sighting of this bird any time or anywhere in Texas is very rare. Also seen:
The Azalea Trail produced a female Am Redstart and a Phil. Vireo( very rarely reported in the fall for some reason).. Posted 9/21/2011
New Species for Angelina County!
On Sunday, September 18th, Louis Debetaz spotted two Common Moorhens (Common Gallinules), an adult and an immature on Kurth Lake, confirming nesting of this species with the appearance of a young bird with a parent. This species is very rare in the Piney Woods. Also spotted were two Merlins, putting on an aerial display as they hunted dragonflies. Posted 9/21/2011
Also seen:
1. Common Moorhen( Gallinule)- 2 ( adult plus imm.) first sighting of this species on Kurth Lake and confirmed nesting of this species with the appearance of a young bird with the parent bird. County record!
2. Merlin- 2 Both adult birds put on an aerial display for us. Very nice!
3. Blue-winged Teal- 6
4. Baltimore Oriole- 2 males
5. Mourning Warbler-1
6. Anhinga- 1
7. Belted Kingfisher-1
8. Double-crested Cormorant- 6
9. Great Blue Heron- 5
10. Pied-billed Grebe- 15
11. Am. Coot- 3 one adult and 2 young birds
VFW pond on Ford Chapel Road
1. Solitary Sandpiper - 1
2. Pectoral Sandpiper – 1
3. Killdeer- 7
4. Blue-winged Teal- 1
5. N. Shoveler - 1
Ellen Trout Park
1. Yellow Warbler- 1
2.
Nashville Warbler-
1
Posted 9/21/2011
*******************************************************
Posted 9/21/2011
September 17, 2011 Ellen Trout Park(
Lufkin)
Participants: Louis Debetaz(leader), Ruth Heino, Charles Kent, Milton Moorer, Les Stewart
Weather: PC,75-80, excellent
Time: 8:00- 10:15AM
Species: 40
Wood Duck - 12
Blue-winged Teal - 2
Great Blue Heron - 3
Great Egret - 10
Snowy Egret - 1
Green Heron - 1
Black Vulture - 1
Red-shouldered Hawk - 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 1
Killdeer - 1
Mourning Dove - 1
Inca Dove - 10
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 3
Belted Kingfisher - 1
Red-headed Woodpecker - 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 2
Empidonax sp. - 1
Eastern Phoebe - 2
White-eyed Vireo - 3
Blue Jay - 4
American Crow - 3
Barn Swallow - 1
Carolina Chickadee - 1
White-breasted Nuthatch - 1
Carolina Wren - 3
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 3
Eastern Bluebird - 5
Northern Mockingbird - 1
Brown Thrasher - 1
Nashville Warbler - 1
Northern Parula - 1
Pine Warbler - 2
Mourning Warbler - 2 - excellent views
Wilson's Warbler - 2
Summer Tanager - 1
Clay-colored Sparrow - 2 - excellent views
Northern Cardinal - 3
Indigo Bunting - 2
Common Grackle - 8
Baltimore Oriole - 1
Posted 9/21/2011
A Pineywoods Audubon field trip with 7 participants and David Wolf as leader. We met at Ewing Park (base of the bridge on Angelina County side) at 6:45 a.m. and soon thereafter found a big mixed-flock busting out all over the place. We followed the flock south along the edge of the brushy woods, finding a fair variety of migrants amidst the swarm of Pine Warblers and gnatcatchers, including a scope study of our earliest Savannah Sparrow ever (previous earliest arrival date was 20 Sept); Northern Parula; Yellow, Yellow-throated, Hooded and Wilson’s warblers; and Dickcissels. Two Wood Storks over the lake flew towards us and gave us nice looks, while a flock of almost 40 Roseate Spoonbills was almost out of view when spotted. We then circled out onto the mudflats to view the shorebirds and other waterbirds. On the north side of the bridge we compared Spotted and Solitary Sandpipers and found a few more migrants, before most of the group headed home with a trip list of 58 species. Dave and Les stopped on the Nacogdoches side on the way back, found the viewing good, and picked us 3 Long-billed Dowitchers and 16 Stilt Sandpipers on an island, plus an early and uncommon Clay-colored Sparrow in the shoreline weeds and a very cooperative Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Returning back to our cars through the woods we found ourselves surrounded by warblers and added Black-throated Green and Black-and-white Warblers, and American Redstart to produce a final tally of 68 species.
Blue-winged Teal - 28
Northern Pintail - 1
Neotropic Cormorant - 4
Double-crested Cormorant - 3
cormorant sp? - 3
Great Blue Heron - 15
Great Egret - 55
Snowy Egret - 2
Cattle Egret - 10
dark ibis (Plegadis sp?) - 2 (distant birds on the Angelina Co side).
Roseate Spoonbill - 45 (a high count).
Wood Stork - 2
Turkey Vulture - 70
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1
Semipalmated Plover - 14 (12 on islands on Nacogdoches County side).
Killdeer - 20
Spotted Sandpiper - 3
Solitary Sandpiper - 1
Greater Yellowlegs - 1
Lesser Yellowlegs - 25+
Least Sandpiper - 125+
peep sp? - 100 (distant)
Baird’s Sandpiper - 1 (Nacogdoches County side)
Pectoral Sandpiper - 18
Stilt Sandpiper - 16 (on islands on Nacogdoches side)
Buff-breasted Sandpiper - 100 (two very distant flocks over main flats).
Long-billed Dowitcher - 3 (juveniles on island on Nacogdoches side).
Forster’s Tern - 18
Mourning Dove - a few
Yellow-billed Cuckoo - 1
Chimney Swift - 120 (by far the biggest flight so far this fall).
Red-headed Woodpecker - 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker - several seen or heard
Downy Woodpecker - 1 heard
Hairy Woodpecker - 1 (heard and glimpsed in flight)
Northern Flicker - 1
Pileated Woodpecker - heard
Eastern Wood-Pewee - 3
Least Flycatcher - 1
Empidonax sp? - 2 (likely “Traill’s”).
Eastern Kingbird - 1
White-eyed Vireo - 12 (heard more than seen).
Blue Jay
American Crow
Bank Swallow - 50
Cliff Swallow - 150
Cave Swallow - 1
Barn Swallow - 150
swallow sp? - many hundreds, especially streaming south at dawn.
Carolina Chickadee - 5
Tufted Titmouse - 3
Brown-headed Nuthatch - 2 (repeatedly returning to a small snag where they have nested)
Carolina Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 50
Northern Mockingbird - 1
Northern Parula - 2
Yellow Warbler - 25 (good push).
Black-throated Green Warbler - 1 male (Nacogdoches side; first this fall).
Yellow-throated Warbler - 3
Pine Warbler - 60
Black-and-white Warbler - 1 (Nacogdoches side)
American Redstart - 1 female (Nacogdoches side)
Northern Waterthrush - 1 heard
Common Yellowthroat - 2
Hooded Warbler - 3 males
Wilson’s Warbler - 2
Clay-colored Sparrow - 1 (nice look at one with buntings on Nacogdoches side; early).
Savannah Sparrow - 1 (studied in the scope and definitely this species;
our earliest date ever; previous earliest arrival was 20 Sept 01).
Northern Cardinal
Indigo Bunting - 10
Dickcissel - 10 (one flock; several more heard going over).
Orchard Oriole - 3
*******************************************************
the main channel of the lake for at least 1 ½ hours (San Augustine and Nacogdoches Counties), sailing above the horizon for minutes on end and then rapidly dipping down to the water and cruising just over the surface. This is only the 2nd area record of this storm-driven species – and I would not have predicted that Lee was enough of a storm to bring pelagic birds inland – so this was a grand surprise. The clouds circulating around Lee brought gusty northeast winds all day (to 35-45 mph max.), with bands of driving, but light, rain in the TX 147 area in the morning. Given the windy and wet conditions we didn’t see a lot of other birds, but at one point a nice flock of about 30 Black Terns landed on an island close to the bridge and were joined by a single Least Tern, another rarity in our area. We also walked up to the shorebirds at the base of the causeway and had incredibly close studies of Buff-breasted Sandpipers amidst the commoner species. Apparently the wind kept them down and oblivious to the observers.
Wood Duck - 1
Blue-winged Teal - 180 (multiple large flocks moving south).
Northern Shoveler - 2 (with a flock of teal at base of TX 147; first of fall).
American White Pelican - 7
Neotropic Cormorant - 3
Double-crested Cormorant - 5
Great Blue Heron - 10
Great Egret - 7
Little Blue Heron - 1 ad.
Cattle Egret - 2
Green Heron - 1
Turkey Vulture - 10
Osprey - 1
Bald Eagle - 1 juv.
Killdeer - 16
Lesser Yellowlegs - 12
Upland Sandpiper - 2
Semipalmated Sandpiper - 1 (studied carefully on flats with other peep).
Western Sandpiper - 6 (5 juveniles, 1 adult).
Least Sandpiper - 70
Pectoral Sandpiper - 20
Buff-breasted Sandpiper – 15 (they allowed an incredibly close approach).
Ring-billed Gull - 1 (probably same bird on distant island to north of TX 147).
Least Tern - 1 (first-year bird; settled on island closest to bridge with flock of Black Terns,
for great comparison).
Black Tern - 80 (at least three flocks; first numbers this fall).
Sooty Tern - 2 adults (we watched these two birds working the main channel along the
Nacogdoches/San Augustine Co line for almost two hours, from abut 8:30 - 10:30 a.m., in the
gusty northeast wind with intermittent bands of light rain and mist. They were never close
and were confusing at first, but I feel confident that we eventually got the identification correct!
Forster’s Tern - 20
Mourning Dove - 3
Archilochus sp? - 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1
Eastern Kingbird - 3
White-eyed Vireo - 1
Blue Jay
American Crow
Bank Swallow - 6
Cliff Swallow - 2
Barn Swallow - 20
Carolina Chickadee - 2
Tufted Titmouse - 1
Brown-headed Nuthatch - 1 (plus one heard)
Carolina Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 4
Eastern Bluebird - 8
Northern Mockingbird - 5
Yellow Warbler - zip notes heard
Lark Sparrow - 1
Northern Cardinal
Dickcissel - 1 (seen in the scope; seemed to be an adult male).
Red-winged Blackbird - 1
Common Grackle - 1
Baltimore Oriole - 2 females (first of fall).
Blue-winged Teal - 87+ (including 80+ on the Attoyac, first large flock this fall).
Neotropic Cormorant - 2
Great Blue Heron - 20
Great Egret - 70
Snowy Egret - 12
Little Blue Heron - 1 ad.
Tricolored Heron - 1 juv. (Angelina arm)
Cattle Egret - 100
White Ibis - 54 (Angelina arm)
Plegadis sp? - 2 (flew over TX 103 at the Angelina).
Roseate Spoonbill - 31 (23 at the Angelina arm; 8 on the Attoyac in Nac Co).
Turkey Vulture
Bald Eagle - 1 ad.
Semipalmated Plover - 8 (on islands on both upper arms).
Killdeer - 9
Spotted Sandpiper - 3
Solitary Sandpiper - 1
Greater Yellowlegs - heard at the Angelina arm
Lesser Yellowlegs - 14
Upland Sandpiper - 3+ (1 seen going over, several heard).
Semipalmated Sandpiper - 4 (off Townsend; this species was hard to pick out amidst the
more numerous Western and Least).
Western Sandpiper - 20
Least Sandpiper - 75
peep sp? - 150 (on distant islands on the Angelina arm).
Baird's Sandpiper - 2 (distant birds on the Angelina arm).
Pectoral Sandpiper - 20
Caspian Tern - 1 (along the Angelina arm at sunrise; not seen well).
Mourning Dove - 1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 1 female
Red-bellied Woodpecker - heard
Pileated Woodpecker - heard
Olive-sided Flycatcher - 2 (both in same area at Townsend Park).
Eastern Wood-Pewee - 1
Traill's flycatcher - 5
Empidonax sp? - 1 (soft whip notes heard at Townsend were either Willow or Least;
the only empids seen in the area were a Traill's type, so the notes may have been
from a Willow).
Great Crested Flycatcher – 1 (bright juvenile).
Eastern Kingbird - 2
White-eyed Vireo - 1 heard
Blue Jay
American Crow
Purple Martin - 2 females (off Townsend)
Cliff Swallow - 50
Barn Swallow - 25
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Carolina Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 25
Eastern Bluebird - heard
Northern Mockingbird
Yellow Warbler - 12+ (good push).
Pine Warbler - 15
Black-and-white Warbler - 3 (Townsend; good push).
Prothonotary Warbler - 1 seen at Townsend
Northern Waterthrush - 3 (esp. at Townsend)
Hooded Warbler - 1 heard
Summer Tanager - 1 female
Northern Cardinal
Blue Grosbeak - 1 male (Townsend shoreline, presumably a migrant).
Indigo Bunting - 4
Dickcissel - 7
Red-winged Blackbird - 6
Common Grackle
Orchard Oriole – 1
Total: 61 species
A Pineywoods Audubon Society field trip, with David Wolf as leader and five participants: guests Janet and Ron Cook from Alba (Tyler Audubon) and Susie Lower, Rick Schaefer and Les Stewart from PAS. We spent 6:30 - 10:15 a.m. in the TX 147 area, on yet another extremely hot day (to 105 deg. F) with no hint of moisture in the air. We then briefly checked the TX 103 crossing of the Angelina (below Marion Ferry) on the way home. Highlights were a Willet found soon upon our arrival at TX 147; a bold White-faced Ibis that eventually revealed a red iris to confirm the species identification (Glossy Ibis must be considered, though we do not have any area records yet); several small flocks of beautiful Buff-breasted Sandpipers scooting around on the open flats; and a flock of 12 Roseate Spoonbills around a pool at the Angelina arm.
Blue-winged Teal - 2
Neotropic Cormorant - 4
Double-crested Cormorant - 5
cormorant sp? - 7 (very distant)
Great Blue Heron - 7
Great Egret - 65 (mostly at upper end at TX 103)
Snowy Egret - 15 (upper end at TX 103)
Tricolored Heron - 3 juv. (upper end at TX 103)
Cattle Egret - 20
Green Heron - 2 juv.
White-faced Ibis - 1 (beautiful sub-adult that allowed a close enough approach
to see it’s red iris, confirming the identification to species).
Roseate Spoonbill - 12 (upper end at TX 103)
Black Vulture - 3
Turkey Vulture - 60
Osprey - 3
Bald Eagle - 7 (2 ad.) (conspicuous on the islands in the TX 147 area).
American Kestrel - 1
Semipalmated Plover - 1 (upper end at TX 103)
Killdeer - 20
Spotted Sandpiper - 5
Solitary Sandpiper - 1
Greater Yellowlegs - 2
Willet - 1 (always a good find here).
Lesser Yellowlegs - 1
Upland Sandpiper - 4 (3 distant calling birds in flight, plus at least one more heard).
Least Sandpiper - 30 (all adults).
Pectoral Sandpiper - 15
Buff-breasted Sandpiper - 26 (20+ in scattered flocks in the TX 147 area
gave us great looks as they scooted around on the dry short-grass
along the shoreline; 6 more at the upper end).
Forster’s Tern - 38
Mourning Dove - 30
Inca Dove - one heard
– Marion Ferry area on upper Lake Rayburn (Angelina County)
Pineywoods Audubon (PAS) field trip, with 7 participants and leader David Wolf, including 5 friends from the Tyler Audubon/NETFO group and new PAS member Les Stewart, who has recently moved to Nacogdoches, and Louis Debetaz. Weather continues extremely hot, with predicted high today around 100 deg. No sign of rain, so extreme drought continues and the lake continues to recede and dry up, bringing more shorebirds closer to the TX 103 bridge. We started here along the base of the bridge, later working around "The Point" to view the upper end of the flats. By 10:30, when we finished up, it was way too hot and humid for any sensible person to be out. The checklist tally came up with 63 species, exactly the number we had a week ago.
Wood Duck - 12
Blue-winged Teal - 5 (first of fall).
Northern Bobwhite - 1 heard (same area as 8 Aug).
cormorant sp? - 1
Great Blue Heron - 10
Great Egret - 60
Snowy Egret - 20
Little Blue Heron - 1
Tricolored Heron - 4 juv.
Cattle Egret - 15
Green Heron - 2
White Ibis - 20 (distant)
Roseate Spoonbill - 27 (one flock far away along the main channel; streamed in and landed; a
high count for here and the largest flock I've seen inland in East Texas).
Black Vulture - 8
Turkey Vulture - 30
Osprey - 1
American Kestrel - 2 (male and female on stumps on the muddy islands).
Semipalmated Plover - 7
Killdeer - 6
Spotted Sandpiper - 5
Solitary Sandpiper - 16
Greater Yellowlegs - 3 (came over with flock of 8 Lesser Yellowlegs).
Lesser Yellowlegs - 14 (three flocks fairly low, but none landed).
Semipalmated Sandpiper - 8
Least Sandpiper - 60
Baird's Sandpiper - 2
Pectoral Sandpiper - 15
Buff-breasted Sandpiper - 85 (the highest count so far this fall).
Long-billed Dowitcher - 5 adults (all still in breeding plumage; heard calling when they were
flushed).
Black Tern - 1
Mourning Dove - 1
Chimney Swift - 12
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 1
Red-headed Woodpecker - 1 ad.
Downy Woodpecker - 1 heard
Pileated Woodpecker - 1 heard
Eastern Wood-Pewee - 2 (both calling).
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher - 1 (sitting quietly low down in the understory at "The Point").
Alder Flycatcher - at least 1 seen plus several heard calling.
Eastern Kingbird - 2
White-eyed Vireo - 3
Red-eyed Vireo - 2 heard
Blue Jay
American Crow
Tree Swallow - at least one seen
Cliff Swallow - 200
Barn Swallow - 5
Carolina Chickadee - heard
Tufted Titmouse - heard
Carolina Wren - heard
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 6
Northern Mockingbird - 1
Northern Parula - 1 heard singing
Yellow Warbler - 2 (flushed by lead car)
Pine Warbler - 4
Prothonotary Warbler - 1 (flushed by lead car)
Hooded Warbler - 1 heard singing
Summer Tanager - 1 heard calling
Northern Cardinal - 12
Indigo Bunting - 4
Dickcissel - 12
Red-winged Blackbird - 6
Orchard Oriole - 5
Sightings: Shorebirds
August
8, 2011
VFW
pond, Ford Chapel Rd.( FM 841)
PC,
93, windy, hot,
Louis
Debetaz made a quick stop at the small pond near the VFW
on Ford Chapel Road in Lufkin on Monday and saw the
following species, among others:
American
Coot - 1
Killdeer
- 10
Spotted
Sandpiper - 2
Solitary
Sandpiper - 1
Semipalmated
Sandpiper - 5
Western
Sandpiper - 4
Least
Sandpiper - 2
Baird's
Sandpiper - 2
Pectoral
Sandpiper - 2
Stilt
Sandpiper - 3
If
nothing else it's certain that fall migration is
underway. Evidence can be seen in some unlikely places.
CM.
– Marion Ferry area on upper Lake Rayburn (Angelina County)
Dave Wolf led a field trip to Marion Ferry and Highway 103 Bridge area on upper Lake Sam Rayburn on 8/7/11. Louis Debetaz, Robert Truss and Carol Wells joined the field trip. Weather was extremely hot, with an overnight low of 80 deg. and high of 104 deg. Mostly clear skies; slight south breeze came up. The group began arriving at 6:30 AM at the Marion Ferry boat ramp and stayed there until 7:45 a.m. Then the group checked the shoreline north from the base of the TX 103 bridge, scanning the muddy islands and channels until 10:30 a.m.
63 species seen were seen:
Wood Duck - 9
Double-crested Cormorant - 1 im.
Great Blue Heron - 12
Great Egret - 70
Snowy Egret - 28
Little Blue Heron - 35 (mostly juvs.)
Tricolored Heron - 5 juvs. (at least this many in the area).
Cattle Egret - 60
Green Heron - 5
White Ibis - 26 (half adults).
Plegadis sp? - 2 (very distant birds).
Roseate Spoonbill - 4 (all juvs.; in dawn flight past boat launch).
Black Vulture - 1
Turkey Vulture - 30
Osprey - 1
Bald EagRed-shoulderedPiping Plover - 1 (adult; in same area as the preceding).
Killdeer - 1 heard
Spotted Sandpiper - 2
Solitary Sandpiper - 6
Greater Yellowlegs - 1 (distant bird in flight).
Lesser Yellowlegs - 9 (distant small flocks in flight).
Long-billed Curlew - 1 (distant bird flushed by the eagle, I tracked it in the scope and clearly saw the bright cinnamon underwings, general rich brown color and long decurved bill. Only our 3rd local record (and the first since March 1989); the bird seemed to eventually land on the Nacogdoches Co side of the channel but was probably in the air over both counties).
Semipalmated Sandpiper - 2
Least Sandpiper - 12
peep sp? - 15
Pectoral Sandpiper - 2
Buff-breasted Sandpiper - 25+ (somewhat distant on grassy island, but nice looks; small flocks came and went but at least 25 flushed at once at one point).
shorebird sp? - 4 (large brown shorebirds that came up at the same time as the curlew; I didn’t see them because I was tracking the curlew in the scope).
Black Tern - 4
Forster’s Tern - 7
Mourning Dove - 3
Eastern Screech-Owl - 2 heard (close at hand, calling about 7:30 a.m.!).
Chimney Swift - 15
hummingbird (Archilochus sp?) - 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 2
Pileated Woodpecker - 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee - 2
Eastern Kingbird - 1
White-eyed Vireo - 1
Red-eyed Vireo - 1 heard (callnote)
Blue Jay - 10
American Crow - 30
Tree Swallow - 6
Cliff Swallow - 35
Barn Swallow - 125
Carolina Chickadee - 6
Tufted Titmouse - heard
Brown-headed Nuthatch - heard
Carolina Wren - 8 (mostly heard)
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 18
Eastern Bluebird - 1
Northern Mockingbird - 1
Yellow Warbler - 1 (first this fall).
Pine Warbler - 1 juv.
Prairie Warbler - 1 male
Black-and-white Warbler - 2 females
Summer Tanager - 1 male
Northern Cardinal - 20
Indigo Bunting - 8 (mostly heard by callnote; one or two still singing).
Dickcissel - 5
Red-winged Blackbird - 28 (only 1 ad. male)
Orchard Oriole - 3 (female-plumaged).
See a bird or two or three on the list your wanting to see? With the dry weather continuing the lakes will continue to recede exposing more mudflats. With that, two additional field trips to Lake Sam Rayburn are planned. No guarantees of what birds will be there, of course, but you never know! Watch the PAS website and/or your email for additional details.
White-winged Doves in Lufkin
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Guys,
Yesterday along with a TPWD colleague, Micah Poteet, we checked out the Lufkin neighborhood reportedly thick with White-winged Doves (WWDO). We were not disappointed. Standing at one spot, I could hear 5 or 6 WWDOs singing at once. The songs came from 3 different directions mostly from inaccessible backyards. It reminded me of the sounds from neighborhoods in San Antonio, Austin, or McAllen, but not a Pineywoods city like Lufkin. The hotspot was on Clay Street near the intersection with Mayberry. This is about a block from Winston Park in the north-central or north-east part of Lufkin (inside the loop, of course). The only WWDO we observed was in Winston Park. Also nearby was St. Patrick Catholic Church. Afterwards, upon looking at the site with Google Earth, there wasn't anything ultra-special about this neighborhood for WWDO. My guess is that folks are providing lots of seed and water for birds. A couple of large undeveloped and dense woodlots surrounded by houses may serve as good roost-sites for WWDOs. It's interesting.
Cliff
(Cliff is the Non-game Ornithologist for the Texas Parks
and Wildlife, working out of Nacogdoches. CM.)
A Swallow-tailed Kite was reported by Beverly Johnson about 10:30 am August 4, 2011.
The bird was photographed near Huntington by Tim Johnson and is posted on the home page.
| Laughing Gull in
Angelina County Wednesday, August 3, 2011 Wayne Forrest and I recorded a Laughing Gull today on Kurth Lake. We have very few records for this species during the summer months. Also seen on the Lake today included a Forster’s Tern and two Spotted Sandpipers. Kurth Lake also has a few breeding pairs of Pied-billed Grebes, Am. Coots and Purple Gallinules. Last Sat. we recorded our first Osprey for the summer. Louis Debetaz Lufkin |
|
DATES:
June 17-23, 2011; OBSERVER: Dean Fisher
SURVEY AREA: 1.25 square miles (800 acres)
inside the city limits of Nacogdoches, within
the area bordered by Maroney Drive on the north,
Appleby Sand Road on the east, Starr Avenue on
the south, and University Drive on the west; my
house is situated in the southern part of this area. HABITAT: residential houses, yards, and gardens: 60%; mixed pine-deciduous woodlands and borders: 25%; open scrub, thickets, and grassy fields (incl. sports grounds at the high school along Maroney Dr.): 8%; commercial areas and streets: 6%; a very small pond in Austin Hollow: < 1%; -- everywhere quite dry unless artificially watered. WEATHER: hot (mostly 75-100 degrees); often very windy (regularly 10-20 mph, with stronger gusts); generally sunny to partly cloudy, with no rain. TOTAL HOURS OBSERVING: approximately 40 SPECIES RECORDED, and number of individuals counted or estimated: Great Egret, 1; Green Heron, 1; Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, 1; Black Vulture, 11; Turkey Vulture, 6; Red-shouldered Hawk, 4; Broad-winged Hawk, 1; Red-tailed Hawk, 1; Killdeer, 1; Rock Pigeon, 9; Eurasian Collared-Dove, 5; Mourning Dove, 50; Inca Dove, 4; Yellow-billed Cuckoo, 1; Greater Roadrunner, 1; Eastern Screech-Owl, 1; Great Horned Owl, 1; Barred Owl, 2; Chimney Swift, 25; Ruby-throated Hummingbird, 2; Belted Kingfisher, 2; Red-bellied Woodpecker, 16; Downy Woodpecker, 1; Pileated Woodpecker, 3; Eastern Wood-Pewee, 1; Eastern Phoebe, 1; Great Crested Flycatcher, 2; Eastern Kingbird, 2; Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, 8; White-eyed Vireo, 14; Yellow-throated Vireo, 1; Red-eyed Vireo, 5; Blue Jay, 90; American Crow, 12; Purple Martin, 4; Barn Swallow, 30; Carolina Chickadee, 6; Tufted Titmouse, 9; White-breasted Nuthatch, 2; Carolina Wren, 20; Eastern Bluebird, 4; Wood Thrush, 1; American Robin, 18; Northern Mockingbird, 75; Brown Thrasher, 7; European Starling, 10; Pine Warbler, 3; Hooded Warbler, 1; Yellow-breasted Chat, 1; Summer Tanager, 7; Northern Cardinal, 65; Blue Grosbeak, 3; Indigo Bunting, 3; Painted Bunting, 1; Red-winged Blackbird, 1; Common Grackle, 8; Brown-headed Cowbird, 6; Orchard Oriole, 5; House Finch, 5; House Sparrow, 35. Total species: 60 Total individuals: 616 COMMENTS Compared with the past 5-30 years, the following species have changed noticeably in their summertime abundance within the survey area: INCREASED: Eurasian Collared-Dove, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Barn Swallow, House Finch, and House Sparrow. DECREASED: Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Eastern Screech-Owl, Downy Woodpecker, Great Crested Flycatcher, Purple Martin, Wood Thrush, Pine Warbler, and Summer Tanager. DISAPPEARED ENTIRELY: Chuck-will's-widow, Northern Bobwhite, Hairy Woodpecker, and Brown-headed Nuthatch. Usually seen from within the survey area in summer but not recorded this year: Cattle Egret and Wood Duck (perhaps because of the dryness). Species seen within the survey area in summer for the first time: Eastern Phoebe and Hooded Warbler. No artificial devices or taped calls were utilized to record or locate birds, except one morning when a taped call of a screech owl was used for one hour before daybreak to locate a screech owl (at the Austin Hollow pond, after four or five unsuccessful stops at other sites). Because it was relatively late in the breeding season, and due to the hot windy weather, birds were singing very little and were mostly silent, thus reducing the number detected. For example, both the single Painted Bunting and single Yellow-breasted Chat were seen but not heard! The roadrunner, on the other hand, was detected by its characteristic vocalization, calling from a distant scrubby hillside (between Maroney Drive and Colonial Hills subdivision). The Green Heron and both of the kingfishers (at least one of which was a juvenal) were seen or heard at the Austin Hollow pond. The Great Egret was seen flying over Maroney Drive one morning, and the Yellow-crowned Night-Heron was seen in the distance at dusk flying over Lanana Creek, from the Colonial Dr. hillside above University Drive. Three Red-shouldered Hawks were together low in the forest, and on the ground, in the woods on the hillside above University Dr. at the end of E. College Street; at least two of these three individuals were juvenals. On another occasion I was surprised to see an adult Red-shouldered Hawk fly low across the street in the residential area on Colonial Drive, and perch in the middle of a live oak tree in the front yard at house number 3301! One of the two White-breasted Nuthatches which were seen was a regular visitor to the birdbath in my back yard. |