Day 4: Sheldon Lake State Park

By Mary Beth Stowe

It was indeed raining the next morning (and really blowing the night before), so I actually got to have the "real" breakfast before settling down to work on file processing! The initial forecast was heavy rain up till 11:00, but after an hour that drastically changed, and by 8:00 it had cleared up enough (with no heavy rain thereafter) to head on up to Garrett Road! Again, the beltway was a breeze, and after getting off on Garrett I quick-like got some ice (it melts in a hurry) and then headed down to the "boat ramp". It really wasn't a "boat ramp", but rather a huge parking area abutting a cypress swamp that rivaled anything in Florida — no wonder the Limpkins like it! I parked at the far end and set up shop (already several fishermen were at the other end, close to the road), and was wondering what all these red splotches on the cypress trunks were when it dawned on me (upon closer inspection) that they were the Apple Snail eggs! Again, no wonder the Limpkins like this place! And I didn't have to wait long, either: shortly one came sailing in, yelling as he did so, and landed right on the edge of the parking area! Another one came in shortly thereafter and chased the first one, and he was practically at my feet! Kay had confirmed where the babies had been, but when I went over to check, I couldn't find any — I suspect they're fledged by now. Besides the Limpkins (which really performed well, both on top of trees and close by) I was able to film a female Red-winged Blackbirds on the nest (and later poking around the ground with a missing foot), plus a pair of Great-tailed Grackles strutting around the joint. The first Neotropic Cormorant of the trip flew overhead, and somewhere what I suspected was a Great Blue Heron nest was hidden, as I could hear babies squawking. [Update: They may have actually been Cattle Egrets, as while in the process of creating video grabs, I caught a couple sailing by in the background of one of the Limpkin videos...] A Green and calico Little Blue Heron also came wheeling in, but closer to the road, and I didn't want to get too far away from the car. A ranger made the rounds with a bucket, picking up trash, and we got to talking about the Limpkins, which were "all over the place" now, according to him, and reported that birders all the way from Austin came in to see them (and a lot further than that, I'm sure, when they were first reported)! Purple Gallinules called but wouldn't come out, of course, and after about an hour a guy pulled up and got on his phone, so I figured it was time to move on. After I packed up I jokingly said to him, "Your turn!" which got a chuckle, and it did indeed look like he was preparing to fish right where I was!

Cypress swamp at the "boat ramp"; that brown clump on the right was apparently where the baby Limpkins were hanging out.

All those pink masses on the cypress tree are Apple Snail eggs!

Limpkin that landed feet from me!

It's hard to maintain balance on those tree tops!

Cameo appearance by Cattle Egrets...

Footless female Red-winged Blackbird (don't know if she's the same one on the nest, but I wouldn't be surprised...)

Headed into the state park proper, where I dutifully got a pic of the entrance sign, then proceeded to crawl along the two-mile entrance road to the main part of the park. Once again you could hear the Limpkins, and a White Ibis fed in the grassy wetland. It was lovely prairie habitat with some woodland, and at one creek crossing a Great Egret fished, and a female-type Painted Bunting popped up!

Self-explanatory...

Prairie wetland

Culvert

Roadside pond with Great Egret (also below)

Female-type Painted Bunting

Pine savannah

White Ibis

Pulled into headquarters where I apparently didn't need to check in, as the gal said it was a free park! So she gave me a map and I figured out a strategy; all the trails basically started from there, but they all looked relatively short and easy, so we went back to the big parking lot and tackled the Prairie/Wetland Loop. Cliff Swallows were all over and once again Seek came to the rescue by IDing some of these wetland plants (although the interpretive signs hit most of them anyway): most prominent was the purple-flowered Pickerel Weed, but some things it would only narrow down to genus (Arrowweed and either a Chive or a Sage —it couldn't figure out which). I found a "lookup" option in Seek for the "sage", and it came back with Tall Flatsedge, but I think that was a different plant in the same picture!

Start of the Prairie/Wetlands Loop Trail

Heading to the wildlife viewing platform overlooking the Wetlands Loops

Pickerel Weed

Arrowhead

Spikesedge

Plains Coreopsis

A Swainson's Hawk circled several times, three Caracaras in a distant tree were good for an artsy video, a couple of Dickcissels sang from the field, and I couldn't believe my ears - a Kiskadee was calling from the woods (and didn't get flagged, so I guess they're somewhat regular here now)! I guess the place is a restored prairie/wetland project, with the purpose of showing what the Houston area looked like before urban sprawl! A Scissor-tailed Flycatcher flew across the trail, and where the trail looped back past some picnic areas, a Tawny Emperor landed on a plugged-up birdhouse...

View from the observation deck

Scene with the Observation Tower

Affectionate Caracaras in a pine

Swainson's Hawk

Female Tawny Emperor

Back at the car I was ready for a PBJ Bagel, so we swung back to the little lot near headquarters, had that, then tackled the Pond Loop Trail. A big guy with a big cross around his neck had his little boy with him, and they went to fish at one of the docks while I checked the other wetlands, which looked like high potential for Purple Gallinules with all the water lilies, but they were actually quite birdless. But lots of other critters showed up: what was probably a nymph slant-faced grasshopper of some kind tried to blend in with a big blade of grass, and a young Great Blue Skimmer finally cooperated for at least an ID photo, but the highlight along this stretch was a beautiful rusty-colored snake that actually stayed still long enough for me to get video (had probably just eaten)! Best match seems to be the Broad-banded Water Snake (and Seek agreed, although it was at a loss regarding the grasshopper; it thinks it's a katydid…) [Update: Once again the BugGuide guys came through and ID'd it as a Glassy-winged Toothpick!]. The dominant butter along the trails was the ubiquitous Carolina Satyr.

All loop trails start from here

Pond Loop Trail

Yellow-crowned Night Heron on the trail

The first pond - this place used to be a fishery before TPWD transformed it into an environmental learning center!

American White Waterlily

Glassy-winged Toothpick Grasshopper

Broad-banded Water Snake

Carolina Satyr

Immature Great Blue Skimmer

After resting at the end of the trail I was debating about doing the whole loop via the Swamp Rabbit Trail or just heading back and doing that tomorrow, as I was really starting to get winded. But the rest helped, and I continued on as planned, as I really wanted to cover the place and head on to Mustang Island the next morning. No way was I going to tackle that 60-foot observation tower, but I did go up the ramp to where the not-working elevators were and rested again, getting a Yellow-crowned Night Heron and a singing Cardinal out of it (to say nothing of a nice view of the prairie). Back in the woods a Carolina Wren hopped around a trunk, and I got a kick out of these "story signs" they had posted here and there about a turtle (and I did get some video of a Red-eared Slider with his big foot hanging out)! On the last covered fishing deck several Bullfrogs were croaking, and by a miracle I actually spotted one in the act and was able to get video! (I think I scared the dad and kid getting ready to come on deck when I exclaimed to no one in particular, "I got 'im!") There were also several of these little water beetles swimming and mating on a stick (Kaufman's insect guide came through and ID 'd them as Whirligig Beetles), while an Eastern Amberwing claimed a nearby perch.

Swamp Rabbit Trail

View of the prairie from the lower deck of the 60-foot tower

Cardinal challenging an unseen rival

Back on the Swamp Rabbit Trail

Red-eared Slider

Kinglet Trail (check out the placard - lower right)

Carolina Wren

Eastern Amberwing

American Bullfrog in mid-croak

Whirligig Beetles

I was really getting heated by then, but a nasal “ca” got me down the road, and was able to at least glimpse the Fish Crow! A Blue Jay was also calling but wouldn't come out, so I finally decided to wrap it up and head back to the hotel, and conferring with The Boss (Keith), he agreed that it would be good to head on to Mustang Island. Filmed another White Ibis and Little Blue on the way out (this time the Narrowmouth Toads were providing background music), and on the way back to the hotel (and Siri sends you along the frontage road going back) had a Red-tailed Hawk fly up on a post! Since we wrapped up early, we celebrated the Limpkins with a wonderful early dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse! As an aside, what's surprised me to no end is the lack of mosquitoes; I would think with all the rain and the hot, humid conditions (especially around a swampy wetland area like these parks have been), there would have been tons of 'em! Not complaining, mind you...

Picnic area where the Fish Crow was

White Ibis downs a juicy morsel (looks like it might be a giant tadpole...)

Little Blue Heron

Woodland savannah on the way out

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Day 3: More Brazos Bend

By Mary Beth Stowe • May 20, 2025

The Lord was merciful the next morning and it wasn’t raining! Got packed up, swiped a couple of sausages from the breakfast, and headed out to the park. Got in earlier than yesterday, and right away a Painted Bunting was singing right next to the car! Unfortunately it was still too dark to take video, but you could just barely make out his colors! The first missed trail I wanted to cover was the Pilant Slough Trail (kept wanting to call it Pliant Slough), but wanted to crawl along that cypress swamp just in case another Limpkin showed up! Well, if someone didn’t mind counting a heard-only bird, there were plenty of them wailing away, only way back there! In fact, I could even see a private home back there, and five’ll get you ten that that was the place the owner was letting people in to see the birds when they first started showing up! While I was making audio recordings a couple of feral pigs snorted and ran away on the other side of the road, so that got me back to the car in a hurry! Shortly came across a “murder of crows” that was giving something fits, so I pulled over to see if I could spot what they were mobbing, and it was a Bobcat up in a tree! He stayed put for video, too! I thought that was pretty neat!

Two trees are standing in the middle of a grassy field.

Day 2: Brazos Bend State Park

By Mary Beth Stowe • September 28, 2024

Got ready to go the next morning a little earlier than planned, so went ahead and headed over to the park, thankful that the gate was open just like the guy said! I went straight to 40 Acre Lake and took the Powershot down to the pier, but didn’t stay long as I realized I really needed to be using The Monster (i.e. Sony with the Big Lens) in this situation (it was still kinda dusky, even after sunrise, and it handles low-light situations much better than the Powershot). I ended up spending over an hour there as it was quite active: tons of Little Blue Herons (including many transitioning birds, called “calicos”), Common Gallinules, a young Great Blue, and even a pair of Purple Gallinules taking a bath (but on the other side of the lake)! Some Anhingas were swimming with just their head and necks above the surface (hence the name “snake-bird”), so that was fun to shoot! A Pied-billed Grebe was new for the trip (as was a Tricolored Heron that kept hiding). Got some artsy shots of Great Egrets and spoonbills across the lake, and another Anhinga had landed on the railing to dry his wings, and he was pretty dilapidated! I didn’t wanna bother him (it was obvious he was agitated when I started getting closer), but a Plegadis ibis wheeled in that had a gray face and dark eye, and I would think that this time of year any Whiteface would have a red eye! Unfortunately so long as I didn’t have Internet access I couldn’t upload a picture to eBird, so documentation would have to wait until I got to the Holiday Inn (if I could get on their Wi-Fi…). [Update: I could, so I submitted the photos – more on that story later…] White Ibis were out the yin yang, and what I thought were a mom and kid Boat-tailed Grackle came by (as the male was singing somewhere), but they turned out to be Great-tails after I reviewed the video. A Mississippi Kite circled over the trees, but the best video op was a roaring Alligator! That was great! The Four-spotted Pennants (a type of dragonfly) on the way out were anti-climactic! Totally forgot to film the Barn Swallow nest on the way out, though… ☹ I did hear some chickadees on the way out, so I wheeled back in and tried to get some video out the car window!

A tree in a park with spanish moss hanging from it

Day 1: The Drive Up & Brazos Bend Scouting

By Mary Beth Stowe • September 21, 2024

As usual, woke up early so got going early after the morning routine; added Golden-fronted Woodpecker to the list while packing the car (among other things we’ll probably pick up later). Another “write-in” bird heading north on US 77 was a Harris’ Hawk! We stopped at the Sarita rest stop, picking up a Hooded Oriole for the trip, but boy, did it look nasty up ahead!! I wish I had been able to take a picture on the fly, because you talk about storm-chasing: once under it, it was black as night, with some terrific lightning displays! But then the rain started, and by Riviera it was zero visibility, so I just pulled into a Pizza Hut (or some such joint) parking lot to wait it out for a while. A Flood Warning came over the phone, and looking at the radar, we were right in the middle of a big red blob (I kept trying to capture a picture of the thing and was turning the phone off by mistake, so by the time I did get a picture the Red Blob had moved north a bit so the effect wasn’t the same)! Continued on after a few minutes, and while it let up, it didn’t really stop until the next stop at Refugio. We got a breakfast croissant at Burger King, then continued north. Filled up at El Campo (ended up going around the Very Long Block for that one), where a homeless guy opened the door for me! Headed on to Brazos Bend, where there was no hint of the threatened rain! Jumped out at the entrance to shoot the requisite sign, and had a Carolina Wren actually in view for a second while waiting to check in! I had some questions, so the ranger had me park and walk in where he gave me a map and showed me where the Limpkins usually show up; unfortunately it was as someone else had mentioned, and it was an almost three mile one-way hike along the Live Oak Trail to get to the habitat! He also suggested a couple of spots for Purple Gallinules, and said that the gate opens around 6:15, so that was perfect! Back at the car I remembered the other question I wanted to ask and went running back: do they have feeders? Nope – all natural here, she said!

A dirt road in the middle of a desert with mountains in the background

Day 6 - Kickapoo Cavern State Park

By Mary Beth Stowe • September 16, 2024

And what a final day! It was another cold but (thankfully) windless morning, and the drive to Brackettville in the dark was (again thankfully) uneventful. We made a potty stop there, picking up a singing Western Kingbird for the trip, and by that time it was getting light enough so that the last leg to Kickapoo Cavern on FM 674 was delightful – I’d love to be able to survey that road, as there was lots of good Edwards Plateau habitat and plenty of places to pull over. Did see a couple of ravens, but according to eBird both could occur, so I let them go. And am I thankful I downloaded the eBird checklist the night before, because there was no signal once I got to the park! (Although I had an initial shock when I ran the day list and only got four species – needed to change the date… 😊) After taking the obligatory entrance sign picture, we just crawled along, and were rewarded with a friendly Golden-cheeked Warbler, and later a Rufous-crowned Sparrow (he wasn’t friendly – just happened to be on my side of the road and was nice enough to stay put)! A Scissor-tailed Flycatcher on a wire sallied out and caught a big bug, and although the singing Canyon Wren wasn’t new for the trip, the singing Scott’s Oriole was! The normal songsters seemed to be just Cardinals, Bell’s Vireos, and Bewick’s Wrens.

A river runs through a lush green forest with mountains in the background.

Day 5 - South Llano River SP - The Trails

By Mary Beth Stowe • September 7, 2024

Headed out in the black, deciding to park at the walk-in camping lot to see in the dawn. And what a morning! It was freezing cold (around 37 degrees; Heppy – my Subaru – even warned me that the roads could be icy), but not a speck of wind, and the night sky was glorious! (There was a sign in the campground saying this was a Dark Sky Park or something like that…) Got to see a couple of meteors, and even a satellite (or the Space Station)! 😊 Once again, the Cardinals had to voice their dominance as the first birds up (even before it was lightening in the east), but nothing in the way of night birds vocalized. I did hear this weird barking that I suspected was one of the Axis Deer, so I thought I’d have some fun and see what Merlin said! Interestingly, he thought it was an Inca Dove (no way), but he also said he picked up a Poorwill! I did briefly hear something that sounded like one poor-will phrase, but since it didn’t keep going (as they usually do), I didn’t count it. Walked around the lot trying to keep warm, and in the twilight a Great Horned Owl glided low over my head (and it was light enough to see the details of his face without the bins 😊)! Also heard Turkeys gobbling in the distance, and as it got lighter a singing Yellow-breasted Chat (that Merlin didn’t recognize, interestingly) was new for the trip, and that weird whistling that I heard yesterday that sounded like a funky Black-capped Chickadee and wrote it off as an oddball Field Sparrow or something suddenly clicked: it was the reported White-throated Sparrow! He gave great recording ops but never came out for a view, either there or in the blind.

A small bird is standing next to a large rock.

Day 4 - South Llano River SP Blinds

By Keith Hackland • September 2, 2024

Packed up after the morning routine (funny how I’ve consistently woken up before the alarm goes off) and made it to Junction without clobbering any deer! 😊 (The wind was horrendous, though; I was concerned about all those big rigs zipping along at 70 MPH!) Siri sent me the back way, which I think was new, and was shocked to discover major road work going on in the park – I couldn’t even pull over on my favorite perch at the top of the hill! ☹ (Come to find out they were building a new Visitor’s Center…) So I pulled over as soon as I felt it was safe, and like the first morning at Kerr, I think the wind kept me from hearing much of anything (although, as normal, the Cardinals were the first ones to wake up). I did pick up a Black-capped Vireo at the first hard left, and heard a Golden-cheeked Warbler near Lora’s Blind (but I think that might have been after sunrise – it all blends together…). Crawled around the campground picking up several Bell’s Vireos and spooked three Axis Deer, and by the time I arrived at the big parking lot outside the campground my Sunrise Alarm went off, so decided to head back to Lora’s Blind first before the construction crew got going! That was a good plan, and my concerns about the blinds being packed with people were unfounded, as, out of all four blinds, only two other couples showed up the whole time (and I spent an hour in each one)! One couple remembered me from San Diego (and that’s always embarrassing when you don’t remember them ☹) and were now RVing all over the country, and the other couple were new birders from San Benito (another Lower Rio Grande Valley town)! (I put in a plug for Arroyo Colorado Audubon… 😊) Anyway, even before the food was put out, Lora’s Blind was hopping with activity: the main players were White-crowned Sparrows of all ages and in various degrees of molt (it was funny to see beat up birds next to immaculately fresh ones), and both species of towhees came in as well (although the Spotted was consistently shy). Titmice were very cooperative, and I was thrilled to see a Hermit Thrush come in to the water feature! Cardinals were all over the place, Lincoln’s Sparrows were plentiful, and one Lark Sparrow came in.

A dirt road going through a field with trees on both sides

Day 3 - Kerr WMA, Bobcat Trail

By Mary Beth Stowe • August 24, 2024

Didn’t wake up quite as early as the day before, but still got to Bobcat Meadows well before dawn. This time it was a lovely morning, with no wind, and at the second or third stop, sure enough, a Poorwill was singing in the distance! (Turkeys were gobbling as well…) Barbara texted me in the middle of all this with a question about the Harris’ Hawk (turns out I had forgotten to add the Swainson’s Hawk to the eBird list, and forgot to add that and the Harris’ to the trip list), so I got to tell her that I had just gotten the Poorwill! J The normal dawn chorus characters started tuning up as it got lighter, but nothing new for the trip. At sunrise I swung over to the main road just to make sure they really were having a turkey hunt, and therefore the place was closed (they were), so I headed back to Bobcat Meadows and carried out the following strategy: stop every tenth of a mile, drag The Monster out, and wait five minutes to see what shows! Worked fine until the second or third stop when two Black-capped Vireos were really going at it in this bush in front of me; you’d think they’d be visible, but no way! But I hung in there with them, and they eventually shot down to a leafless bush down the incline where they were clearly visible chasing each other around the bush, and it became apparent that there was a third bird (which turned out to be the female, which was the main bird I was able to shoot; her hubby was too busy chasing his rival J)! It wasn’t the greatest, mainly because of the distance and trying to keep the silly things in focus as they dashed in and out between the branches, but at least we got something!

A man walking down a road with trees in the background

Day 2: Kerr WMA with Barbara Pankratz

By Mary Beth Stowe • August 10, 2024

I felt like a kid on Christmas morning the next day, so I did the morning routine unhurriedly because I got up uber early, and got over to Bobcat Meadows well before dawn; the wind concerned me, but there were no night birds at all, and as the sky lightened we had the usual suspects, including the song-battling Black-capped Vireos. I rushed out of there in time to meet Barbara at the main gate, which was closed when I first checked, but open now! We had a great reunion, and she had quite the list while she was waiting for me (she, too, felt like a kid on Christmas morning and got there around seven, when the gate was open)! I had heard a chickadee coming in, and Inca Doves at the station, but for some reason she didn’t hear the Canyon Wren I heard (but she got it later). We piled into Heppy and started crawling, and it was good to catch up during the course of the day! It all blended together since we covered both roads; Barbara spotted Lark Sparrows right away on the main road, a Vermilion Flycatcher “butterflied” overhead, and a Swainson’s Hawk circled in the distance. We heard both the Goldencheeks and the Blackcaps right away, but the former was the only one to cooperate by sitting on the tippy top of a tree! (Barbara circled around a tree a Blackcap was singing in to try and “herd” him my way…) We found another Goldencheek pair chasing each other, and Barbara got terrific shots with her new Sony, but I really had a hard time getting mine on the bird and then in focus, so that made me decide to get a Powershot video first, and then drag out The Monster if the bird was still being cooperative! At that same spot we had a thooking Hermit Thrush, and we actually did have a lot of Blackcaps, but they would only allow fleeting glimpses as they shot from tree to tree.

A fence post in the middle of a field with trees in the background

Edwards Plateau, 3-9 April 2022 - the Drive Up

By Mary Beth Stowe • July 29, 2024

Headed out on time, but was greeted by fog heading up the 281 corridor! Once it cleared we added a few expected things: Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Caracara, and Red-tailed Hawk were the nice ones (grackles and pigeons not so nice 😊). Stopped at the Subway in Jourdanton to get lunch for today and tomorrow, where the gals were pulling their hair out because someone suddenly wanted 32 sandwiches for which they had no bread, then caused Siri to pull out her “hair” because I insisted on going the back way to Kerrville instead of taking the freeway! (She finally got on board…) It’s a lovely drive, and ended up getting to the WMA about 1:30, but was surprised to see the main gate closed! (Maybe I shouldn’t have been if they were having a turkey hunt…) So I headed on over to Bobcat Road and just started crawling, and almost immediately I heard a Black-capped Vireo singing! I pulled out The Monster, and what else should start singing but a Golden-cheeked Warbler! I went back and forth between the two trying to nail them down, but neither wanted to come out. ☹ The whole road was like that, really: at one point I had two song-battling, and one of them sounded like he was right there in great light, but of course I either couldn’t spot him or he was singing from within the bush (which is probably more likely). Cardinals also sounded visible but weren’t, and a little pishing got Bewick’s Wrens, titmice, and a Spotted Towhee all excited, but none would come out (it was getting warm and breezy, so I don’t blame them).

A road going through a desert with mountains in the background

Big Bend Part 7: Chisos Basin & the Drive Home

By Mary Beth Stowe • July 20, 2024

Got all packed up in plenty of time the next morning, so dropped off the key and headed down to the amphitheater parking area to see in the dawn, planning on walking up the paved road and then coming back down that connector trail I did last time. I hemmed and hawed about that after coasting down the incline, however, and remembered that I was looking into the sun going up that trail last time, so decided to start at the top and come down after all. The predawn watch was glorious, with more stupendous stars (and I think I saw a satellite – one was moving pretty fast!), plus another Poorwill and a couple more Elf Owls! (That was my last chance at picking up Western Screech Owl, hence the vigil, but no banana…) Some songsters later came close enough for recordings, including a Canyon Towhee and Scott’s Oriole! I headed up a bit before actual sunrise to use the restroom, then got distracted by a pair of Canyon Towhees bouncing around near the picnic tables, only to be photobombed by a White-winged Dove! Then headed down what I thought was the trail I had taken up ten years ago, but discovered later that the trail I really wanted was the one that went to the group campground! But my mistake turned out to be a blessing (even though it was another dicey, rocky trail – I’ve definitely made up my mind to avoid those from now on!) as while I was filming an Acorn Woodpecker, I heard a Mexican Jay behind me, and turned to see him hopping on the trail coming my way!! Thankfully he stayed put (or I should say, didn’t flee) for video, calling the whole time! And on top of that, a Gray Fox zipped across the trail behind me! A Rufous-crowned Sparrow came in close to pishing, but he stayed inside the bush enough so that a video just wasn’t possible. From on high I spotted the singing tanager that sounded more like a Summer to me, and it indeed was, which surprised me up this high (although BirdsEye showed it as expected)! A Pine Siskin “cheered” overhead, and I was surprised to see it flagged later when the trio a few days ago were fine – must be on the cusp!