Texas: Part V

The big "travel day"...It was time to move on.  It was time to say good-bye to the lush Hill Country of the Edwards Pleateau.  It was time to head west.

For some people, the idea of a "travel day" might sound ominous.  Cooped up in the car for looooong stretches of time instead of getting out in the field and birding?  But nothing could be further from the truth!  The "travel day" meant we were striking out for new countryside, new habitat, a new area of the country!  The excitment was palpable.  In our case, we would be heading west, bound to cross the Pecos River and enter the land that many people "officially" term "West Texas."  We would be trading the green, rolling hills for the more austere, rugged beauty of the Chihuahuan Desert and the Chisos Mountains.

Our final destination that evening would be the Chisos Mountain Lodge in the heart of Big Bend National Park.  And we all knew what that meant for our plans the following morning...In twenty-four hours, we would be waking before dawn to make the arduous hike for our biggest target of the entire trip: the Colima Warbler.  This was the bird that had drawn most of the participants to Texas in the first place.  The elusive Colima Warbler.  Found nowhere else in the United States but in the Chisos Mountains.  Even more difficult to find in Mexico.  And between you and that bird lies a rigorous climb that could require eight hours of strenuous effort, or more.  And there was no guarantee you would find the bird, even if you did make it all the way to the top.  This adventure, one of the unique trials that all cross-country birders must eventually face, lay before us.  And though our corporeal selves might be contained within those cars for hours at a time today, the more contained we felt, the more our minds flew to the oaks and pinyons that crowned the mountain we could be climbing tomorrow.

Even if we didin't have such an adrenaline-inducing morning to anticipate, a "travel day" never means riding endlessly in the car all afternoon long.  Bill had planned for a variety of interesting stops along the way, each with its special appeal and chance for new birds, as well.  We would be exploring a golf course in Del Rio, just next to the Mexican border.  A stop in Langtry meant a chance to visit the former saloon and courthouse of Judge Roy Bean, "the only law west of the Pecos."  Even a rest stop at a random convenience store could turn up an exciting new bird perched atop a telephone pole...When you're entering new territory, you just never know what to expect.

So, we packed up our cars, had a quick bite to eat, and were off.  We tried to settle in, assuming that it would be some time before the world outside our windows changed enough to warrant adding new birds to the list.  But before we had been driving for very long, Zack woke up everyone in Car 5 with the exclamation, "There were Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks on the roof of that store back there!"  A quick call over the radio and a few "cutesy-dutesy" U-turns later, and we had all pulled into a parking lot to view the whistling-ducks that Zack had spotted.

It's nice to have all your ducks in a row.

It was actually a while on the open road before we noticed the habitat begin to change, but change it did.  After an hour or so, the land began to flatten out, becoming more arid and desert-like.  The yellow and blue wildflowers that had lined the roads for so long now gave way to creosote bush and sagebrush.  And at last, we began to see a change in the bird life, too.  Crested Caracaras flew over the highway or stood alert on telephone poles.  Red-tailed Hawks and vultures, both Turkey and Black, were in abundance.

We reached our first interim stop in Del Rio, not far from the Rio Grande River.  A 9-hole golf course, part of a country club in town, was a hot spot for possible south-Texas specialty birds...maybe a Green Kingfisher, always an exciting and desirable species to see.  We didn't have too long to spend here; we would have more time to explore when we passed by again on our way back east about a week later.  But we did have an opportunity to stretch our legs and explore a small stream that meandered through the course itself.  Common Yellowthroats sang from within the reeds lining the stream, and a Great Kiskadee swooped over to alight on a telephone wire.  Our cursory search for the Green Kingfisher came up empty, but a kingbird sitting calmly in some open branches caught our attention.  Western Kingbirds had been standard, but this individual proved to be a Couch's Kingbird, a life bird for many.  A pair of cormorants stood on a thick branch overhanging the stream along the second fairway, arousing no concern at first.  It was raining lightly, so I didn't have my camera with me, but luckily I had brought my scope along, because a close look allowed me to announce that these were not Double-crested, but Neotropic Cormorants, another southern specialty!  Great new birds, but the Green Kingfisher had eluded us.  We knew we would have other opportunities, though, so we headed west once again.

After passing over the enormous International Amistad Reservoir, we eventually crossed the Pecos River, and all of west Texas welcomed us.  And who was the only law west of the Pecos?  Well, in the 19th century, it was Justice of the Peace Roy Bean, who held court from his saloon in Langtry, Texas.  Now there's a visitor center at the historic site of Bean's saloon/courtroom, surrounded by a beautiful congregation of native trees and a cactus garden.  A relaxing stop afforded everyone the chance to stretch, eat lunch, take in a little history, and, of course, bird.  The cactus garden was home to (no surprise here) a Cactus Wren.  The large trees housed not only a Scott's Oriole, but a Hooded Oriole, as well, one of my favorites:

Hooded?  Hooded with orange, that is.  Always very charismatic.

We were maybe halfway to Big Bend, halfway to that Colima Warbler...but still halfway to go.  Another hour west, and we found ourselves at a convenience store in Sanderson for a brief rest stop and a chance to stock up on supplies.  You don't expect to find many new birds at a convenience store stop...maybe some House Sparrows, some swallows swirling around the roof over the gas pumps...but a raven that had alit on the top of a telephone pole at the edge of the parking lot piqued our curiosity.  We were now fully in the Chihuahuan Desert, and so this mere raven could be more than a Common...it could be a Chihuahuan Raven!  We hustled over to the telephone pole to get as close a look as we could:

Hmmm...

The most conclusive way to distinguish the Chihuahuan Raven from a Common Raven is to observe the base of its neck feathers...The Chihuahuan Raven used to be called the American White-necked Raven because of the clear white bases to the feathers around its neck.  But most wild ravens aren't willing to let you approach close enough to run your hands through their shaggy feathers to make the ID.  They can be difficult like that.  Instead, sometimes you hope for a gust of wind to blow the neck feathers back, revealing the feather bases.  I've only witnessed such a fortuitous breeze in the presence of a properly positioned Chihuahuan Raven a handful of times, so I didn't expect it now.  Are there other ways to tell them apart?  Well, the fact that we were surrounded by lowland Chihuahuan Desert was a good sign.  The voice of a Chihuahuan Raven is higher than that of a Common, but that's a tough call, and this one didn't vocalize anyway.  The Chihuahuan itself is smaller than a Common, but without a direct comparison...For me, if I get a good enough look through the scope or a clear enough photograph, I tend to rely on the shape of the bill and the length and orientation of the nasal bristles atop the bill.  John Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, once wrote an article describing how the nasal bristles on a Common Raven tend to be equally and cleanly cut off in a neat straight line about half-way down the length of the bill.  On the other hand, on a Chihuahuan Raven, the nasal bristles appear not only to extend more than half-way down the bill, but also to cut off unevenly, so that some bristles appear to be longer than others.  When I looked at the photograph above, I was still concerned, because the angle didn't provide much conclusive evidence either way.  I was very pleased, however, with the following photograph!  You'll probably need to click on it to see, but I believe that the bird below demonstrates the nasal bristle pattern of a Chihuahuan Raven: the longest bristles extend more than halfway down the length of the bill, causing the bill to appear somewhat shorter, and moreover, the bristles are clearly not tidily cut off at the same length...They are somewhat unkempt, with some appearing longer than the others.  All of these characteristics suggest a Chihuahuan Raven!

Mistake the raven...Nevermore!

It doesn't hurt that after I left, numerous people, like Elissa, actually saw the white-based neck feathers through their binoculars.  ID confirmed!  But it's fun to try to make the case through photographic evidence as well.

After several more hours, we finally entered the breathtaking Chisos Mountains and Big Bend National Park.  We stopped in at the Panther Junction office to read up on recent bird reports, and discovered that a few Colima Warblers had been seen up the Laguna Meadow trail...more on that later.  But after digging through the recent reports, we were able to search around the Panther Junction parking lot and turn up a few new birds.  A Curve-billed Thrasher showed no fear of human visitors as he dashed along the ground from cactus to cactus:

Get a load of that eye!  Almost menacing...

A Cactus Wren had built a nest not two feet from the parking lot, and by the look of this next photo, she had some hungry mouths to feed:

We were happy to see this beautiful wren.  The bug wasn't so thrilled.

The cactuses were in bloom all around us.  To a New Englander like me, cactuses usually signify dry, dusty deserts.  To see them all alive and awash in vivid color was mesmerizing!

Prickly Pear

We checked in, at last, at our home away from home for the next five days, the Chisos Mountain Lodge.  And we discussed our ambitious plans for the next morning.  An early night's sleep, awake at 5 a.m., and the hike would begin.  Our most daunting challenge awaited us.  We enjoyed a nice dinner at the lodge restaurant, and shared our excitement about our imminent adventure.  Even after such a long day, however, the birding never ends.  In the lodge parking lot, a Canyon Towhee was a constant presence:

You can see the white tips at the end of the outer tail feathers.

Are you looking for a Colima Warbler, too?

He's got his own territory to maintain.

A Say's Phoebe was active nearby, and we eventually found the nest...right in the eaves of the restuarant building!

A slender beauty.

She stood atop this perch for a half-hour, periodically seizing prey from the air.

A Black-chinned Sparrow sang from the bushes a ways off, but although we searched, most of us came up empty-handed for now.  However, while scanning for the sparrow, I came upon two signs that set the stage for the following day.  The first I wouldn't have wanted my mom to see until after I had returned safe and sound!

Don't worry, Mom!  I'm already back!

The second sign was just the tease we needed.

Which path was the right one?

The Colima Warblers reported thus far at the main office had all been seen up the Laguna Meadows Trail.  Not a single Colima Warbler had yet been reported from the Pinnacles Trail this season.  But Bill had decided, based on his experience, that the Pinnacles trail would be our best bet.  We would be starting up early, before dawn.  After such a long day of travel, I unpacked quickly and had no trouble falling asleep.  And I had no trouble rising early the next morning, opening the cabin door, and peering into the cool darkness, listening to the silence and contemplating what adventures lay in store.