Texas: Cibolo Creek Workshop Sep 11—17, 2007
Posted by Barry Zimmer
Barry Zimmer
Barry Zimmer has been birding since the age of eight. His main areas of expertise lie in North and Central America, but his travels have taken him throughout much of the wo...Related Trips
Our inaugural Cibolo Creek tour was a huge success. The idea was to run a trip to a luxurious lodge (four nights at Cibolo Creek Ranch) during the peak of fall migration in west Texas. We tallied an impressive number of migrants, as well as many resident southwestern specialty birds, and savored the comforts and great food of the lodge.
Our tour started in El Paso, where on the first afternoon we visited McKelligon Canyon and my house. McKelligon Canyon yielded not only resident specialties such as Crissal Thrasher, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Black-throated Sparrow, Cactus Wren, and Rock Wren, but also a good sprinkling of migrants including Dusky Flycatcher, Warbling Vireo, Virginia's Warbler, Western Tanager, Black-headed Grosbeak, and Green-tailed Towhee. We then spent some time watching the hummingbird feeders in my yard and were rewarded with great views of four species—the tiny Calliope, Broad-tailed, Rufous, and Black-chinned—buzzing about, at times within a few feet of us. A quick spin around the neighborhood before dinner produced a covey of Gambel's Quail, a pair of Curve-billed Thrashers, and a very cooperative Black-throated Gray Warbler.
The next morning we visited the Fort Bliss Sewage Ponds before working our way eastward toward Cibolo Creek. Trees around the ponds were very active with migrants including such highlights as Cooper's and Sharp-shinned hawks; Red-naped Sapsucker; Red-breasted Nuthatch; Cassin's Vireo; Cordilleran Flycatcher; Western Wood-Pewee; MacGillivray's, Wilson's, and Orange-crowned warblers; Blue Grosbeak; and Clay-colored Sparrow. Nearby evaporation ponds yielded Solitary Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs, White-faced Ibis, and Black-necked Stilt among others. A real surprise came with the discovery of an Eastern Kingbird (accidental in this area) as we worked our way out of town. Eight Burrowing Owls, one Great Horned Owl, and countless Swainson's Hawks and pronghorns entertained us on our journey toward the ranch. A small pond near Marfa surprised us with a Stilt Sandpiper, two Baird's Sandpipers, and over 250 Yellow-headed Blackbirds. Finally we settled into our rooms and a delicious dinner.
We spent the entire next day on the western portion of Cibolo Creek Ranch. A small cottonwood oasis had a cooperative pair of Zone-tailed Hawks soaring directly overhead, as well as Vermilion Flycatcher, Bell'sVireo, American Redstart, Summer Tanager, and Pyrrhuloxia. Higher elevation canyons produced the uncommon and localized Gray Vireo, Canyon Wren, many more Western Tanagers, Cassin's and Rufous-crowned sparrows, and Varied Bunting. A lone Mississippi Kite, Osprey, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Western and Cassin's kingbirds, and Painted Bunting rounded out the day's migrant tally. A night excursion resulted in superb views of a Western Screech-Owl, as well as a quick view of a gray fox.
The next day we traveled northward to the Davis Mountains to sample a higher elevation and more wooded habitat. Grasslands en route had a stunning Prairie Falcon, Scaled Quail, and numerous Lark Buntings and Lark Sparrows. A stop along Limpia Creek provided one of the highlights of the trip with stunning views of a very unexpected adult Gray Hawk. Other highlights of the day included another Osprey, Acorn Woodpecker, Black-crested Titmouse, Plumbeous Vireo, Western Bluebird, and Hepatic Tanager.
Our third full day on the ranch was spent in the eastern section of the property at La Cienega and La Morita. Here we found another Zone-tailed Hawk, Ladder-backed and Golden-fronted woodpeckers, another pair of Gray Vireos, Verdin, many more Vermilion Flycatchers, Townsend's Warbler, and Orchard Oriole. Another night drive gave us great views of a pair of javelina with a tiny youngster, and more studies of gray fox.
The final day of our trip was spent at irrigation impoundments, sewage ponds, and an Audubon sanctuary near El Paso. Numerous waterbirds added greatly to our trip list with Western, Clark's, Eared, and Pied-billed grebes, American White and Brown (very rare) pelicans, Neotropic Cormorant, Semipalmated Plover, American Avocet, Wilson's Snipe, Wilson's Phalarope, Black and Forster's terns, and Franklin's Gulls among the highlights. A stunning Harris's Hawk was also seen.
In all we totaled 157 species with 14 species of shorebirds, 16 species of raptors (hawks and owls combined), four species of hummingbirds, five species of vireos, and nine species of warblers. Some species were present in huge numbers such as Clay-colored Sparrow (100+), Western Tanager (69), and Blue Grosbeak (55). The weather was wonderful throughout (the first day had an incredibly pleasant high temperature of 75 degrees), and we thoroughly enjoyed spending four nights at the wonderful Cibolo Creek Ranch. I can hardly wait for next year!