West Texas: Cibolo Creek Lodge Sep 09—15, 2010
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 West Texas: Cibolo Creek Lodge tour continued its impressive run with loads of western migrants, southwestern specialty species, and several rarities. This is the fourth year we have run this trip, and this year's list smashed the previous record by 12 species!
We began in El Paso where the Fort Bliss Sewage Ponds yielded a good number of migrants including the likes of Cassin's Vireo; Purple Martin (very rare here); Nashville, Townsend's, Yellow, Wilson's, and MacGillivray's warblers; Summer Tanager; and Blue and Black-headed grosbeaks among others. We also had nice views of Gambel's Quail, Baird's Sandpiper, and American Avocet at this location. My yard produced a good showing of hummingbirds with three species, including a stunning adult Rufous. Reservoirs and agricultural lands east of El Paso produced a different group of birds with Clark's and Western grebes, Harris's Hawk (literally 20 feet out the window of the van with a ground squirrel in its talons!), a striking juvenile Sabine's Gull (casual in this area), Laughing Gull (rare here), several Burrowing Owls (some very close), Greater Roadrunner, and Cave Swallows topping the list.
Then it was on to luxurious Cibolo Creek Lodge where we spent the next four nights. We spent two full days birding the ranch property with many highlights to show for it. Common Black-Hawk (my first ever at this location); Zone-tailed Hawk (prolonged scope views of an immature, plus an adult over La Cienega); Scaled Quail; Western Screech-Owl (from about 20 feet); Common Poorwill; Golden-fronted Woodpecker; Olive-sided Flycatcher; Vermilion Flycatcher (20 or more per day!); Plumbeous and Bell's vireos; Canyon and Rock wrens; Crissal Thrasher; Virginia's Warbler; more Townsend's Warblers; Northern Waterthrush; Yellow-breasted Chat; dozens of Western Tanagers and Blue Grosbeaks; Varied and Painted buntings; Cassin's, Rufous-crowned, Lark, Brewer's, Clay-colored, and Black-throated sparrows; and Hooded, Scott's, and Orchard orioles were among the more noteworthy.
Another day was spent in and around the Davis Mountains to the north. Near the town of Marfa, we stumbled onto a gorgeous adult White-tailed Kite. This species is very rare in the region, and we had lengthy scope views. Another Zone-tailed Hawk was seen near Davis Mountains State Park, and later in the day an adult Golden Eagle was seen being chased by a pair of Red-tailed Hawks. Highlights of the oak/ juniper zone here included Calliope Hummingbird, Acorn Woodpecker, Dusky Flycatcher, Plumbeous Vireo, Black-crested Titmouse, Bushtit, Western Bluebird, Western Scrub-Jay (the soon to be split Woodhouse's subspecies), Green-tailed Towhee, and Hepatic Tanager (a couple of stunning males). Perhaps the most exciting moment of the tour came with the discovery of a male Montezuma Quail that sat frozen in the grass for several minutes, providing another tour first!
Heading back toward El Paso on our last day we added 17 new species to our list including Snow Goose (very early), Wood Duck, Eared Grebe, White-faced Ibis, Osprey, Pectoral Sandpiper, 10 Stilt Sandpipers, Franklin's Gull, and over 100 Wilson's Phalaropes.
In all we tallied 174 species of birds, 10 species of mammals, a dozen reptiles and amphibians, 29 species of butterflies (at their peak at this season), and a dozen dragonflies. We also enjoyed the comfort and luxury of Cibolo Creek Lodge with its wonderful starry nights and peaceful days, not to mention superb food!