Choke Canyon - Dec. 23, 2012

With a long weekend and beautiful weather, we decided it was time to take a trip down to Choke Canyon State Park. Our friends from New Jersey, Gordon and Nancy joined us.

It being the Sunday before Xmas, FM 99, usually busy with large semi trucks from the Eagle Ford oil projects, was empty enough to allow us some "old time" birding. Though not as birdy as in the past, it still gave us a good start to the day.

Disappointment hit when we reached the Choke Canyon reservoir areas near the intersection of 99 and 72. They are virtually dried up, with virtually no habitat for the usual ducks, shorebirds, kingfishers, cormorants, anhinga, etc.

However, the area wasn't totally devoid of interest. We saw a bird of prey in the distance, which I desperately wanted to turn into a Bat Falcon because of its bright coloration. It turned out to be a magnificently colored juvenile Northern Harrier, which became apparent when we saw its owl-like facial disks through the scope.

I also managed to get a great shot of a Double-crested Cormorant, certainly not an unusual bird for the area, but posed perfectly for me to use for one of my bird mugs at a future date. (Advertisement: You can find my pottery here.)

Birding in the park was good. The parking lot by the old swimming pool had a Vermilion Flycatcher on every tree, most of them fully feathered males.

The nearby Bird Trail was also active, with mixed flocks of Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Black-crested Titmouse, Orange-crowned Warbler, and Ruby-crowned Kinglets. At the back end of the trail, by the water pumping area, we had our "difficult" bird of the day. (You need at least one or your trip hasn't been worthwhile, say I.)

It was a Kingbird, but was much too light for it to easily be counted as a Couch's Kingbird, the most likely in the park this time of year. The three of us who saw it all agreed it was right for a Western Kingbird; but they aren't supposed to be there in December. Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to photograph it, so it might well remain a conundrum, unless someone refinds the bird.

Once again, as in our past several visits, Olive Sparrows were nowhere to be seen. I wonder if the prolonged drought has affected their habitat that much?

As usual, butterflies caught our eye and I managed to get photos of two different species: 

Queen

 

I'm not sure what type of butterfly this is.

From there, we drove over to 75 Acre Lake, where there were interesting birds -- just on the opposite shores. However, with the scope, we were able to see well enough through the late morning heat shimmer to identify a good number of ducks, shorebirds, and a couple of Harris's Hawks.

The interesting birds here were four Black-winged Stilts past their season (though not as unlikely as that Kingbird!).

We also saw the good-sized Alligator that tends to inhabit this body of water.

After a quick drive through the RV area, with nothing of interest, we drove to the exit of the park and came upon about six Northern Bobwhite by the side of the road. Three flew off as we approached. The remaining three seems unbothered by my photographic efforts, the best of which I share below.

And, before the day's list, I leave you with one of the park's mammals, reaching young adulthood.

 

The list:

SA Audubon Field Trip to Choke Canyon

Unfortunately, I forgot the camera today. Of course, there were a couple of great videos I missed. But, such is life.

Since I have no accompanying "illustrations", I'm going to keep this short and sweet. Birding was patchy, with areas of good birding interspersed with long periods of time with no apparent birds or birds giving chip calls, but not allowing us to see them.

The best birding areas today:

• The parking lot near the swimming pool, giving us Couch's Kingbird, Great Kiskadee, Green Jays, Cooper's Hawk, and both listed Woodpeckers, among others.
• The first part of the birding trail and then the second section (after the jog and just before where the wetlands used to be), with several Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Yellow-rumped Warblers.
• 75 Acre Lake, especially scoping the far shores from the trail between the two bodies of water

 The non-birding highlights (which made me yearn for the camera) were:

• Two Dung Beetles rolling their balls of dung. I love to watch these creatures using their rear legs, while doing their work head down.
• We heard an unusual noise a bit down the trail. It was coming from a Cottontail Rabbit which had been nabbed by a large Indigo Snake. We watched with morbid fascination while the rabbit struggled and the snake worked against its struggle. I won't go into any more detail. The most interesting thing I saw during the struggle was the snake shaking its tail, as though it was a Rattlesnake. Avie has some video -- we just can't figure out how to get it off his phone.

All in all, not the best of days. But not too shabby either, with 47 species of birds.

Gadwall
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Scaup sp.
Wild Turkey
Neotropic Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
White Ibis
White-faced Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Cooper's Hawk
Harris's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Crested Caracara
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Eastern Phoebe
Vermilion Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Couch's Kingbird
Loggerhead Shrike
White-eyed Vireo
Green Jay
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Savannah Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Great-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird