April 19 - Black-capped Vireo at Wichita Mtns NWR

I went down to eat breakfast at the Windham Microtel here in Altus.  Pretty much just a waffle maker and weak coffee at this motel, and they didn’t open until 6:30.  I got out of the motel by 7:30 and drove east to the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge around 8:30.  My reason for back-tracking to this Refuge was to see if I could find the Black-capped Vireo, which I'd never seen before & which would move me toward my goal of seeing 75 "Life Birds" this year.

I initially stopped at the small dam below the Visitors’ Center, and viewed the Bison and Longhorn Cattle that are part of this Refuge’s restoration legacy.

These large mammals are free-ranging, and potentially hazardous

My, what big horns you have . . .

There was a flock of Wild Turkeys, with the Tom strutting his stuff.

Perhaps, just a bit ostentatious?

Then, I drove toward the Quanah Parker Lake dam.

There is a monument to this amazing Comanche leader, warrior, and statesman.  If you don’t know the history of Parker and his leadership of the Quahadi band of the Comanche Nation, the Wikipedia entry is a start.  A much better biography is:  Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History, by S. C. Gwynne.

Quanah Parker photo from the Comanche Nation website

I read the epitaph of Quanah Parker at the Refuge:

Do not stand at my grave and weep

I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow

I am the diamond glint in snow

I am the sunlight on ripened grain.

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you wake in the morning hush.

I am the swift uplifting rush

of quiet birds in circling flight.

I am the soft starlight at night.

Do not stand at my grave and weep.

I am not there, I do not sleep.

Ai!

I stopped at a little pullout before I got to the dam, as there were a number of birds flitting about.  Most turned out to be Chipping and Lark Sparrows, but there were some Myrtle and Orange-crowned Warblers, and a Black-chinned Hummingbird.

These Lark Sparrows are just such handsome birds!

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

We don't get Gnatcatchers in Washington State

Hard to see the black chin on this hummingbird . . .

. . . Until he turns around!

Then, I heard the bubbling, buzzy call of the Black-capped Vireo, and waited until he showed himself. 

Yay!  ABA Life Bird No. 599

This species was at the brink of extinction - only around 350 birds remained - when I started birding, due to loss of their required habitat of shrubby oak and ‘cedar’ less than 15 feet high.  These brushlands are often cleared to provide grazing for livestock.

Another major threat to the vireo was the presence of the parasitic Brown-headed Cowbird. Cowbirds lay their eggs in the nests of vireos and other songbirds.  The nesting bird does not recognize the difference between their eggs and cowbird eggs, and incubate all the eggs in the nests.  Cowbird eggs hatch earlier than vireos, and the young are larger than the vireo chicks.  As a result, vireo nests parasitized by cowbirds usually fledge only cowbird young.

The Refuge not only manages their 59,000 acres well, but has also conducted control programs to reduce cowbird numbers, and the Vireo population has recovered from the brink, now standing at around 14,000 birds in the Edwards Plateau in Texas and the populations in west Oklahoma.  This recovery resulted in the species being removed from the Endangered Species list in 2018.  It’s nice to see an ESA success story.  It will, of course, take on-going management to remain a success.

No Longer Endangered

Many of the prairie wildflowers are in bloom here.  I believe that the paintbrush is Castilleja purpurea, which in spite of its species name comes not only in purple (var. purpurea) but also in yellow (var. citrina) and a shade that ranges from orange to red (var. lindheimeri).

Castilleja "citrina"

Castilleja "lindheimeri"

Many other flowers were showing.

Meadow Garlic - Allium canadense

Prairie "Hyacinth" - Camassia angusta

Plains Bee Blossom - Oenothera patriciae (used to be Gaura brachycarpa)

I walked from the dam to the Doris Campground and back, finding another pair of Vireos, and seeing my ‘first-of-the-season’ Summer Tanager, and a pair of White-eyed Vireos.

White-eyed Vireos

This species has white eyes . . . who'd a thought?

I enjoyed talking to the folks who were going to do some ‘bouldering’ near Little Baldy and going to the Narrows rock-climbing area.  At noon, it was time to turn back toward home, so I walked back past the reservoir.

Red-eared Sliders

I drove north on Highway 49 out of the Refuge and headed northwest, seeing my second Western Kingbird of the year near the little burg of Reed, just before I got into Texas.  I ended up staying the night north of Amarillo at the Red Roof Inn in Dumas, Texas.  Supper was at the 287 Roadhouse, where I had a very average sirloin steak and a couple of pints of ZiegenBock Amber - which was pretty good - for $22.  Back at the motel, I was tired and went to bed early.

Wichita Mountains NWR eBird Checklist is Here

Quanah Parker Dam area eBird Checklist is Here

Doris Campground area eBird Checklist is Here

Reed, Oklahoma eBird Checklist is Here