November 12 - Last Try at Sabal Palm
I had a pretty good stay in the Brownsville Best Western. The suite was clean and spacious. The property provided hot breakfast with scrambled eggs (sometimes with chorizo), meat (bacon or sausage patties), and rotating biscuit & gravy or flour tortilla, and salsa. The fridge was well-stocked with yogurts, fruit. And the Texas-shaped Waffle machine was onmplemented with syrup or “HONEY” (I love honey! ...) The Internet worked pretty well.
I slept in a bit this morning, having wakened in the wee hours for several days to go on field trips during the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival. I knocked out a blog post for August 11th, which at the time made me feel pretty punk - I was three whole months behind in my blogging! I’m now a year-and-four-months behind. I don’t know if that makes me feel any better or worse, but birding and the rest of my life somehow took precedence over blogging. Not sorry . . .
I figured that I would make one last attempt to find the reported Groove-billed Ani at the Sabal Palm Sanctuary, so checked out of the motel and arrived at the sanctuary just at 11 a.m. The weather had blown in, so that it was raining, windy and 38-40° F. Even the birds aren't this crazy . . . the rain abated around 1 p.m., but the wind kept blowing at 5-15 knots from the north. Made it difficult to hear and the birds kept pretty much to cover. I, being ever the optimistic birder, spent 5 hours there before I finally bagged it. Even with the cool weather, the Green Anole lizards were attempting to warm themselves along the trails. These lizards can change their color from green to brown.
I never did see an Ani, but did have great views of a
Bobcat near the Rabb House. What was
neat was that a Great Horned Owl showed itself in the palms. This bird had very reddish-brown plumage, which
I thought quite handsome. The
Great-Horneds where I’m from in western Washington tend to be dark brown - to
blend in with the dank Pacific Northwest forests . . .
Leaving the Rio Grande Valley, I headed east, making it as far as the Rodeway Inn in Kingsville and checked in for the night, then ate supper at La Hacienda restaurant. Even at the ‘chains’, I’ve not had any bad Mexican food in this State.
November 13 - Oso BayToday would have been Dad’s 97th Birthday. I still come up with questions or thoughts and think, “I need to call Dad…” then realize that I’ve been an orphan for the last 9 years.
I slept in until nearly 7 a.m., and
packed to leave Kingsville and move on toward Liberty. The Rodeway was not quite the quality of the
BW Casa Villa, but was clean, and had fairly good lighting (I like
light!). I had gone on the eBird website
to find a spot near Corpus Christi where Groove-billed Anis had been seen
within the last week, so drove to the Oso Bay Wetlands Preserve and walked the
trail loops.
Much of the 162-acre site is covered with mesquite, which the preserve is ‘managing’ with some grassy openings. They have two miles of walking trails and have also built a few platforms overlooking the bay.
A Gulf Coast Clapper Rail put on a bit of a show in the brackish marsh. I never did find the Anis, but enjoyed the walk in the cool afternoon breezes, until I realized that it was 3 p.m. and I still had over a four hour drive to Dayton to have supper with my favorite Daughter, Becca.
I pretty much drove straight through, enduring the traffic in Houston, and made it to the Dayton Best Western a bit before 8 p.m. Rebecca texted me to meet her at the Los Compadres restaurant for supper, where they had Menudo on the menu! I had that and a guacamole salad for supper, and Becca had grilled vegetables on lettuce (and half of my guac salad). I gave her a Birthday present of the Plants of the Trans-Pecos book that I’d ‘won’ in the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival’s Silent Auction, as well as the ticket to the Ranch Hand Weekend Country Concert featuring Mark Chesnutt, which is scheduled for this coming November 23rd.
November 14 - Anahuac
I slept in until 5:30 and drank some coffee to wake up, then went down to the breakfast nook of the Best Western motel in Dayton. I had little incentive to rush out to do any birding, since it was a rainy 44º morning, so worked a bit on the ‘way-behind blog posts. Mid-morning, I decided to do some birding south of town at Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge.
En route, I stopped at a couple places along County Road 118, hoping to pull out some odd sparrows or blackbirds from the flocks, but found nothing new. I also stopped at the Cedar Hill Park near Wallisville. This is a nice little picnic area, but I had the place to myself so walked around a bit. The lake was pretty high, but there were lots of White Pelicans on the water.
I arrived at the Refuge and found the water was pretty high. But, the Auto Loop was open, so I drove it and enjoyed seeing the waterbirds.
It’s always a thrill for a ‘northerner’ to see the Whistling Ducks. When I began birding, back in the 70s, these were called “Tree Ducks”.
November 15 - Anahuac to High Island to Galveston
I slept in until about 6:30, and worked on a Blog post for August 12-14th, (only three months behind at that point) then checked out and headed in to Liberty to the Teachers Credit Union to get some cash, only to find out that they are not part of the shared branching system. So, I met Becca at Jax’ Hamburgers for lunch. She had a salad with grilled vegetables and I had tomato soup and a toasted cheese sandwich for $16 total.
This Chipping Sparrow is easily identified by its grey rump patch.
There are always Fire Ants in the South, an invasive, non-native, nasty, biting, stinging insect. What would be a gopher or mole mound back home in Washington State might be stepped on. Not here: You need to watch where you walk so you don't stir up these little heathens!
I did see this cool-looking nuptial scorpionfly there. “The Order Mecoptera has special importance in the evolution of the insects. Two of the most important insect orders, Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) and Diptera (true flies), along with Trichoptera (caddisflies), probably evolved from ancestors belonging to, or strictly related to, the Mecoptera. Evidence includes anatomical and biochemical similarities as well as transitional fossils, such as Permotanyderus and Choristotanyderus, which lie between the Mecoptera and Diptera. The group was once much more widespread and diverse than it is now, with four suborders during the Mesozoic.” This is apparently a female, as the males have enlarged genitals that look similar to the stingers of scorpions.
Continuing west,
I took the Galveston-Bolivar Ferry, and stopped at East Beach to take in the
sunset and hope for a Lesser Black-backed Gull, again unsuccessfully. So, I gave up and made it as far as Texas
City, checking into the Best Western for the night.
The day dawned clear and 42º F. After breakfast at the motel, I checked out some cash from the Associated Credit Union of Texas ATM (who are partners in the shared branch system of Credit Unions), then checked out and drove back to Galveston Island, where a Groove-billed Ani had been seen within the week at the Artist Boat Coastal Heritage Preserve.
This is a 690-acre conservation area on West Galveston Island, and the goal of the organization is to preserve and restore 1,400 contiguous acres from bay-to-beach. These kind people allow public access.
But, there was good birding along the quarter-mile road, with nice views of waterbirds.
Coming back toward the car, I was greeted with a cheery “good morning” by bird-savvy resident Alice Ann O'Donell, who let me know that Brown Boobies have been seen recently at the end of 8 Mile Road, so I went over there but could not scope them out. I did find a Lesser Black-backed Gull perched on a utility pole, for my 600th Species of the year.
Finally, I called it a day and drove away from the Gulf, heading north on I-45 to Highway 6 and across to Sugarland and then west on I-10 to San Antonio. I stopped at the Costco to have my tires rotated, as I was ‘way overdue, and ate a soup and salad at Jordan’s Deli. The sun was setting, so I drove down to the Sure Stay and checked in for the night.
November 16
Artist Boat Coastal Heritage Preserve eBird checklist is
Here
Settegast Road eBird checklist is Here
8 Mile/Sportsman's Road eBird Checklist is Here
November 15
Galveston East Beach eBird checklist is Here
Bolivar-Galveston Ferry eBird checklist is Here
High Island eBird checklist is Here
Anahuac NWR Skillern Tract eBird checklist is Here
County Road 118 eBird Checklist is Here
November 14
Anahuac NWR Willows Trail eBird Checklist is Here
Anahuac NWR Auto Loop eBird Checklist is Here
Wallisville Lake eBird Checklist is Here
County Road 118 eBird Checklist Stop No. 2 is Here
County Road 118 eBird Checklist Stop No. 1 is Here
Oso Bay Wetlands eBird checklist is Here
November 12Sabal Palm Sanctuary eBird checklist is Here
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