CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT

4 January 2012

The 2^nd running of this CBC produced 1/3 of the waterbirds and about the same number of species as the previous year.  The Best Birds of the count were LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL and JAEGER.  The two years were one of contrast in the upper Laguna Madre.  The 2011 survey occurred after major freshening of Laguna by a hurricane during 2010, and the 2012 survey occurred after the driest year in Texas history.  Both winters were much drier than normal.  Interacting with all of this hydrology was an 80 day fall red tide along the national seashore that killed millions of fish and depleted food resources for many birds.

                This CBC covers one of the most important waterbird areas in Texas and is unique for the State because of the long distance needed to travel to the survey area: 18 miles down the beach from the nearest road, or 25 miles by boat from the nearest dock.  We had 2 hardy crews camp on the beach at the count circle edge the night before to get an early start.  While the rest of us, departed at daybreak for safety reasons.

Land based crews drove the beach and scoped from on top of dunes, drove extensive grasslands between the dunes and the wind tidal flats, and 1 crew walked the flats. 

Water based crews dropped off 3 teams to walk the very shallow flats, and then the two boats surveyed waterbirds from deeper water.

RESULTS

We counted 105,000 birds from 100 species.  We reported 350,000 birds from 101 species in 2011.  Major decreases in Am. Coot 21,000 to 0, puddle ducks from 75,000 to 8,000, diving ducks 15,000 to 4,000, and shorebirds 238,000 to 92,000 were noted.  Some of the differences in bird abundance might be related to salinities between the surveys.  It was 20 ppt in 2011 and 46 ppt in 2012.  More surveys will be needed to determine if this is the driving factor for the area.

                Sanderling, turnstone, gull and tern numbers were essentially the same between years even though the beach crew noted scarcity of birds on the beaches.  Many of these “beach” birds have the option to forage over the flats when conditions are harsh on the beach. 

Photo by Cullen Hanks

                Passerine numbers between years were very similar, and fish eating birds were somewhat higher.  Even with the drop in overall abundance from last year, the numbers from this survey for Reddish Egret, Black-bellied Plover, Snowy Plover, Willet, Western Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, and Dunlin will likely be some of the highest in the Nation.

As the sun set we were treated by views of massive flocks of waterfowl outside of our count circle and a coyote who claimed to rule the dunes.

This Christmas Bird Count is an important survey of the birds using the Texas Coast and requires extensive efforts to complete.  The count is a cooperative effort between the Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries Program, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. National Park Service, and our volunteers.  We will likely be conducting our next CBC at this site on Thursday, 3 January 2013.

Brent Ortego

brent.ortego@tpwd.state.tx.us

Wade Stablein

Wade_stablein@nps.gov

CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT

19 December 2011

The 19^th running of the Matagorda County – Mad Island Marsh CBC occurred with strong warm winds all day and occasional light showers.  Tides were high and there were few shallow mud flats.  We were able to put a record 138 people in the field along with 4 boats to produce 244 species which was our 3^rd highest tally.  Even though this count has been able to record 334 species over its history, we still managed to add 5 new species, but we also missed 5 species which occur regularly on the CBC.  The MANX SHEARWATER reported by Petra Hockey flying over the Gulf was voted by an overwhelming number of section leaders as the BEST BIRD of the Count.

[This photo is from the British Trust for Ornithology] 

The Nature Conservancy led all sections with people (50) and species (158).  The Wildlife Management Area reported 152 species and STP had 147.  The Peninsula Section led the CBC with 7 exclusive species, Matagorda-West and TNC had 5 each and Matagorda-East 4.

The theme of this count was determining the effect of The Drought.  We expected lower than normal resident populations, marsh dependent species and insectivores.  We did not expect that other areas were worst than us and there would be a major eastward and southward movement by many species that did not normally winter on the Coast.  See what we found below.

RARITIES

The MANX  SHEARWATER is mostly a pelagic seabird of the Atlantic Ocean.  It is not expected at all in our area.  Petra Hockey loves doing Sea Watches and she is one of the better birders in Texas at identifying pelagic species.  We were fortunate when the shearwater being pushed by strong onshore winds flew along the beach in sight. 

 The ZONE-TAILED HAWK is a vulture mimic and typically breeds in the Hill Country and the Trans Pecos with most birds wintering in the Tropics.  A few are found each winter in the Hill Country and South Texas.  Mark Elwonger & Dale Friedrichs were able to obtain our 2^nd record for this species at Lyondell.

The ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK is a bird of the Great Plains which typically does not winter south of the Pan Handle in Texas.  This winter an unprecedented number of sightings have occurred along the Coast.  Dennis Haessly was able to obtain a lengthy view of one on the Von Gonten Ranch.

The PRAIRIE FALCON is more of a northern Great Plains species.  This season with extensive droughts in the state, a few have been reported along the Coast.   Steve & Laura Gast, and Jim Stewart spotted one flying over the reservoir at STP.

[Photo by Charlie Brower elsewhere]

YELLOW and BLACK RAILS occur in small numbers each winter along the Coast.  They are difficult to survey because of their secretive habits in densely vegetated wetlands and propensity to not call.  Several teams attempted to locate them during the day with no luck until Julie Sullivan and Adam Hickl started dragging a chain between two vehicles in a field of flooded unharvested rice on TNC.  They were able to flush 2 Yellow and 1 Black.

WILSON’S PLOVER occur in very small numbers along the Coast during winter.  We started  noticing them roosting at the mouth of the Colorado River 3 years and we have been able to consistently find them on the CBC since then.  Our Peninsula team was able to find a record # of 8 this season.

[Photo taken during an earlier time.]

We first discovered MOUNTAIN PLOVER in the count circle last winter.  I was able to locate it again during scouting, and Clay Taylor & Dane Ferrell were able to locate 24 during count day. 

[Photo by Clay Taylor]

PARASITIC JAEGERs occur in small numbers in the Gulf each winter.  It is not common for one to be near land in order for it to be observed.

 Young LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL’s are challenging to identify.  They can easily be confused with young Herring Gulls.  Petra is an expert on gull identification and she was able to photograph the one below.

[Photo by Petra Hockey]

The GREEN KINGFISHER is a tropical kingfisher of small streams.  They winter regularly in small numbers from San Antonio to the south.  There appears to be a small movement of them up the Coast this season.   Michael Kennedy & John Tharp were able to locate one for our 2^nd record on Lyondell property.

 The HAIRY WOODPECKER is an uncommon species of East Texas forests that challenges many birders to identify it since it appears very similar to the smaller Downy Woodpecker.  All Coastal reports are typically challenged by editors.  Michael Kennedy was able to get our 6^th report by seeing the bird side by side with a Downy.

The BROWN-CRESTED FLYCATCHER is another South Texas species that typically winters in the tropics, but a few birds occasionally get lost and end up going the wrong way.  We have managed to find this species 5 times and this season Bill Baker with the STP group in their quest for 150 species managed to locate one.

The W. KINGBIRD is a strange bird.  Although it is a common breeder in Texas, more of them over winter in Florida than they do in Texas.  We have been able to find this species in coastal scrub 4 times.  This year Bea Ann Kelly photographed one in the Peninsula Section.

 The NORTHERN PARULA is a regular lingering neotropical warbler along the lower Coast, but we have always had difficulty in locating them.  The STP team of Steve & Laura Gast and Jim Stewart obtained our 4^th record of the species.

The YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER is one of those canopy foraging small warblers that lingers in small numbers along the river.  It can be challenging to find in the tree tops.  While we think it winters every year, we have only reported it 6 out of 19 years.  This year it was found in the Selkirk area by John Faragher and Ron Weeks.

[Photo taken during an earlier time]

We have had only 2 GREEN-TAILED TOWHEEs in previous years.  This season we had 16 during an unprecedented invasion by this species on the Coast.  This species can typically be found in scrub enivornments of South Texas and further west.

Photographed by Sumita Prasad.

The BREWER’S SPARROW is a bird of desert scrub that does not winter near the Coast.  Chet Burrier again came through with a spectacular find by picking this bird out of a group of Clay-colored and Field Sparrows near Matagorda.

The HENSLOW’S SPARROW probably occurs in the CBC area every year in small numbers, but it is one of those mouse birds that are very difficult to locate.  We have reported it 5 previous times.  The species is known to have strong winter site fidelity and David Shackelford was able to locate one at the exact site where he had photographed one previously on the private ranches along the river.

We found our 1^st LARK BUNTING last season with 1 bird at Selkirk.  This year we had 26 with most being at Old Gulf.  This is a bird that periodically occurs in large numbers in the brush country.  This year they appear to be invading the Coast.

[Photographed by Sumita Prasad]

                TRENDS

Marsh birds and insectivores occurred in much lower numbers than normal.  Countering this raptors and sparrows occurred in above average numbers.  Fulvous Whistling-Duck, Red-tailed Hawk, Wilson’s Plover, Herring Gull, Rock Pigeon, Eur. Collared-Dove, N. Flicker, Spotted Towhee, Green-tailed Towhee, Chipping Sparrow, Clay-colored Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, Harris’s Sparrow, and White-crowned Sparrow occurred in Record Numbers.  In contrast, we missed Cattle Egret, Green Heron, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Ferruginous Hawk, Barn Swallow and Nelson’s Sparrow.  The drought had both negative and positive impacts on the avian community using the area.  It did add to diversity for species which we seldom see, but personally I could do without those western and northern birds if we had healthy and moist natural habitats in our area which would support some of the highest waterbird concentrations in Texas.  I love the sounds of thousands of cranes and geese coming to roost in the evening.

HIGHS ( 43  species) Fulvous Whistling-Duck, Cinnamon Teal, Brown Pelican, Neotropic Cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, White-tailed Kite, Bald Eagle, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper’s Hawk, White-tailed Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Crested Caracara, Peregrine Falcon, Semipalmated Plover, Willet, Marbled Godwit, Herring Gull, Rock Pigeon, Eur. Collared-Dove, White-winged Dove, Buff-bellied Hummingbird, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, N. Flicker, Say’s Phoebe, Great Kiskadee, Brown Creeper, Brown Thrasher, Long-billed Thrasher, N. Waterthrush, Spotted Towhee, E. Towhee, Chipping Sparrow, Clay-colored Sparrow, Field Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, Grasshopper Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Harris’s Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, W. Meadowlark, Brewer’s Blackbird.

LOWS (32   species) G. White-fronted Goose, Cackling Goose, Canada Goose, Greater Scaup, Am. Bittern, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, White Ibis, White-faced Ibis, Clapper Rail, King Rail, Sora, Sandhill Crane, Black-bellied Plover, Long-billed Curlew, W. Sandpiper, Gull-billed Tern, Caspian Tern, Mourning Dove, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Blue-headed Vireo, Sedge Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Black-and-White Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, Le Conte’s Sparrow, Seaside Sparrow, Lincoln’s Sparrow, Com. Grackle, Boat-tailed Grackle.

TEAM WORK

Much of the results from this CBC are the direct results of the planning, leadership, coordination, and skills of our Section Leaders:  Tom Morris, Sumita Prasad, Charlie Brower, Ron Weeks, Michael Kennedy, Bill Baker, Breck Sacra, Clay Taylor, Rich Kosteche, Julie Sullivan, Jim Renfro, Marc Ealy, Bron Rorex, James Arnold and Karen McBride.

This Christmas Bird Count is The Number One in the Nation from our Team’s perspective.  It has shown national leadership in cooperative efforts between the birders, the landowners, the boat operators and the people of Matagorda County.  It takes every body’s efforts focused on the end result to achieve our goals.  Yes, we have a very diverse avifauna that is the product of a narrow forested corridor extending all of the way down the Colorado River to the Gulf that is bordered by an abundance of native prairies, brushlands and wetlands. An added factor is geography creates diverse ecosystems being in close proximity.  This diversity would not be possible unless the landowners managed their land to maintain the productivity of the habitats, and it would not be possible to survey them unless they liked our project and permitted us access.  All the birds in the world would not mean anything unless the interest, skills and cooperation of the Texas birders would not show up to conduct the count.  We would count very few water birds unless our boat operators would not donate a day from their busy schedule as well as the use of their boats.  We get great support from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, The Nature Conservancy, the South Texas Nuclear Project, Lower Colorado River Authority and Lyondell-Basell for use of equipment, land and staff.  Lastly, we could not afford to pay for the Great Supper at the Wadsworth Community Center, provide counters with t-shirts and pay their CBC activity fees without the generosity of the sponsors.  We also thank Jim Harrison  for the great art work for our T-shirt.

LEADERS:  David and Marilyn Sitz.  David has developed a great relationship with the landowners of Matagorda County and he is the person who obtains permission for the birders to access the private property.  Marilyn does the fund raising, and the catering at the banquet.  She also recruits volunteers to work at the banquet.  This count would not be near as special without the leadership of Marilyn and her volunteers. 

SPONSORS: Betty Clark, Matagorda County Birding & Nature Center,  Bay City Nature Club, Texas Parks & Wildlife Dept., Lower Colorado River Authority, The Nature Conservancy, South Texas Nuclear Project Operating Co., Lyondell-Basell, Oxea Chemicals, A & A Bar-B-Que, All Star Real Estate, Bay City Abstract & Title, Conoco Phillips Sweeney Refinery, County Judge Nate McDonald, First State Bank, and Wells Fargo Bank.

LANDOWNERS:  Lower Colorado River Authority, George Harrison, PCS Phosphate, Inc., Jack Miller, Carl Anderson family, Charlie Brower’s family, Roy Poinsett, Eugene Welfel, Barbara Holloway, Lyondell-Basell, South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company, Julius Ledwig, Linda Joy Stovall, Bill Von Gonten, The Nature Conservancy of Texas, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Grover Ryman, Bill Doss, Ray Culver, and  Becca Sitz.

BOAT OPERATORS:  We appreciate the services and the boats provided by James Arnold, Bill Issacson, Jerry West and the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department.

NEXT YEAR

This was another amazing CBC at Mad Island.  We thank all of you who helped.  Next year will likely be better.  Come join us to check it out and bring a friend on Monday, 17 December 2012.  

Photo by Jimmy Jackson

Brent Ortego

Texas Parks & Wildlife Department

2805 N. Navarro, Suite 600B

Victoria, TX 77901

brent.ortego@tpwd.state.tx.us

361/827-4691

                                                      Excel spreadsheet of data available upon request.

GUADALUPE RIVER DELTA – MCFADDIN FAMILY RANCHES

CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT

14 December 2011

Impact of the worst drought in Texas history was the major theme of this years’ count.  The day was warm with numerous mosquitoes and very windy.  All natural shallow freshwater sites were dry, the tidal marshes were very salty, and Green Lake was extremely shallow.  Fifty four birders worked in 22 teams to survey private and public properties and reported 225 species which ties our All-Time High Species Count.  Wilson’s Plover, Piping Plover, Sandwich Tern and Wood Thrush were new species for the count and we missed Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, N. Bobwhite, Burrowing Owl, Least Flycatcher, Horned Lark, and Clay-colored Sparrow.  Wood Thrush was voted as Best Bird of the Count by section leaders, and was photographed along River Road by Petra Hockey, Brush Freeman and Dennis Shepler.

RESULTS

The major local story was the nearly dry Green Lake.  Back during the droughts of the 50’s Green Lake was reported to have completed dried, and was used to grow cotton.  This is the driest it has been since.  There were very few waterbirds in the count area outside of managed freshwater impoundments on the Guadalupe Delta Wildlife Management Area and tidal marshes.  Green Lake is normally deep and muddy and holds only small numbers of birds.  However, with the prolonged dry conditions associated with the drought, Green Lake dried out to only a few inches deep over thousands of acres.  The result was site was inundated by over 100,000 shorebirds and ducks taking advantage of the food exposed within the very shallow water.

            In association with the drought, most insectivorous birds were in below average numbers, but there were above average number of raptors and sparrows.  There was a major invasion of coastal areas by Green-tailed Towhees who typically occupy semi-arid scrub and Harris’s Sparrows which normally winter further to the north in the Blackland Prairie. 

RARE BIRDS

Charlie Brower found Black Rail and Nelson’s Sparrow wintering in brackish habitat in an atypical setting bordering the barge canal.  When his Black Rail tape did not work, a passing barge made enough noise to excite the local Black’s into calling.  This photo was taken by Diane Nunley in 2007 at a different site.

            Whooping Crane populations are increasing and with high salinities in the bays cranes are moving away from tidal waters more than normal.  A total of 14 Whooper’s were reported by 4 teams.  A pair was observed flying NE of Green Lake, 4 were observed flying over Hog Bayou on the wildlife management area, 4 were also observed flying near the salt water barrier on the river and 4 were observed briefly landing near river road.  All sightings were at least 2 miles apart.

Wilson’s Plover, Piping Plovers and Snowy Plovers were found foraging with 80,000 shorebirds on Green Lake.  Most of the plovers occurred on an exposed road bed in the lake.

Another new species for the count was a Sandwich Tern.  It was found by Jamie Ferguson and Bob Creglow along the shores of Hynes Bay. 

Yellow-throated Vireo was totally unexpected when found along Hog Bayou by Dennis Haessley.  Another unexpected find was a Tropical Parula located by David True and Bron Rorex in the same area.  [The photo below was taken elsewhere.]

Another good find was an Am. Redstart photographed by Petra Hockey and Brush Freeman at the boat ramp on Hwy. 35.  A few winter each year in riparian areas, but they are not easy to locate.  It was found the day before during scouting and they returned during the count to tally the bird.

Western Tanagers are regular, but very rare during winters along the Coast.  Most of their population winters in the tropics. The bird below is typical of most winter birds.  Two young males were found on the count by Scott Holt and Beau Hardegree at the Hynes Bay Unit.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak are rare anywhere in the United States because this species mostly winters in the tropics.  On a typical year, only 3 are found nationally.  Dale Friedrichs found an adult male as the 3^rd record for the CBC.

Rusty Blackbird photographed by Chet Burrier on the Womack Ranch.

We are at the edge of the range of the Rusty Blackbird and their occurrence is fairly rare.  This species’ population is declining nationally.  The birds found by Chet was the 2^nd record for the CBC.

TRENDS

            HIGHS (68 species): Cinnamon Teal, N. Shoveler, Am. Green-winged Teal, Bufflehead, Ruddy Duck, Least Grebe, Eared Grebe, Am. White Pelican, Brown Pelican, Great Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, White-tailed Kite, N. Harrier, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper’s Hawk, Harris’s Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Crested Caracara, Black Rail, Whooping Crane, Snowy Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Black-necked Stilt, Am. Avocet, Willet, Lesser Yellowlegs, W. Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Dunlin, Stilt Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher, Long-billed Dowitcher, Laughing Gull, Herrin Gull, Royal Tern, Inca Dove, Com. Ground-Dove, Short-eared Owl, Com. Pauraque, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, N. Flicker, Great Kiskadee, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Loggerhead Shrike, Green Jay, Brown Creeper, N. Mockingbird, Long-billed Thrasher, W. Tanager, Green-tailed Tohee, Spotted Towhee, Field Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, Lark Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow,  Harris’s Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, N. Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, E. Meadowlark, W. Meadowlark, Rusty Blackbird, Bronzed Cowbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Lesser Goldfinch and House Sparrow.

            LOWS (56 species):  Wood Duck, Mallard, Blue-winged Teal, Red-breasted Merganser, Anhinga, Great Egret, Little Blue Heron, Reddish Egret, Cattle Egret, Green Heron, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, White-faced Ibis, Am. Kestrel, Clapper Rail, King Rail, Virginia Rail, Sora, Com. Gallinule, Black-bellied Plover, Killdeer, Wison’s Snipe, Rock Pigeon, Eur. Collared-Dove, Barrd Owl, Belted Kingfisher, Pileated Woodpecker, E. Phoebe, Vermillion Flycather, White-eyed Vireo, Blue-headed Vireo, Blue Jay, Am. Crow, Tree Swallow, N. Rough-winged Swallow, Cave Swallow, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Carolina Wren, Bewick’s Wren, House Wren, Sedge Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Gray Catbird, Sprague’s Pipit, Cedar Waxwing, Orange-crowned Warbler, Myrtle Warbler, Pine Warbler, Palm Warbler, N. Waterthrush, Olive Sparrow, Le Conte’s Sparrow, Seaside Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, and Com Grackle.

Waterfowl numbers were about normal with most marsh birds like herons, egrets, ibises and rails being much below average with much of the marsh either dry or salty.  Hawks occurred in above average densities

Shorebird numbers were extremely low everywhere because of high tides, except for the birds on Green Lake which were spectacular.  Densities like in the photo below were spread over thousands of acres.

Woodpeckers occurred at normal levels, but insect eaters like the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher photographed by Petra Hockey were in below average densities.  Swallows, wrens, and warblers were in below average numbers.

However, sparrows occurred in much higher numbers than normal.  This was a major invasion year for Green-tailed Towhees.  This species was found only once before on the count and we had 17 this year.  Spotted Towhees typically average about 3 on this survey and we had 61!  Field, Vesper, Lark and White-crowned occurred at twice their average.  The Harris’s Sparrow below photographed by Diane Nunley normally only average 1 per year, and we had 69!

All participants enjoyed the count this year.  Windy and warm conditions made it challenging finding birds amongst all of the mosquitoes.  Even though resident bird numbers were generally low, there was anticipation all day of finding some western birds displaced by the drought.  Just about every birding team found something unusual.

THANKS

This is a very special count because of the habitats it covers where 3 ecoregions merge.  It is successful because of the large amount of cooperation we get from the landowners who generally provide us access and as in the case with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Dow, Jess and Walter Womack, and Beverly Fletcher.  They also provide staff and equipment to help us with the count.  We would also like to thank John Hubbard, Larry Seydler, Frank Pagel, Gene Colville, Don Walden, Dan Kaspar, the Negley Ranch, and the Landgraf, Spandau and Joe Hawes families for providing us access to their lands.  Lastly, we thank the 54 birders who spent their day and huge amount of energy in searching the landscape for every species which we could locate. 

At the end of the day, our tired, wet and excited birders gathered under the oaks in the river bottom at the Weed Prairie Hunting Camp on the Jess Womack Ranch.  We were treated to an excellent meal cooked by A.D. Blackmon, David, and CB.  Lyondell-Basell Corporation provided funding for most of the food and activity fees.

THANKS TO ALL FOR A GREAT JOB!!

Data from the CBC is available upon request.

Hope to see you at our next Christmas Bird Count in 2012.

Sunset photo by Petra Hockey

The Laguna Madre is an internationally significant wetland (Tunnell and Judd 2002). This hyper saline wind tidal system occurs in Mexico and Texas along the Gulf of Mexico. The United States portion has lower and upper segments which are connected by the Intracoastal Waterway. These two segments are separated by 10 miles of salt flats that are seldom inundated.

WESTERN SANDPIPERS IN THE HOLE

Lee Elliott who used to work in Texas on shorebirds believed the Laguna Madre supported 1 million Western Sandpipers during winter and stimulated my interest in the area. During the 2006 international Piping Plover survey Marc Ealy, Wade Stablein and I were able to survey the southern portion of the Upper Laguna Madre known as the “9-Mile Hole” with the use of an airboat. We located over 400,000 shorebirds during winter. Marc Ealy and I followed up this survey on the water with an aerial winter survey in 2009 and identified over 70,000 shorebirds in the southern portion of the “9-Mile Hole”. The 2010 Horizon Oil Spill off of the Coast of Louisiana necessitated shorebird surveys in the area at 9 day intervals during fall 2010 and re-stimulated our interest in the area when we located very large numbers of shorebirds during each visit like the scene below.

We were able to conduct our 1st Christmas Bird Count covering this Great Natural Area on 4 January 2011 with assistance from Padre Island National Seashore, U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries Program, and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

The 15-mile diameter Christmas Bird Count area which is 25 miles south of Corpus Christi contains 12 miles of Padre Island National Seashore beaches and dunes and extensive grasslands behind the dunes.

The entire 9-Mile Hole wind tidal hyper saline lagoon system along with its extensive submerged seagrass beds, 15 miles of intracoastal waterway, and large private ranches to the west which have wind turbines installed in rows amongst coastal prairie, saline prairies, salt flats and tidal wetlands also occur within the count circle.

RESULTS

We were able to only survey the public property east of the Intracoastal. We observed over 75,000 ducks and 21,000 coots along with over 230,000 shorebirds.

Impressive Numbers Were:

N. Pintail 62,000
Redhead 15,000
Am. Coot 21,000
Greater Yellowlegs 1000
Willet 1200
W. Sandpiper 159,000
Least Sandpiper 25,000
Dunlin 46,000

The BEST BIRD of the CBC was undoubtedly the Black-legged Kittiwake found by Petra Hockey’s beach survey team. This species is a pelagic forager during winter and seldom flies near shore.

Species diversity was relatively sparse with only 101 species reported. This is typical of the fairly uniform wetlands and grasslands found in this area. Very little brush and no forests occurred within the survey area.
Plans are to survey the area annually to monitor waterbird use.

THE TEAM
Jimmy Jackson, Billy Sandifer, Owen Fitzsimmons, David Newstead, Robyn Cobb, Beau Hardegree, Linda Alley, Petra Hockey, Brent Ortego, Barbara Rapstein, and Amber Miller. [Not shown] Katherine Miller, Wade Stablein, Adam Reimer and Travis Clapp.

COMPILERS:
Brent Ortego                                                                                         Wade Stablein
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department                                        Padre Island National Seashore
Brent.ortego@tpwd.state.tx.us                                                   wade_stablein@nps.gov

Laguna Madre reference: Tunnell, J. W., Jr., and F. W. Judd. 2002. The Laguna Madre of Texas and Tamaulipas. Texas A&M Univ. Press, College Station.

Photo by Jimmy Jackson

The day started off with below average bird activity. It was sort of balmy weather that preceded the cold front that was going to arrive in the afternoon with strong winds and temps in the 40’s. Owls were not talking much. Most marshes were somewhat dry from an on-going drought and as a result there was not much rail activity. Geese seemed to be present in normal numbers near the mouth of the river and songbird chorus was good.

We sent 63 birders in 23 groups afield inspecting all habitats on public and private lands in our 15 mile diameter count area centered on Green Lake.

Photo by Cullen Hanks

We reported 222 species which places us 2nd in the Nation again behind Matagorda County. This is our 3rd highest species tally in the 7 years we have been conducting the count. We topped two outstanding California counts that had a maximum of 218 species. We located 5 new species for the Christmas Bird Count: Zone-tailed Hawk, Black Rail, Yellow-throated Warbler, Henslow’s Sparrow and Dickcissel. Section Leaders voted the two Tropical Parulas photographed as the BEST BIRDS.

Photo by Bryan Tarbox

RESULTS

ROSS’S GOOSE – BLUE MORPH is a rare color phase of a common goose which looks like miniature Snows. These more western geese mix in with the snows in small numbers. I was fortunate to observe two blue morphs in a mixed flock of geese as they flew over my head.

ZONE-TAILED HAWK is definitely not an expected wintering raptor on the Coast. It is more likely to winter in the Hill Country. This bird which mimics Turkey Vultures in flight was spotted by Don Jeane and Ken Stzraky on Walter Womack’s Ranch.

BLACK RAIL is a rare permanent resident that spends the year mostly in dense vegetation bordering the marshes. They seldom call during winter and it was a major surprise when Bron Rorex and Jane Crone both heard one calling at daybreak on the wildlife management area.

CHIMNEY SWIFTS breed locally in chimneys and typically leave the area in the fall. Reports of small swifts in the winter always raise speculation of Vaux’s Swift passing through coastal Texas. The report of swifts for the 2nd time in 7 years by the McAlisters on the Guadalupe River was unexpected and exciting.

RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER is a western relative of our common Yellow-bellied Sapsucker which winters here. The Red-naped is easy to overlook and skilled birders Petra Hockey and Brush Freeman were able to photograph one on private ranches near the mouth of the River.

Photo by Brush Freeman

RED-EYED VIREO is a common forest breeder that is not known to winter near the United States. Thus, the observation of one of these red-eyed winter rarities was a major surprise when reported by Clay Taylor and Diane Nunley.

TROPICAL PARULA breeds in forested areas of extreme South Texas and occasionally travels to our area in the non-breeding season. They do not typically winter in our area. We were very excited when Petra and Ladd Hockey found one during pre-count scouting and the bird was relocated on count day. We were totally surprised when another one was photographed during the count by Bryan Tarbox.

YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER is a beautiful bird that breeds in coniferous areas ranging from bald cypress bordered rivers of the Hill Country to cypress swamps of East Texas. It is a rare, but regular winterer on the Coast, many times selecting palm trees as its favorite site. It is surprising we have not had one to date and we are particularly pleased that Jon McIntyre was able to locate one during the CBC.

TANAGERS are rare but expected lingering passerines. They spend much of their time hunting insects in the canopy of forests. We were fortunate to be able to locate both Summer and Western Tanagers on the Womack Ranches again this year.

Photo by Mikael Behrens

HENSLOW’S SPARROW is one of those sneaky “mouse” birds that is more known for its winter occupation of wet pine savannahs than its presence on the Coast, but it does occupy moist native grasslands. Michael Kennedy has the honors of locating the first one for this CBC. I have observed them rarely in the county, but never on the CBC.

DICKCISSEL is a common breeder on the Coast that is very conspicuous while nesting, but is hard to detect outside of the breeding season because most migrate to the tropics in the fall and the birds are no longer conspicuously vocal. Clay Taylor was able to hear one while it flew over the river bottom for our first record. We suspect they occur much more frequently, but they are easy to overlook.

TRENDS

HIGHS: (59 species) Wood Duck, Mallard, Ruddy Duck, Bald Eagle, N. Harrier, Red-shouldered Hawk, White-tailed Hawk, Zone-tailed Hawk, Crested Caracara, Am. Kestrel, Black Rail, Virginia Rail, Sandhill Crane, Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper, Greater Yellowlegs, Least Sandpiper, Wilson’s Snipe, Am. Woodcock, Black Skimmer, White-winged Dove, Mourning Dove, White-tipped Dove, small swift, Red-naped Sapsucker, Yellow-shafted Flicker, E. Phoebe, Vermilion Flycatcher, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, White-eyed Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Carolina Wren, House Wren, Winter Wren, Sedge Wren, Marsh Wren, Hermit Thrush, N. Mockingbird, Am. Pipit, Sprague’s Pipit, Tropical Parula, Audubon’s Warbler, Myrtle Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, Pine Warbler, Palm Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, W. Tanager, Summer Tanager, Field Sparrow, Henslow’s Sparrow, Nelson’s Sparrow, Lincoln’s Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, N. Cardinal, Indigo Bunting, Dickcissel, E. Meadowlark and Lesser Goldfinch.

LOWS: (40 species) Canada Goose, Gadwall, Am. Wigeon, Cinnamon Teal, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Hooded Merganser, Eared Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Am. Bittern, Great Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Cattle Egret, Green Heron, White Ibis, White-faced Ibis, White-tailed Kite, Osprey, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper’s Hawk, Am. Coot, Long-billed Curlew, Short-billed Dowitcher, Com. Ground-Dove, Short-eared Owl, Downy Woodpecker, Loggerhead Shrike, Cave Swallow, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Bewick’s Wren, Am. Robin, Brown Thrasher, Spotted Towhee, White-crowned Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Boat-tailed Grackle.

WATERFOWL = 3 of 26 species had higher than average numbers and 9 lower. Low numbers are reflective of overall dry conditions locally. This is a good waterfowl year at a National level, but a very dry fall resulted in little water for the birds.

WATERBIRDS = 9 lows amongst 22 species. Dry fall conditions resulted in many low numbers with no species above average.

RAPTORS = 7 highs and 4 lows from 15 species. Good hawk numbers were present throughout the area.

RAILS = 3 highs and 1 low from 7 species. Drought in combination with cattle grazing really damaged King Rail habitat. Migratory rails appeared in above average numbers.

SHOREBIRDS THRU GULLS = 6 highs and 2 lows out of 27 species. Tides were very low resulting in lots of exposed mudflats in the marshes.

DOVES THRU WOODPECKERS = 3 highs and 1 low from 24 species. Most doves did extremely well with the drought suppressing grasses which made more space for preferred weedy plant species.

Photo by Mikael Behrens

FLYCATCHERS THRU PIPITS = 14 highs and 7 lows out of 40 species. We did very well with most expected species of flycatchers and a variety of songbirds, especially wrens.

WARBLERS THRU TANAGERS = This is our “Signature Group” of species. We reported 14 species of warblers and 2 species of tanagers with 7 occurring in above average numbers. With this report we maintain our tradition of being one of the best winter areas for warbler diversity in the State.

SPARROWS = We reported 22 species of “sparrows” with 9 coming in above average with only 2 below average.

LAST BIRD OF THE DAY

Several teams were searching for the Yellow-headed Blackbird as sunset approached and Brush and Petra had it as their last species of the day while they were tallying the results of the day. It was uniquely perched on a tractor at the end of the road during the last hour of the day.

Photo by Petra Hockey

THANKS

This is a very special count because of the habitats it covers where 3 eco-regions merge. It is successful because of the large amount of cooperation we get from the landowners who generally provide us access and as in the case of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Dow, Ineos, Jess and Walter Womack, and Beverly Fletcher who also provided staff and equipment to help us with the count. We would also like to thank Mrs. Pat Welder, Larry Seydler, Frank Pagel, Gene Colville, Don Walden, Dan Kaspar, the Negley Ranch, and the Landgraf, Spandau and Joe Hawes families for providing us access to their lands. Lastly, we thank the 60 birders who spent their day and huge amounts of energy in searching the landscape for every species which we could locate.
At the end of the day, our tired, wet and excited birders gathered under the oaks in the river bottom at the Weed Prairie Hunting Camp on the Jess Womack Ranch. We were treated to an excellent meal cooked by A.D. Blackmon, David, CB and Brandon. Lyondel-Basel Corporation provided funding for most of the food and activity fees.

THANKS TO ALL FOR A GREAT JOB!!

Data from the CBC is available upon request.

Hope to see you at our next Christmas Bird Count on Wednesday, 14 December 2011.

Photo by Petra Hockey

Brent Ortego
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
2805 N. Navarro, Suite 600B
Victoria, TX 77901

The 18th running of the Mad Island CBC started with cool, clear skies and made for special viewing of meteor showers of that night. There were rumors of Whooping Cranes and other interesting species in the area and our teams of birders were raring to go. The CBC started at mid-night on the TNC preserve with me searching for rails/owls and an ATV team driving through impoundments for Yellow Rails. The Yellow Rails were one of the first birds of the day. All expected owls (- screech) and rails were found by sunrise.

Night conditions provided for good calling conditions for forested owls and our teams recorded 55 Great Horned and 54 Barred. 31 Barn Owls were located along with 9 Short-eared and 1 Burrowing.

Photo by David Shackelford

HI-LIGHTS

A total of 112 birders reported 236 species which should make us Number One in the Nation again for species. Guadalupe River Delta – McFaddin Family Ranches reported 222 species, San Diego, CA, 218, Santa Barbara, CA, 210, and Freeport 204. Mad Island also typically leads the Nation for the most species with the highest tallies. It looks favorable this season.

The Wildlife Management Area led all sections with 158 species reported, followed by The Nature Conservancy with 141, STP with 140, Matagorda – East with 129 and the River Ranches with 124. The WMA was also the best section for finding unique species with 6. Matagorda-
West, Lyondell, W. Roads and TNC all had 4 each. A total of 34 species were only found by one section. Makes you wonder how many species we missed during the day.

BEST BIRD

Photo by Chet Burrier

It is pretty special to be able to get the Best Bird on this CBC. There were 112 birders participating in 43 different teams on 14 sections competing for the honor. There were 8 species found that were rare enough to require documentation, and 3 species were new to the CBC. Section Leaders voted on the Best Bird and results were over whelming in favor of the MacGillivray’s Warbler photographed by Chet Burrier on a private ranch north of Matagorda. The Broad-winged Hawk located on Selkirk Island placed 2nd and the Com. Poorwill found on The Nature Conservancy 3rd. The 3 new species brings the total species for this CBC as 338.

We had a nice collection of rare bird sightings as well as species missed and they will be discussed below:

SCOTERS are typically found in deeper waters of the Gulf and in small numbers in the bays feeding on various mollusks. We were only able to find one Black Scoter out of the 3 species expected in the area.

DIVERS were scarce. We located only one individual of Pacific Loon, Least Grebe and Horned Grebe. N. Gannets were fortunately common along the Gulf Beach. One unique problem of locating divers this year was that a large portion of E. Matagorda Bay was covered by an estimated flock of 80,000 Lesser Scaup that covered square miles of water. It was difficult to see anything but scaup in this prime diver habitat.

BROAD-WINGED HAWK is not a species in which we anticipate to linger in the area. One immature bird was satisfactorily studied by 2 birders at Selkirk Island.

APLOMADO FALCON has become one of our trademark species, but we missed it this year.

WHOOPING CRANES were observed for a few days before the CBC, but extremely low tides allowed the birds to forage at different sites during the count.

AMERICAN WOODCOCK can be very difficult to find, but drought conditions in East Texas are thought to have forced many birds to the Coast this winter and we reported a record 68.

CAPRIMULGIDS in general do not linger in the area and we are rarely able to detect one during the CBC. This year, all of our “meteors” were in proper alignment and we located 3 species. Rich Kosteche observed a COMMON POORWILL on the TNC Preserve for our 1st record. This bird was studied at close range. The Selkirk Island team flushed a cooperative WHIP-POOR-WILL several times for our 3rd record. Cathy Porter observed a “nighthawk” during daylight on the TNC Preserve for our 8th record.

Photo by Brigid Berger

HUMMINGBIRDS are a group of frustrating species for this CBC. The region is relatively rich in wintering hummers, but we have not found many residents that have consistently been successful at attracting these species during winter. We were able to locate only one of each Buff-bellied, Black-chinned and Ruby-throated.

GREAT KISKADEE is inching its way up the Coast with almost regular visits during winter. The STP team located one for our 4th record.

SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER migrates through the area in sizeable numbers and is known to be a late migrant. It is a beautiful bird that occupies open country settings, but it is difficult to predict when you will locate one. This year TNC reported a record number of 7.

CLIFF SWALLOW is a common breeder in the area, but is not expected to linger in the winter. I have examined hundreds of swallow nests under bridges before daybreak in hopes of finding this species during the count. Michael Kennedy beat me to it and located a Cliff roosting under one of the bridges in an inactive mud nest.

Photo by Mark Scheuerman

WARBLERS – The Mad Island CBC is one of the Best CBCs for warblers in Texas. We typically have from 12-15 species. We reported 14 this season. The Best Bird was the MacGillivray’s as reported earlier. Other species that were only found in one section were Nashville (W. Roads), Yellow-throated (5th record; Matagorda-West), Prairie (5th record; Lyondell), and Ovenbird (6th record; Lyondell). We also reported 8 Yellow-breasted Chats which is normally a difficult species to locate elsewhere, but hard work from our birding teams have made it a Mad Island Regular.

SPARROWS are typically abundant and diverse on the CBC. This season we had 3 species which were only found in one section. It is understandable to only find Clay-colored and Lark at one site because of their winter scarcity. These 2 species were not found last year. However, only finding Nelson’s Sharp-tailed at one site is puzzling. It is a common winter resident in all of our tidal marshes.

LAPLAND LONGSPUR is a species which sneak through the count circle and go undetected. They tend to forage in large plowed fields like the one where it was found in the W. Roads section by Clay Taylor.

MISC – Yellow-headed Blackbird at W. Roads, Dark-eyed Junco at Lyondell and Pine Siskin were all good finds by dedicated and hard working birders. They are species that are easy to over look.

RESULTS

We reported 236 species which is above average for this CBC. We added 3 new species bring our total to 338 species. Observers reported 47 species in above average numbers and 27 species in below average while missing 15 species in the area we might reasonably expect to see. Many of the low tallies might be associated with the extremely dry fall resulting in much less waterfowl impoundments and reduced native food crops.

Mad Island has let the Nation for the most highest counts of individual species for 11 years. The 85,438 Lesser Scaup, 725 Great Blue Heron, 1169 Great Egret, 1705 Snowy Egret, 274 Roseate Spoonbill, 1375 Turkey Vulture, 278 N. Harrier, 25 White-tailed Hawk, 166 Crested Caracara, 161 Am. Kestrel, 2184 Killdeer, 5 Solitary Sandpiper, 68 Am. Woodcock, 143 Caspian Tern, 31 Barn Owl, 54 Barred Owl, 1172 E. Phoebe, 151 Loggerhead Shrike, 226 Cave Swallow, 1 Cliff Swallow, 284 Carolina Wren, 452 House Wren, 522 N. Mockingbird, 440 Orange-crowned Warbler, 1 MacGillivray’s Warbler, 8 Yellow-breasted Chat, 3626 Savannah Sparrow, 4340 Boat-tailed Grackle reported this year will be competitive for national honors.

TRENDS

After a couple of years of bad weather we are close to normal as far as total species with high and low tallies. High tallies are those in the top 3 records for this species on this CBC and lows the bottom 3.

HIGH COUNTS: Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Greater White-fronted Goose, Snow Goose, Canvasback, Greater Scaup, Lesser Scaup, Hooded Merganser, Double-crested Cormorant, Least Bittern, Great Blue Heron, Reddish Egret, Black Vulture, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Broad-winged Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Ferruginous Hawk, Crested Caracara, Virginia Rail, Killdeer, Solitary Sandpiper, Whimbrel, Stilt Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher, Am. Woodcock, Sandwich Tern, Great Horned Owl, Barred Owl, Com. Poorwill, Whip-poor-will, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, White-eyed Vireo, N. Rough-winged Swallow, Cave Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Brown Creeper, Winter Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, Pine Warbler, Prairie Warbler, Palm Warbler, MacGillivray’s Warbler, Spotted & Eastern Towhee, Vesper Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, and W. Meadowlark.

LOW COUNTS: Cackling Goose, Canada Goose, Am. Wigeon, Least Grebe, Horned Grebe, Am. Bittern, Little Blue Heron, Cattle Egret, White-tailed Kite, White-tailed Hawk, King Rail, Ruddy Turnstone, Bonaparte’s Gull, Gull-billed Tern, Caspian Tern, Black Skimmer, Eur. Collared-Dove, Barn Swallow, Eur. Starling, Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow, Seaside Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Com. Grackle, and Great-tailed Grackle.

Waterfowl = 7 species high and 3species low out of 27 species. Dry fall reduced availability of water in waterfowl impoundments on farmland.

Divers = 2 out of 6 species low.

Pelicans thru Ibises = 4 highs and 3 lows out of 22 species. Dry agfields and low tides had negative impacts on their numbers.

Raptors = 7 high and 2 low out of 19 species. Bald Eagles continue to increase in area.

Rails = 1 high and 1 low out of 10 species. The drought had a major negative impact on King Rail along with landowners taking opportunity to reduce tall dense marsh vegetation during the dry conditions.

Shorebirds = 6 highs and 1 low out of 27 species. Large numbers of shorebirds were scattered across exposed bay bottoms.

Gulls & Terns = 1 high and 4 lows from 12 species.

Doves thru Woodpeckers = 2 highs and 1 low. Fairly stable populations across the species.

Flycatchers thru waxwing = 8 highs and 2 lows out of 40 species. Swallows appeared lower than normal due to dry conditions.

Photo by Mark Scheuerman

Warblers = 6 highs and no lows out of 14 species. Nice season as a whole for group.

Towhees thru buntings = 4 highs and 3 lows out of 23 species. Saltmarsh birds had low tallies. Might be an artifact of coverage.

The rest = 1 high and 5 lows out of 12 species. Dry conditions forced blackbirds to forage elsewhere.

TEAM WORK

Much of the results from this CBC are the direct results of the planning, leadership, coordination, and skills of our Section Leaders: Jim Hargrove, Sumita Prasad, Charlie Brower, Ron Weeks, Michael Kennedy, Bill Baker, Breck Sacra, Clay Taylor, Rich Kosteche, Julie Sullivan, Jim Renfro, Marc Ealy, James Arnold and Karen McBride.

This Christmas Bird Count is The Number One in the Nation from our Team’s perspective. It has shown national leadership in cooperative efforts between the birders, the landowners, the boat operators and the people of Matagorda County. It takes every bodies efforts focused on the end result to achieve our goals. Yes, we have a very diverse avifauna that is the product of a narrow forested corridor extending all of the way down the Colorado River to the Gulf that is bordered by an abundance of native prairies, brushlands and wetlands. An added factor is geography creates diverse ecosystems being in close proximity. This diversity would not be possible unless the landowners managed their land to maintain the productivity of the habitats, and it would not be possible to survey them unless they liked our project and permitted us access. All the birds in the world would not mean anything unless the interest, skills and cooperation of the Texas birders would not show up to conduct the count. We would count very few water birds unless our boat operators would not donate a day from their busy schedule as well as the use of their boats. We get great support from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, The Nature Conservancy, the South Texas Nuclear Project, Lower Colorado River Authority and Lyondell-Basel for use of equipment, land and staff. Lastly, we could not afford to pay for the Great Supper at the Wadsworth Community Center, provide counters with t-shirts and pay their CBC activity fees without the generosity of the sponsors. We also thank Greg Lavaty for the great photo for our T-shirt.

LEADERS: David and Marilyn Sitz. David has developed a great relationship with the landowners of Matagorda County and he is the person who obtains permission for the birders to access the private property. Marilyn does the fund raising, arranges for the production of T-shirts and the catering at the banquet. She recruits volunteers to work at the banquet. This count would not be near as special without the leadership of Marilyn and her volunteers.

SPONSORS: Betty Clark, Bay City Convention Bureau, Matagorda County Birding & Nature Center, Bay City Nature Club, Texas Parks & Wildlife Dept., Lower Colorado River Authority, The Nature Conservancy, South Texas Nuclear Project Operating Co., Lyondell-Basel, Celanese, Wells Fargo Bank, All Star Realty, City of Bay City, Bay City Abstract & Title.

Photo by Cullen Hanks

LANDOWNERS: Lower Colorado River Authority, George Harrison, PCS Phosphate, Inc., Jack Miller, Carl Anderson family, Charlie Brower’s family, Roy Poinsett, Eugene Welfel, Lyondell-Basel, South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company, Julius Ledwig, Linda Joy Stovall, Bill Von Gonten, Smith Marsh, The Nature Conservancy of Texas, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Grover Ryman, Bill Doss, Ray Culver, Becca Sitz, Al Denham, and Old Gulf.

BOAT OPERATORS: We appreciate the services and the boats provided by James Arnold, Jerry West and the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department.

NEXT YEAR

This was another amazing CBC at Mad Island. We thank all of you who helped. Next year will likely be better. Come join us to check it out and bring a friend on Monday, 19 December 2011.

Photo by Jimmy Jackson

Brent Ortego
Texas Parks & Wildlife Department
2805 N. Navarro, Suite 600B
Victoria, TX 77901
brent.ortego@tpwd.state.tx.us

Excel spreadsheet of data available upon request.

Photo by Byron Stone

It was that kind of a day. Cool, drizzly most of the day and everything was wet. Last year I was complaining about the fog and high tides that lasted most of the morning. This year we got rain until early afternoon and higher tides. We can’t control the weather and with the rain I was making recommendations on Plan C at daybreak.

Photo by Cullen Hanks

The first bird of the day was a Cave Swallow roosting in a culvert. There were no owls, Killdeers or anything moving during the rain at 3 in the morning.

Leading up to the Count, the Region experienced 18 months of drought through August. Then we received 20 inches of rain in the next 3 months, went through 2 river floods and then for 36 hours leading up to the count it rained. Not a great volume, but with all of the moisture already on the ground, it just made everything much wetter and limited our vehicle access to roads at some sites and the boat launch on the Guadalupe River.

RESULTS

What a day! There actually were quite a few birds to be found and with our record 79 birders in attendance, and access to new properties obtained by Holcomb and Nunley we did very well. We reported 216 species, and added 4 new species to the Count: Com. Nighthawk, Brown-crested Flycatcher, W. Kingbird and Tennessee Warbler. The BEST BIRD as voted on by Section Leaders was BROWN-CRESTED FLYCATCHER.

No special ducks were found this year because of limited vehicle access to some key wetlands due to soggy ground conditions.

Photo by Kevin Kriegel

WHOOPING CRANE – A pair set up a territory on the Hynes Bay Unit of the Guadalupe Delta Wildlife Management Area and have been seen daily through December. We have had Whoopers reported twice before on the count, but they were just momentary observations. These birds were present all day.

COMMON NIGHTHAWK – We have had nighthawk sp. before on the CBC and this being a “Common” rather than a “Lesser” was a little surprising. This bird was found in native habitat by Dale Friedrichs. Most winter nighthawks in native habitat are Lessers with Commons more likely to linger at developed areas.

BROWN-CRESTED FLYCATCHER – New for the count and voted as its BEST BIRD. I have caught them in January before. So, I was not that surprised of one turning up. It was a pleasant surprise when we had one reported by both Charlie Brower’s and Derek Muschalek’s teams.

WESTERN KINGBIRD – New for the count. This species is expected to infrequently occur in the area and Michael Kennedy found our first.

GREEN JAYs are continuing to expand their range and this report by Bill Farnsworth makes this our 2nd record.

TENNESSEE WARBLER was new for the count and a surprise. This species rarely lingers and offers identification challenges separating it from the highly variable Orange-crowned Warbler. Bob Creglow found one for our count.

YELLOW WARBLER is a rare but regular wintering neotropical migrant. They breed in the United States and pass through the area by the thousands with a few staying behind. They tend to winter in shrub thickets and with diligence they can be found as was done by Cecelia Riely’s team.

PROTHONOTARY WARBLER occur at the southern end of their breeding range at our count, but this species is not expected to linger. The one reported by Clay Taylor was a very pleasant surprise.

WESTERN TANAGER is new for the count. This is a western species which regularly winters in the area in very small numbers. We not only finally got one for the CBC, but we got two. One was photographed by Mikael Behrens and another was reported by Clay Taylor.

SUMMER TANAGER was also new for the CBC. It occurs much less frequently than western and this adult male was also photographed by Mikael Behrens.

Photo by Cullen Hanks

ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK was reported for the 2nd time this season. It is an extremely rare lingering neotrops and Cullen Hanks’ team photographed the species along the Delta of the River.

TRENDS

HIGHS: (70 species) Wood Duck, Am. Wigeon, Mottled Duck, N. Shoveler, N. Pintail, Canvasback, Ring-necked Duck, Bufflehead, Red-breasted Merganser, Cattle Egret, Green Heron, Roseate Spoonbill, Bald Eagle, N. Harrier, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Black-necked Stilt, Solitary Sandpiper, Greater Yellowlegs, Willet, Black Skimmer, Rock Pigeon, Eur. Collared-Dove, White-winged Dove, Mourning Dove, Inca Dove, Com. Nighthawk, Belted Kingfisher, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Least Flycatcher, E. Phoebe, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Brown-crested Flycatcher, Great Kiskadee, W. Kingbird, Blue-headed Vireo, Blue Jay, Green Jay, Winter Wren, Sedge Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Am. Robin, Gray Catbird, N. Mockingbird, Am. Pipit, Tennessee Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Myrtle Warbler, Black-and-White Warbler, Am. Redstart, Prothonotary Warbler, Com. Yellowthroat, Wilson’s Warbler, W. Tanager, Summer Tanager, Chipping Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, Lark Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Grasshopper Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, N. Cardinal, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Great-tailed Grackle and Bronzed Cowbird.

LOWS: (36 species) Mallard, Blue-winged Teal, Hooded Merganser, Eared Grebe, Am. White Pelican, Anhinga, Little Blue Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, White-tailed Hawk, King Rail, Virginia Rail, Black-bellied Plover, Spotted Sandpiper, W. Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher, Long-billed Dowitcher, Wilson’s Snipe, Herring Gull, Gull-billed Tern, Com. Barn-Owl, E. Screech-Owl, Red-bellied Woodpecker, White-eyed Vireo, Barn Swallow, Carolina Wren, Bewick’s Wren, Hermit Thrush, Long-billed Thrasher, Eur. Starling, Yellow-breasted Chat, White-crowned Sparrow, Brewer’s Blackbird, Boat-tailed Grackle, Am. Goldfinch.

WATERFOWL = 9 of 26 species had higher than average numbers and 3 lower. High numbers are reflective of good continental populations and not of local conditions because we only have 2 resident species.

WATERBIRDS = 6 lows and 3 highs amongst 22 species. The region is just coming off an 18 months drought and most local waterbirds have bred in below average numbers over the last 2 years.

RAPTORS = 4 highs and 1 low from 15 species. Amazing numbers for the poor soaring conditions for raptors.

RAILS = 2 low and 1 missing from 7 species. Drought in combination with cattle grazing really damaged rail habitat. The only reasonable numbers of rails in the marsh were obtained from areas not grazed.
The most special birding experience for me was the dawn “Whooping” of the pair of cranes that set up a territory in the Hynes Bay area. At 100 yards they were very loud.

Photo by Kevin Kriegel

SHOREBIRDS THRU GULLS = 10 low and 5 high out of 27 species. No tidal mudflats really reduced numbers. Many of the estuarine shorebirds moved inland to flooded ag fields, and some of these were observed during the day.

DOVES THRU WOODPECKERS = 8 high and 3 lows from 24 species. All doves did extremely well with the drought suppressing grasses which made more space for preferred weedy plant species. Walter Womack was also successful in holding onto two hummingbird species at his feeders which greatly helped the count.

Photo by Mikael Behrens

FLYCATCHERS THRU PIPITS = 16 highs and 6 lows out of 40 species. We did very well with most expected species of flycatchers and a variety of songbirds. Local breeding Carolina Wrens and thrashers occurred in much lower than average numbers.

WARBLERS THRU TANAGERS = This is our “Signature Group” of species. We reported 15 species of warblers and 2 species of tanagers with 14 occurring in above average numbers during the rain. I wonder what we would have found on a good weather day. Our CBC will likely report more species of warblers than any other CBC in Texas. We only missed two expected species: N. Parula and Ovenbird.

SPARROWS = We reported 22 species of “sparrows” with 9 coming in above average with only one below average. I was expecting both species of buntings but we found neither. The Rose-breasted Grosbeak was a very pleasant surprise.

THANKS

This is a very special count because of the habitats it covers where 3 ecoregions merge. It is successful because of the large amount of cooperation we get from the landowners who generally provide us access and as in the case with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Dow, Ineos, Jess and Walter Womack, and Beverly Fletcher they also provide staff and equipment to help us with the count. We would also like to thank Mrs. Pat Welder, Larry Seydler, Frank Pagel, Gene Colville, Don Walden, Dan Kaspar, the Negley Ranch, and the Landgraf, Spandau and Joe Hawes families for providing us access to their lands. Lastly, we thank the 80 birders who spent their day and huge amount of energy in searching the landscape for every species which we could locate.

At the end of the day, our tired, wet and excited birders gathered under the oaks in the river bottom at the Weed Prairie Hunting Camp on the Jess Womack Ranch. We were treated to an excellent meal cooked by A.D. Blackmon, David, CB and Brandon. Lyondel-Basel Corporation provided funding for most of the food and activity fees.

THANKS TO ALL FOR A GREAT JOB!!

Data from the CBC is available upon request.

Hope to see you at our next Christmas Bird Count on Thursday, 16 December 2010.

Photo by Jimmy Jackson

MATAGORDA COUNTY – MAD ISLAND MARSH

CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT
14 December 2009

Great Blue Heron View at 50 yards

The 17^thrunning of the Mad Island CBC started foggy; REALLY FOGGY. The kind of fog that seeps through all of your clothes and makes everything damp. Sadly this thick fog lasted all night and day as warm air temperatures mixed with cool bay waters. Visibility was less than 100 yards on the Coast most of the day. Fog was a little lighter further inland with occasional views of the sun during mid day. Adding to our frustration were tides running about 1 foot above normal and covering many of the mudflats we access to survey shorebirds. Further complicating the analysis of the data was this area just came out of a major drought lasting 18 months.

A record number of birders (121) reported 231 species which should make us Number One in the Nation again for species. Guadalupe River Delta – McFaddin Family Ranches reported 216 species and Freeport 203. Mad Island also typically leads the nation for the most species with the highest tallies. This probably will not happen this year because reduced visibility in the fog really hampered seeing, identifying and counting birds.

Teams on the Mad Island Wildlife Management Area and TNC Preserve started the count at midnight and likely the first bird observed was a Burrowing Owl. This bird was very cooperative by standing in the road for several minutes in the beam of the head lights. We ended up recording 4 of this very secretive species for the day. We also ended up recording a very high tally of Barn Owls at 64. When the fog is heavy, Barn Owls typically do not hunt for long on the wing and spend most of the time perched on fence posts or trees waiting for rodents to move nearby. Being on fence posts, it was very easy to count them while driving the roads. Interestingly we also recorded our highest total of Barred Owls at 64. I guess the Barred like to call in the fog. We were very successful at deploying numerous birders before daybreak and recorded a record tally of 39 Am. Woodcock as they flew to their daytime haunts before sunrise. All in all our night teams tallied about 40 species before daybreak. I like getting as many nocturnal species as possible before daybreak because it provides more time to search for challenging species during daylight.

Photo by David Shackelford

The teams did pretty good at locating species in the fog. The Wildlife Management Area led all sections with 150 species reported, followed by The Nature Conservancy with 147, STP with 133, Matagorda – East with 117 and the River with 112. However, the best sections for finding unique species was TNC and Selkirk with 5 each, Matagorda – East and the Peninsula with 4 each, and Lyondell & the River with 3 each.

BEST BIRD

It is pretty special to be able to get the Best Bird on this CBC. There were 121 birders participating in 35 different teams on 14 sections competing for the honor. There were 10 species found that were rare enough to require documentation, and 3 species were new to the CBC. Section Leaders voted on the Best Bird and results were as tight as it has ever been. They voted for the Chuck-will’s-widowthat was found by Rich Kostecke on The Nature Conservancy Preserve as the BEST BIRD with Lark Bunting found by Tad Finnell at Selkirk Island being a very near 2nd. The 3 new species brings the total species for this CBC as 335.

We had a nice collection of rare bird sightings as well as species missed and they will be discussed below:

SCOTERS are typically found in deeper waters of the Gulf and in small numbers in the bays feeding on various mollusks. James Arnold’s bay boat managed to sneak within 50 yards of a White-winged Scoter in the fog. It was one of the few species of ducks that were actually seen during the day.

GLOSSY IBIS occurs during the winter in small numbers and is extremely difficult to distinguish from White-faced Ibis. We were not successful at identifying one this year.

APLOMADO FALCON occurs with enough regularity that it no longer requires documentation. However, it is still one of the more sought after birds in the area.

WHOOPING CRANES were observed for a few days before the CBC, but weather conditions eliminated any opportunity of seeing this species.

WILSON’S PLOVER is a regular summer breeder in the area, but seldom winters. Jim & Linda Hargrove made special efforts to locate this species after we found one wintering last January in their section. They were rewarded with a view of one bird. This was a new species for the CBC.

RED KNOT was another casualty of the fog. It typically winters in small numbers while foraging on the area beaches and oyster reefs.

Photo by Petra Hockey

FRANKLIN’S GULL has become so regular that details are no longer required.

CHUCK-WILL’S-WIDOW migrates through the area but very few are known to winter along the Coastal Bend. Once they get around the curve of the Gulf, they usually continue south to a more tropical wintering area. Rich Kostecke almost stepped on one along the thornscrub ridge on TNC and had excellent views of the bird. Lynn Barber also flushed a Caprimulgid while birding in the Matagorda-East section, but was not able to ID it to species. This was a new species for the CBC as well as being the BEST BIRD.

WESTERN KINGBIRD migrates through our area in very small numbers. They are more a vagrant than they are a regular species. However, one of the most consistent locations to find wintering individuals of this species is in Florida. Apparently, birds get lost in migration and get “trapped” in coastal settings. Catherine Engelman and John Herron located one on the TNC preserve. This was the 3^rdrecord for the CBC.

SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER migrates through the area in sizeable numbers and is known to be a late migrant. It is a beautiful bird that occupies open country settings, but it is difficult to predict when you will locate one. This year Jean Martin’s River Ranches Team identified one for our 7^threcord.

The RED-EYED VIREO is another eastern forest birds that very rarely winters in the Untied States. Jamie Ritter managed to locate one for our 4^th CBC record on the Lyondell section.

WOOD THRUSH breed throughout forested uplands in the eastern United States, but is a very rare winterer in the country. Mad island has become the CBC with the greatest frequency of reporting this species. Michael Kennedy found one on the Lyondell property for our 10^thCBC record.

Photo by Brad Lirette

I like photos of rarities. I was able to locate 2 YELLOW WARBLERS while scouting on STP road and Brad Lirette managed to photograph one again on count day. The Yellow Warbler breeds in the United States and winters with regularity in very small numbers in shrubby areas along the Coast. We have become very good at finding this species as this makes our 7^threcord.

BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER AND N. WATERTHRUSH are two species that have started to consistently give us the slip during count days. They are found regularly nearby in similar habitats, but for whatever reason we are starting to miss them far too regularly.

OVENBIRD is a regular wintering warbler that spends time in very dense thickets. The reporting of it is much less than its occurrence because it is a very talented skulker in the shadows. Selkirk, Lyondell and W. Roads managed to find one each for our 5^thCBC record.

SWAINSON’S WARBLER is a denizen of historic cane brakes of the South. It breeds in small numbers in Texas and is not expected to winter. Bob and Dale Friedrichs had good observations of one on the Lyondell property making it our 2^ndCBC record.

CLAY-COLORED & LARK SPARROWS both occupies more xeric savannah settings and have been very consistently reported on this CBC for at least 10 CBC seasons each. We missed this year.

Photo by David Shackelford

HENSLOW’S SPARROW is normally viewed as a species of the “tall grass prairie” and most searches for the species occur in large prairie tracts. However, we tend to locate them in this count area in smaller grasslands. Our 4^threcord was photographed by David Shackelford on the River Ranches Section.

LARK BUNTING ended up being the Number Two bird for this CBC in a very close vote. Tad Finnell observed one in a shrubby area at Selkirk Island. This appears to be a year of great numbers of Lark Buntings roaming more easterly and southerly than normal.

RESULTS

We reported 231 species which is about average for this CBC. We added 3 new species bring our total to 335 species. Observers reported 37 species in above average numbers and 54 species in below average while missing 9 species in the area.

Mad Island has let the Nation for the most highest counts of individual species for 11 years. The 425 Roseate Spoonbill, 35 White-tailed Hawk, 222 Greater Yellowlegs, 39 Am. Woodcock, 14 Franklin’s Gull, 35 Gull-billed Tern, 64 Barn Owl, 64 Barred Owl, 1040 E. Phoebe, 7 Ash-throated Flycatcher, 182 Loggerhead Shrike, 1 Red-eyed Vireo, 233 House Wren, 329 Marsh Wren, 1 Wood Thrush, 68 Sprague’s Pipit, 1 Swainson’s Warbler, 482 Com. Yellowthroat, 7 Yellow-breasted Chat, 3995 Savannah Sparrow, 1219 E. Meadowlark, and 11,328 Boat-tailed Grackle reported this year will be competitive for national honors.

TRENDS

This is the 2^nd year in a row we have had weather which has really reduced the success of our counting. The norm for species being above and below average is 65 being high and 25 being low as was reported 2 years ago. During the major cold front last year, we reported 55 species below average and 45 above. This year we have 54 species below average and only 34 above average. Even in bad weather, we still can locate species in above average numbers.

HIGH COUNTS: Ruddy Duck, Merlin, Peregrine Falcon, Virginia Rail, Whimbrel, Marbled Godwit, Wilson’s Plover, Am. Woodcock, Franklin’s Gull, Com. Tern, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, E. Screech-Owl, Great Horned Owl, Burrowing Owl, Barred Owl, Chuck-will’s-widow, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, N. Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, Least Flycatcher, W. Kingbird, White-eyed Vireo, Am. Crow, Carolina Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Palm Warbler, Swainson’s Warbler, Com. Yellowthroat, Wilson’s Warbler, Lark Bunting, Fox Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, Harris’s Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, W. Meadowlark and Am. Goldfinch.

LOW COUNTS: Cackling Goose, Canada Goose, Am. Wigeon, Mottled Duck, Cinnamon Teal, Redhead, Greater Scaup, Lesser Scaup, Com. Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Red-breasted Merganser, Com. Loon, Pied-billed Grebe, Horned Grebe, Eared Grebe, Brown Pelican, Neotropic Cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Egret, Reddish Egret, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, N. Harrier, Clapper Rail, King Rail, Sandhill Crane, Black-bellied Plover, Willet, Sanderling, W. Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Dunlin, Short-billed Dowitcher, Laughing Gull, Bonaparte’s Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Herring Gull, Caspian Tern, Forster’s Tern, Com. Ground-Dove, Belted Kingfisher, Couch’s Kingbird, N. Rough-winged Swallow, Bewick’s Wren, Brown Thrasher, Long-billed Thrasher, Eur. Starling, Vesper Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Brewer’s Blackbird, Com. Grackle, Great-tailed Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird and House Sparrow.

Waterfowl = 11 species low and 1 high out of 28 species. Visibility definitely affected our ability to see waterfowl. Disappointing because there were huge numbers of ducks, geese and cranes in the area.

Divers = 4 out of 5 species low.

Pelicans thru Ibises = 7 lows and no highs out of 19 species. Major flight lines were not visible during CBC.

Raptors = 1 low and 1 high out of 18 species. We were still able to observed reasonable numbers of raptors.

Rails = 4 lows and 1 high out of 8 species. The drought had a major negative impact on these species.

Shorebirds = 7 lows and 4 highs out of 27 species. Large numbers of shorebirds were using inland waterfowl impoundments because of high tides in the bays. Most birds were either not visible or just blurred silhouettes.

Gulls & Terns = 6 lows and 2 highs from 12 species.

Doves thru Woodpeckers = 10 highs and 2 lows out of 23 species. As a general rule, the drought was good for wintering doves. It suppressed grasses and allowed for weeds to flourish and produce abundant seed. All owls except Barn were counted in above average numbers.

Flycatchers thru waxwing = 6 highs and 6 lows out of 41 species. In general, detecting passerines were not as greatly effected in the fog as large open country birds.

Warblers = 4 highs and no lows out of 12 species

Towhees thru buntings = 5 highs and 2 lows out of 23 species.

The rest = 6 lows and 2 highs out of 12 species. As expected, large flocks of blackbirds and grackles were not detectable in the fog.

TEAM WORK

Much of the results from this CBC are the direct results of the planning, leadership, coordination, and skills of our Section Leaders: Jim Hargrove, Sumita Prasad, Charlie Brower, Ron Weeks, Michael Kennedy, Bill Baker, Brad Lirette, Jared Judy, Jim Renfro, Marc Ealy, James Arnold, and Ural Donohoe.

This Christmas Bird Count is The Number One in the Nation from our Team’s perspective. It has shown national leadership in cooperative efforts between the birders, the landowners, the boat operators and the people of Matagorda County. It takes every bodies efforts focused on the end result to achieve our goals. Yes, we have a very diverse avifauna that is the product of a narrow forested corridor extending all of the way down the Colorado River to the Gulf that is bordered by an abundance of native prairies, brushlands and wetlands. An added factor is geography creates diverse ecosystems being in close proximity. This diversity would not be possible unless the landowners managed their land to maintain the productivity of the habitats, and it would not be possible to survey them unless they liked our project and permitted us access. All the birds in the world would not mean anything unless the interest, skills and cooperation of the Texas birders would not show up to conduct the count. We would count very few water birds unless our boat operators would not donate a day from their busy schedule as well as the use of their boats. We get great support from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, The Nature Conservancy, the South Texas Nuclear Project and Lyondell-Basel for use of equipment, land and staff. Lastly, we could not afford to pay for the Great Supper at the Wadsworth Community Center, provide counters with t-shirts and pay their CBC activity fees without the generosity of the sponsors. We also thank Greg Lavatyfor the great photo for our T-shirt.

LEADERS: David and Marilyn Sitz. David has developed a great relationship with the landowners of Matagorda County and he is the person who obtains permission for the birders to access the private property. Marilyn does the fund raising, arranges for the production of T-shirts and the catering at the banquet. She recruits volunteers to work at the banquet. This count would not be near as special without the leadership of Marilyn and her volunteers.

SPONSORS: Betty Clark, Bay City Convention Bureau, Matagorda County Birding & Nature Center, Bay City Nature Club, Texas Parks & Wildlife Dept., Lower Colorado River Authority, The Nature Conservancy, South Texas Nuclear Project Operating Co., Lyondell-Basel, Celanese, Wells Fargo Bank, All Star Realty, City of Bay City, Bay City Abstract & Title.

LANDOWNERS: Lower Colorado River Authority, George Harrison, PCS Phosphate, Inc., Jack Miller, Carl Anderson family, Charlie Brower’s family, Roy Poinsett, Eugene Welfel, Baer Ranch, Lyondell-Basel, South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company, Julius Ledwig, Linda Joy Stovall, Bill Von Gonten, Smith Marsh, The Nature Conservancy of Texas, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Grover Ryman, Bill Doss, Ray Culver, Becca Sitz, Al Denham, and Old Gulf.

BOAT OPERATORS: We appreciate the services and the boats provided by James Arnold, and the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department.

NEXT YEAR

This was another amazing CBC at Mad Island. We thank all of you who helped. Next year will likely be better. Come join us to check it out and bring a friend on Tuesday, 14 December 2010.

NOTE: THIS WILL BE THE FIRST TIME WE CONDUCT THE COUNT ON A TUESDAY.

Photo by Jimmy Jackson

Brent Ortego

Texas Parks & Wildlife Department

2805 N. Navarro, Suite 600B

Victoria, TX 77901

brent.ortego@tpwd.state.tx.us

Excel spreadsheet of data available upon request.

18 December 2008

We developed strategies all year on how to take this CBC one step higher to potentially Number One in the Nation.  We recruited people from across the state and got commitments from more birders than in the past.  We made arrangements with landowners and scouted heavily in the days prior to the count.  We get up to start the count and then what do we find:  High tides and heavy FOG!

We can’t control the weather.  So, we go to Plan B with heavy fog lasting until 10 a.m. and strong warm winds developing afterwards.

The Guadalupe River Delta area like much of Texas has experienced extreme drought.  This allowed the bird count the opportunity to survey the response of birds to the drought across the state and limited amount of freshwater along the lower reaches of the Guadalupe River drainage.  This situation was in great contrast to the flooded conditions during our first CBC for the area 4 years earlier.

HOW DID WE DO?

The 5th running of this CBC produced reports of 217 species from 66 birders.  This places us 2^nd in the Nation again for total species, and we are in the running for the highest counts for Merlin, King Rail, Sora, Bell’s Vireo, House Wren, Marsh Wren, Com. Yellowthroat, Lincoln’s Sparrow, and Swamp Sparrow.  As we increase participation for this fun CBC and access new lands we should be able to consistently post 230 species results each year and occasionally be the Top CBC in the Country.  We have reported 271 species in 5 years.

            The woodlands along the lower Guadalupe River on Kenyon and Kamey Islands and on the Wildlife Management Area continue to show their high quality for lingering neotrops, and birdlife.  Many of the unusual birds for the count are found in this area.

Best  Birds reported this year were  Red-headed Woodpecker and Harris’s Sparrow as voted upon by Section Leaders.  A general summary of the Better Birds follows:

 LONG-TAILED DUCK is a northern diving duck which seldom winters in the area.  Cecilia Riley’s team found one for the 2^nd year in a row, and again Mike Gray was able to photograph it.

SWAINSON’S HAWK is a raptor which very rarely lingers in the Coastal Bend.  Brent located one on the Hyne’s Bay Unit of the WMA for the first record of the CBC.

The WHOOPING CRANE’s primary wintering grounds are only a few air miles away and it is a puzzle why they do not regularly uses the marshes of San Antonio Bay.  This year one was spotted when landing in area marshes by Brush/Petra.

SNOWY PLOVERs typically occupy large expanses of sand flats which do not occur in this count circle.  This year Dan Kaspar had lowered his lake to attract waterbirds and it dried more than planned.  This resulted in large expanses of exposed lake beds which were used heavily by plovers.  They were observed by both the Kaspar and Brush/Petra teams.

Caprimulgids are extremely rare during winter along the Central Coast.  The 2 WHIP-POOR-WILLS were found by Robert Edwards on Hog Bayou Road before daybreak. 

NIGHTHAWK sp. linger within urban areas on a regular basis, but they are seldom found in rural settings.  Chris Bludau flushed one from the road before daybreak on the J. Womack Ranch.

RED-HEADED WOODPECKER is a species that rarely occurs in area counties.  One adult was found by Connie Moberley while kayaking the San Antonio River. 

E. KINGBIRD is a common migrant through the area and very few linger into December.  Scott Mitchell’s team located one for our 2^nd CBC record.

BELL’S VIREO was another great bird found by the Rockport group while they were in the Headquarter pasture. Bell’s breed locally in upland brush habitats, and very rarely winter.

The GREEN JAY each winter makes a northward push following food sources which are mostly corn at deer feeders.  This year a major movement of Green Jays occurred outside of the Brush Country.  Three of our teams located 18 on the McFaddin Ranches this CBC.  A few hung around the Weed Prairie hunter camp all winter.

The YELLOW WARBLER is an abundant fall migrant and a few are expected to linger into December.  This year this species has regularly been found on area CBCs.  Brush/Petra were able to photograph one and two other groups located one during the count.

 This was a great year for HARRIS’S SPARROW. This species normally winters inland from the Coast.  Five birds were found by 3 teams; two in sections bordering Hwy. 35 and 1 on the McFaddin Ranches.

TRENDS

Our birding teams worked through dense fog for hours, and then had to deal with strong warm winds the rest of the day.  We set a record for number of birders for this CBC with 66 and increased our effort (party-hours) by 25%.  This should have resulted in increased bird numbers due to effort, but numbers of some species may have been suppressed due to very dry conditions.

The increased effort won out and 72 of the 217 species were reported in above average numbers.  31 species were reported in lower numbers than normal.  See below.

HIGHS (72 sp.):  N. Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Canvasback, Lesser Scaup, Long-tailed Duck, Wild Turkey, N. Bobwhite, Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagle, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper’s Hawk, Swainson’s Hawk, Merlin, Peregrine Falcon, Virginia Rail, Whooping Crane, Snowy Plover, Am. Avocet, Least Sandpiper, Long-billed Dowitcher, Wilson’s Snipe, Royal Tern, Black Skimmer, Rock Pigeon, Eur. Collared-Dove, White-winged Dove, Mourning Dove, E. Screech-Owl, Great Horned Owl, Parauque, Whip-poor-will, nighthawk sp., Green Kingfisher, Red-headed Woodpecker, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woopecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Great Kiskadee, Bell’s Vireo, Tufted Titmouse hybrids, Winter Wren, Gray Catbird, N. Mockingbird, Long-billed Thrasher, Am. Pipit, Nashville Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Palm Warbler, N. Waterthrush, E. Towhee, Clay-colored Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, Lark Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, Song Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Harris’s Sparrow, N. Cardinal, Pyrrhuloxia, Brewer’s Blackbird, Com. Grackle, Great-tailed Grackle, Bronzed Cowbird, Baltimore Oriole, Lesser Goldfinch, Am. Goldfinch, and House Sparrow.

LOWS (31 sp.):  Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Greater White-fronted Goose, Snow Goose, Ross’s Goose, Cackling Goose, Canada Goose, Mottled Duck, Ruddy Duck, Eared Grebe, Neotropic Cormorant, Cattle Egret, Green Heron, White Ibis, White-faced Ibis, White-tailed Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Sandhill Crane, Black-bellied Plover, Laughing Gull, Gull-billed Tern, E. Phoebe, Blue Jay, Am. Crow, Cave Swallow, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, House Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush, Wilson’s Warbler, and Savannah Sparrow.

WATERFOWL:  Eight of 27 species occurred in lower numbers than expected and 5 in higher. This group of species and the Waterbirds were likely the most impacted by the drought. Many “wetlands” were dry and others much reduced in size.  In addition, the bay had higher salinities than normal.

WATERBIRDS:  Only 3 of 22 species occurred in above average numbers and 7 were much lower. 

RAPTORS:  Eight of 18 species were reported in above average numbers and 2 were low.  The lower reports were likely due to the fog and windy conditions, and the higher numbers likely due to greater effort.

SHOREBIRDS THRU GULLS:  30 species with 7 highs & 3 lows.  Snowy Plover was new for the CBC.  Tides were high and it made it difficult to locate many birds.  Dan Kaspar’s drying lake was a great assest this year and it was The site for the Snowy’s.  The Solitary Sandpiper pictured above was photographed my Michael Gray and is a rare wintering shorebird for the area.

DOVES THRU WOODPECKERS:  This group of 25 species had 16 high counts which included Whip-poor-will and Red-headed Woodpecker.  Both were new species for the CBC.  Doves and woodpeckers were in exceptionally high numbers.

FLYCATCHERS:  8 species reported was good but lower than expected.  The Team did locate an E. Kingbird and Scissor-tailed Flycatcher which were nice finds, but only had one Myiarchus and no Empids.  Phoebes were considerably lower than previous years.

VIREOS THRU PIPITS:  6 high and 6 low counts.  This group of species which occupy mostly woodlands appeared to be impacted by the drought with much lower numbers of wrens and kinglets than previous years.

WARBLERS:  Warblers is the Signature Group of Species for which this CBC is known.  We have reported as many as 17 species during one count and this year’s 12 species are much below expectations. 5 species were above average in number and 1 was low.  There was good diversity of warblers near water like on Kenyon and Kamey Islands, but not in the drier uplands.  There was an amazing high density of N. Waterthrushes this year.  This was especially surprising considering that the Mad Island CBC just up the Coast did not get one.  We did not locate any unusual lingering warblers as in the past, and we found N. Parula shortly after the count.

SPARROWS:  This was a good year for sparrows.  We reported 21 species with 10 being high in numbers and 1 low.  Harris’s Sparrow was new for the CBC.  Brush and Petra had a grosbeak during the week that we were not able to relocate during the CBC.

THANKS

This very successful count is a major team effort.  We would first want to thank Dale Friedrichs with Lyondell-Basel Corporation for paying for the meal at the Count Down and the activity fees of the birders.  The CBC would not be possible without the great assistance from the McFaddin Family Ranches.  All 3 ranches gave us complete access to their property.  Lou Womack also provided boat and staff to run a team of birders on the river.  Jan Wheelis gave us use of their wonderful lodge.  Walter Womack used his “expert” nature skills to assist us with the bird counting.

            We would also like to thank the Dow and Ineos chemical plants for providing staff and access to their productive wildlife lands.  We are grateful for Mrs. Pat Welder, Larry Seydler, Frank Pagel, Gene Colville, Don Walden, Dan Kaspar, Beverly Fletcher, and the Negley Ranch for providing us access to their lands.  Lastly, we thank the 66 birders who spent their day and huge amount of energy in searching the landscape for every species which we could locate.

At the end of the day, our tired and excited birders gathered under the oaks in the river bottom at the Weed Prairie Hunting Camp on the Jess Womack Ranch.  We were treated to an excellent meal cooked by A. D. Blackman, Buck Packabush and David Drehr.

THANKS TO ALL FOR A GREAT JOB!

Hope to see you at our Christmas Bird Count next year on Thursday, 17 December 2009.

Brent Ortego

202 Camino Drive

Victoria, TX 77905

CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT

15 December 2008

The 16^th running of the Matagorda County – Mad Island Marsh Christmas Bird Count felt more like a survival adventure than a bird survey.  Most of our Team had no idea of the timing and strength of the “Blue Norther” that was going to hit us during the morning of the CBC.  Weather forecast the night before indicated heavy fog in the morning and a cold front arriving in the afternoon, but the front that arrived was much stronger and faster than predicted.

Our team of 97 dedicated birders reported 233 species of birds which will make us Number One in the Nation again for species.  Guadalupe River Delta – McFaddin Family Ranches placed 2^nd with 217 species.

The scene above greeted many of our teams at first light.  A heavy fog had settled along the Coast and some birders had a hard time seeing the roads on which they were driving.  Gradually the fog lifted and birds became active.  It was actually pretty nice for about an hour with relatively light winds and low clouds.  Then about 9 a.m. we observed a very dark frontal line to the north and we knew we were going to experience some pretty serious weather.  Birders scurried for their vehicles, birds headed for cover, and the two boats with birders in the bay had to deal with it.  Our East Bay boat (James Arnold’s) decided to head for the harbor.  We drove about 7 miles through 30 mph north winds, light rain and a drop of 30 degrees in temperature as we got out of the bay.  The airboat in West Bay just decided to work through it.

This was one of the few CBCs I have attended that I felt the need to call birders to see if anybody was still out there.  After taking a break at the harbor, finding some warmer gear and determining that the Count was still active, we continued our journey.  It actually was not uncomfortable on the water once the rain stopped and we wore better gear.  The wind made all birding challenging and the 97 birders did what we could on land and water.

BEST BIRD

Our section leaders voted the E. Wood-Pewee as the Best Bird which barely beat out the Black-headed Grosbeak.

We had a nice collection of rare bird sightings and they will be discussed below:

The FULVOUS WHISTLING-DUCK has been reported 5 times during the CBC and is expected, but can be very difficult to find as they tend to hide in densely vegetated freshwater marshes.  The Serrill family managed to locate one at Mad Island as it was flying with Black-bellieds.

WOOD STORKS are common during sumer/fall in the area and occasionally one will linger.  Jan Huebner found one on the Baer Ranch.  This marked the 3^rd time we have had one on the CBC.

The APLOMADO FALCON is probably this CBC’s Best Bird year-in and year-out.  Two were reported by Jared Laing and Heather Serrill.  Heather is always looking for a photo opportunity and managed to get this nice shot of one on TNC.

PURPLE GALLINULE is another resident of the deep marsh that typically migrates south for the winter.  Our team can occasionally find one lurking if they work the tall marsh vegetation.  This year Jared Laing managed to sling a rock near one making it flush in the Mad Island area, and it became our 4^th CBC record.

We posted our highest tally of FRANKLIN’S GULLS with 8 this year.  They seemed to be everywhere with 5 of the 15 sections reporting them.

LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL was the only new species for the count this year.  A number of this species were reported along the Coast this season and it’s presence was expected, but it required a very knowledgeable birder to identify it.  Thus, I was excited when Petra Hockey said she was going to do a “Sea Watch” during the count and she came through with this species and a couple more exclusives.

Mad Island is known for its high diversity of flycatchers.  The E. WOOD-PEWEE reported this year is the CBCs 4^th record.  All EAWP have been identified by vocalization.  This individual discovered by “Mr. Radar” Mark Scheuerman was also seen and described well, and eventually photographed.  That is not its photo above, but one I caught during an earlier trip.

Martine Got well described an E. KINGBIRD on TNC for our 4^th record, and Jean Martin’s River Section reported 2 GREAT KISKADEES which was also our 4^th record. 

The WOOD THRUSH used to be a species I doubted occurred with any regularity.  Our Team has been successful at locating and occasionally photographing Wood Thrushes 9 times.  This year one was well described by Michael Kennedy at the Lyondell-Basell property.

The TENNESSEE WARBLER is still one of those lingering warblers that I am yet to identify in winter.  This year makes the 7^th time our Team has adequately described one.  Sandy Dillard and 4 other observers reported one in the Peninsula Section.

YELLOW WARBLER is an expected lingering neotrop that can be difficult to find.  Two were located prior to the CBC and it took Brad Lirette lots of work to photograph the one below during the heavy winds of the day in the W. Roads Section.

This seems to be the year for BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAKS.  I have had one at my Victoria County home this fall and I have heard of several reports on the Coast.  Dale Friedrichs described one well during this CBC on the Lyondell-Basell property for our 3^rd record.

RESULTS

Excel spreadsheet with data by section available upon request.

233 species is an amazing total for the Weather in which we had to conduct the bird count.  We missed a number of regular species like Ferruginous Hawk, Solitary Sandpiper, E. Screech-Owl, Rufous Hummingbird, Say’s Phoebe, Black-and-White Warbler, Ovenbird, N. Waterthrush, Clay-colored Sparrow, Painted Bunting and House Finch.  We also missed Groove-billed Anis which were spotted the day before and observed still there in mid January. 

The Wildlife Management Area section had the most species with 157.  Matagorda-East, Lyondell, W. Roads, TNC and the Rovers had 4 or more exclusives.

We have led the Nation for 10 years with the most highest counts of individual species.  We normally get at least 20 high tallies.  We might not be able to do it this year.  Candidates for highest counts are the 3002 Am. White Pelican, 1201 Great Egret, 984 Roseate Spoonbill, 41 White-tailed Hawk, 216 Crested Caracara, 20 Yellow Rail, 112 Piping Plover, 289 Greater Yellowlegs, 116 Spotted Sandpiper, 1 E. Wood-Pewee, 477 Sedge Wren, 1 Wood Thrush, 44 Sprague’s Pipit, 1 Black-headed Grosbeak, 23,459 Boat-tailed Grackle, 1226 E. Meadowlark.

TRENDS

Weather is the Great Equalizer in CBC competition and it almost got us on our species tally.  It did greatly reduce tallies of birds and it will be difficult to determine if changes in numbers were more “weather of the day” affected or impacted by the extreme drought which is occurring in many parts of Texas.  Aside from the 12 species missed, 55 species had low counts and 45 had high counts.  Last year we had 65 species with high counts and 25 species with lows:  A Big Difference.

HIGH COUNTS:  Am. Wigeon, Blue-winged Teal, N. Shoveler, N. Pintail, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Hooded Merganser, Green Heron, Roseate Spoonbill, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagle, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Crested Caracara, Aplomado Falcon, Peregrine Falcon, Yellow Rail, Purple Gallinule, Sandhill Crane, Snowy Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Piping Plover, Spotted Sandpiper, Ruddy Turnstone, Least Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher, Wilson’s Snipe, Franklin’s Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Royal Tern, Eur. Collared-Dove, Burrowing Owl, Great Kiskadee, E. Kingbird, N. Rough-winged Swallow, Barn Swallow, Winter Wren, Sedge Wren, Am. Pipit, Tennessee Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Lark Sparrow, Am. Goldfinch, House Sparrow.

LOW COUNTS:  Ross’s Goose, Cackling Goose, Canada Goose, Wood Duck, Mottled Duck, Canvasback, Surf Scoter, N. Bobwhite, Horned Grebe, Eared Grebe, Tricolored Heron, Cattle Egret, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Osprey, Am. Kestrel, Merlin, Clapper Rail, Am. Oystercatcher, Long-billed Curlew, Red Knot, Bonaparte’s Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Gull-billed Tern, Common Tern, Forster’s Tern, Inca Dove, Short-eared Owl, Buff-bellied Hummingbird, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Yellow-shafted Flicker, E. Phoebe, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Couch’s Kingbird, Loggerhead Shrike, Blue Jay, Horned Lark, Tufted Titmouse, Brown Creeper, E. Bluebird, N. Mockingbird, Chipping Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Grasshopper Sparrow, Le Conte’s Sparrow, Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, N. Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird.

Waterfowl = 7 species high and 8 low out of 28 species.  The Mad Island Area was fortunate to receive an 8 inch rain in November which filled most impoundments and natural wetlands.  Otherwise it would have been very dry and with much fewer water birds.

Divers = 2 low out of 5 species.  Wave action made it difficult to get good counts.

Pelicans through Ibises = 2 high, and 3 low out of 23 species.  We were able to make decent counts on most large waterbirds despite the weather because birds were concentrated in areas accessible to our Team.

Raptors = 7 high and 3 low out of 18 species.  Very good numbers.  Increasing catfish ponds in the W. Roads Section are attracting large numbers of vultures and Caracaras.  Major emphasis of ag landholders to manage for waterfowl also build up a major food source for large raptors and the numerous blackbirds continue to feed many hawks and owls.

Shorebirds = 8 highs and 3 low out of 26 species.  One of the most exciting parts of the CBC for me is to visit the Colorado River Delta during a falling tide.  Extreme low tides exposes hundreds of acres of mudflats and shorebirds from throughout the County flock to the Delta during these situations.  This year the timing of the front was a little late to have maximum exposure, but we were able to observe some very good numbers of birds on the mudflats.

Gull & Terns = 4 highs and 5 lows.  Strong winds definitely made Gulf observations challenging and tended to force most birds to roosts.

Doves thru Woodpeckers = 2 high and 12 low.  Canopy birds were difficult to locate in the wind and many low numbers reflected this.  Despite the weather this was our best year for locating Burrowing Owls with 5 being reported.

Flycatchers thru Pipits = 7 highs and 10 lows.  The few highs reported were associated with wetlands and lingering neotrops.

Warblers.  We only had 11 species of warblers.  This was the lowest tally of warbler species for the CBC during the decade.

Sparrows thru Blackbirds = 3 highs and 10 lows.  Too much wind to determine what we had.

TEAM WORK

Special thanks to: Marc Ealy, David Sarkozi, James Arnold, Melissa Gaskill for working the bays in boats all day in the weather;  Jim Hargrove, Charlie Brower, Sumita Prasad, Karen McBride, Ural and Terry Donohoe, Jerry McIntyre, Michael Kennedy, Bill Baker, Cathy Porter, Brad Lirette, Jean Martin, Bron Rorex, Jim Renfro and Marc Ealy for being Section Leaders; Peregrine Fund for providing us the falcon photo for the T-shirt; Shawn Ashbaugh for developing the design of the T-shirt.

This Christmas Bird Count is The Number One in the Nation from our Team’s perspective.  It has shown national leadership in cooperative efforts between the birders, the landowners, the boat operators and the people of Matagorda County.  It takes every bodies efforts focused on the end result to achieve our goals.  Yes, we have a very diverse avifauna that is the product of a narrow forested corridor extending all of the way down the Colorado River to the Gulf that is bordered by an abundance of native prairies, brushlands and wetlands. An added factor is geography creates diverse ecosystems being in close proximity.  This diversity would not be possible unless the landowners managed their land to maintain the productivity of the habitats, and it would not be possible to survey them unless they liked our project and permitted us access.  All the birds in the world would not mean anything unless the interest, skills and cooperation of the Texas birders would not show up to conduct the count.  We would count very few water birds unless our boat operators would not donate a day from their busy schedule as well as the use of their boats.  We get great support from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, The The Nature Conservancy, the South Texas Nuclear Project and Lyondell-Basel for use of equipment, land and staff.  Lastly, we could not afford to pay for the Great Supper at the Wadsworth Community Center, provide counters with t-shirts and pay their CBC activity fees without the generosity of the sponsors.

LEADERS:  David and Marilyn Sitz.  David has developed a great relationship with the landowners of Matagorda County and he is the person who obtains permission for the birders to access the private property.  Marilyn does the fund raising, arranges for the production of T-shirts and the catering at the banquet.  She recruits volunteers to work at the banquet.  This count would not be near as special without the leadership of Marilyn and her volunteers. 

SPONSORS: Bay City Convention Bureau, Matagorda County Birding & Nature Center, Texas Parks & Wildlife Dept., Lower Colorado River Authority, The Nature Conservancy, South Texas Nuclear Project Operating Co., Lyondell-Basel, Celanese, Wells Fargo Bank, All Star Real Estate, City of Bay City.

LANDOWNERS:  Lower Colorado River Authority, George Harrison, PCS Phosphate, Inc., Jack Miller, Carl Anderson family, Charlie Brower’s family, Roy Poinsett, Eugene Welfel, Baer Ranch, Lyondell-Basel, South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company, Julius Ledwig, Linda Joy Stovall, Bill Von Gonten, Smith Marsh, The Nature Conservancy of Texas, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Grover Ryman, Bill Doss, Ray Culver, Becca Sitz and John Jureczki.

BOAT OPERATORS:  We appreciate the services and the boats provided by James Arnold, and the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department.

NEXT YEAR

This was another amazing CBC at Mad Island.  We thank all of you who helped.  Next year will be better.  We promise it!  Come join us to check it out and bring a friend on Monday, 14 December 2009.