Friends of Balcones Canyonlands NWR Event Blog

FOB/TAS Balcones Canyonlands NWR Bird Field Trip 5-12-13

Mon, 13 May 2013 01:26:27 GMT

On Sunday, May 12th, 15 of us went out to bird the Simons Tract on the Balcones Canyonlands NWR. It was a good day, if a little breezy. We had some nice birds with the highlights being the Orchard Orioles attending a nest where we parked to carpool at Doeskin and the Great-horned Owl nestlings on Simons - very appropriate for Mother's Day!

Doeskin:
1 Eastern Bluebird
4 Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
1 Brown-headed Cowbird
2 Lark Sparrow
2 Orchard Orioles

Simons Tract:
1 Northern Bobwhite
1 Great Blue Heron
8 Turkey Vulture
1 Crested Caracara
2 Killdeer
7 Mourning Dove
1 Inca Dove
1 Common Ground-Dove
2 Yellow-billed Cuckoo
1 Greater Roadrunner
3 Great Horned Owl
2 Black-chinned Hummingbird
1 Eastern Phoebe
5 Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
2 Western Kingbird
1 White-eyed Vireo
1 Common Raven
3 Carolina Chickadee
1 Black-crested Titmouse
2 Bewick's Wren
2 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
4 Northern Mockingbird
7 Clay-colored Sparrow
1 Field Sparrow
12 Lark Sparrow
2 Grasshopper Sparrow
2 White-crowned Sparrow
2 Summer Tanager
5 Northern Cardinal
2 Blue Grosbeak
8 Painted Bunting
50 Dickcissel
2 House Finch
4 Lesser Goldfinch

Balcones Canyonlands NWR Gainer Tract Bird Walk April 14th, 2013

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 00:43:38 GMT

Eleven birders came out to walk the diverse Gainer tract on the Refuge. We were able to get a couple of life birds for some of the participants and a good time was had by all.

Balcones Canyonlands NWR Gainer Tract, Burnet, US-TX
Apr 14, 2013 7:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Protocol: Traveling
3.0 mile(s)
34 species (+1 other taxa)

Northern Bobwhite 1 heard only
Great Blue Heron 1
Black Vulture 2
Turkey Vulture 8
Swainson's Hawk 3
Red-tailed Hawk 1
White-winged Dove 5
Mourning Dove 15
hummingbird sp. 2
Eastern Phoebe 1
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 2
White-eyed Vireo 6
American Crow 2
Carolina Chickadee 2
Black-crested Titmouse 3
Bewick's Wren 1
Carolina Wren 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 3
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
Northern Mockingbird 3
Cedar Waxwing 6
Orange-crowned Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 4
Golden-cheeked Warbler 3 heard only
Yellow-breasted Chat 1 heard only
Spotted Towhee 3
Rufous-crowned Sparrow 1
Chipping Sparrow 8
Field Sparrow 2
Lark Sparrow 10
Lincoln's Sparrow 3
White-crowned Sparrow 10
Northern Cardinal 12
Brown-headed Cowbird 8
Lesser Goldfinch 2

View this checklist online at
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S13798943

SparrowFest 2013

Sat, 16 Feb 2013 13:03:09 GMT

re-post from Byron!

Hi All,

We conducted our 8th annual SparrowFest on Saturday February 2 on various portions of the Balcones Canyonlands NWR and nearby environs.

The weather was unseasonably warm, with afternoon highs in the mid-70's, but we were able to find some good birds.

We found 17 species of native sparrows (18 if you count the single Harris's Sparrow reported by a single participant on the morning trip to the Eckhardt tract). This is slightly below average in terms of the number of sparrow species we typically encounter. Our best years have produced 20 sparrow species for the day; our worst, I believe, was 16 sparrow species for the day. We usually find 18 or 19 for the day.

It is not unusual for some participants and leaders to see 17 or 18 sparrow species for the day (this does not include House Sparrows or longspurs, neither of which are typically encountered on SparrowFest). My personal best day was 19 sparrow species. I had 16 on the day of the festival this year. I tell sparrow class participants that on any given day in "sparrow season" in the Austin checklist area we have 20 native sparrow species in the area. Some years we get "bonus birds," including Lark Bunting and Green-tailed Towhee, both of which we had on Saturday the 2nd.

Since we had 2 bonus birds, but only had 18 sparrow species for the day, we must have missed some of the "regulars."

One of our misses this year was White-throated Sparrow, which is never numerous or widespread in the locales we visit on SparrowFest.

I am sometimes able to find a few of these along Cow Creek Road, but not this year.

Another of our misses was Swamp Sparrow, which is one of the hardest regularly-occurring native sparrows to find on the refuge.

We sometimes get this bird along the creek on the Eckhardt tract, but we missed it there and elsewhere this year.

Another miss was Canyon Towhee. There once was a resident pair at the Flying X Ranch, but they have been gone for about 5 years.

Peaceful Springs, a private property near the Flying X, has a couple of pairs of Canyon Towhees, but we are no longer able to visit this property for the festival. There are one or two other refuge tracts that have resident Canyon Towhees, but they weren't part of the itinerary this year, and visiting those locations might mean missing out on something else.

Our most flagrant miss this year was Dark-eyed Junco. We often have pretty good numbers of this bird on several different refuge tracts, but they can be spotty, and I don't think this is the first year we have missed it. It seems to me that DEJU numbers are down area-wide this year, perhaps because of the mild winter and relative absence of snow cover in areas to our north.

Some of the good news is that Lincoln's Sparrows were back this winter in fairly good numbers, though still slightly below average in my estimation.

We completely missed LISP last year, which was an absolute shocker to me. I think that most trips this year had good looks at Lincoln's Sparrows and opportunities to compare to its Melospiza congener, Song Sparrow. We had a very good batch of Song Sparrows this year, with lots of opportunities to study it on every trip I think.

Another bit of good news is that one of the real stars of the sparrow world, LeConte's Sparrow, was back in pretty good numbers after being very scarce last year. It appears that all SparrowFest participants had good looks at LeConte's Sparrows, which is one of the things we pride ourselves on.

Interestingly, Zonotrichia numbers appear down area-wide. It's not too surprising that we missed White-throated Sparrow and almost completely missed Harris's Sparrow (which is present in small numbers most years). But the paucity of sightings of White-crowned Sparrows was surprising. I think we had one or more trips that completely missed WCSP, which is very unusual. I believe the mild winter may have something to do with this, too, but I can't prove it.

One other interesting phenomenon this year was the low number of Savannah Sparrows in most areas visited. Vesper Sparrows far outnumbered Savannahs this year, and it is usually the other way around. I don't think this phenomenon is true area-wide, as it seems to me that Savannah Sparrow numbers east of the Edwards Plateau are about normal this year.

The refuge and other nearby areas are still suffering from the multi-year drought, but not as bad as last year.

We do still need rain, so keep that in your prayers.

It takes a village to do SparrowFest.

I will append a species list for the day at the end of the note, but I first want to thank some of the many people who help make SparrowFest possible.

First, I want to thank my co-leaders, beginning with Bill "Mr. Spizella" Reiner, who has been with me for all 8 SparrowFests.

Bill always finds some great birds, and this year was no different. He found a couple of Lark Buntings on the day of SparrowFest, and I believe that all of his trip participants were able to see at least one of these "bonus" birds. He also found a singing Black-throated Sparrow at the Flying X after lunch while leading his "grass walk," and all participants on the grass walk were able to see this handsome specialty bird (all this while Randy and I were tromping around nearby trying to find exactly that bird). Bill also located our other bonus bird, Green-tailed Towhee, on the Flying X during a scouting trip a week or so before the festival. The bird was relocated on the day of the festival, and was a new addition to our cumulative SparrowFest list.

Bill is also an outstanding teacher, and people are always excited about what they have learned on an outing with Bill.

Thanks also to Jeff "Pretty Boy" Patterson (or is it "Towhee Boy?"). Jeff relocated Bill's Green-tailed Towhee (in a different location from where Bill originally found it) during a scouting trip on Friday, then helped me find it Friday afternoon, then found it again for his Flying X trip on Saturday morning. Way to go Jeff! Efforts like this are part of what make SparrowFest special. Jeff teaches a class on bird vocalizations for Travis Audubon, and his presence adds a special dimension to SparrowFest.

Many thanks also to Randy "pink-note" Pinkston of Temple. Randy's knowledge of birds is encyclopedic, his enthusiasm for sparrows rivals my own, and he is one of the best field birders in the state, so I feel privileged to have him with us at SparrowFest. Randy accompanied me much of the day, and it was a real pleasure to have his expertise available for our trip participants.

Thanks also to the refuge manager Deborah Holle for allowing us access to so many parts of the refuge, and to all of the refuge staff who help us in many different ways. Special thanks to the fire crews for NOT starting any prescribed burns during any of our SparrowFest trips. That's one of many reasons that it's good to coordinate these things with the refuge office and management.

Thanks also to the Friends of Balcones Refuge, including Sandi Gilchrist and President Dub Lyon and all of the other volunteers who help cook, clean and coordinate. Special thanks to Cathy Harrington, who brings her husband John to run the kitchen, and who does so many things to make SparrowFest run efficiently that I can't even begin to list them all. Suffice it to say that without Cathy we would have trouble making SparrowFest the success that it is.

Now for the birds.

In addition to the sparrows mentioned above, some of the other interesting finds were 3 Sage Thrashers on Jeff's trip to the Simons Tract, a Merlin which Randy identified as it flew off a perch over the Flying X entry road, and a flock of Brewer's Blackbirds on Bill's trip to Simons.

An annotated birdlist follows:

American Wigeon - 12 - Cow Creek

Great Blue Heron - 1

Black Vulture

Turkey Vulture

Northern Harrier - 4 - Unusual to have this many.

Red-shouldered Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Crested Caracara

American Kestrel

Merlin - 1 - perched briefly in tree along entry road to Flying X

Sandhill Crane - 32 - soaring over Flying X Friday afternoon

Killdeer

Eurasian Collared-Dove

Mourning Dove

Greater Roadrunner - 1 - Flying X

Great Horned Owl

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Eastern Phoebe

Loggerhead Shrike

Western Scrub-Jay - Cow Creek

American Crow - Eckhardt

Common Raven

Carolina Chickadee

Black-crested Titmouse

Canyon Wren

Carolina Wren

Bewick's Wren

House Wren

Winter Wren - 1 - Cow Creek during a Friday afternoon scouting session

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Eastern Bluebird

American Robin

Northern Mockingbird

Sage Thrasher - 3 - Simons tract

Cedar Waxwing

Orange-crowned Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Green-tailed Towhee - 1 - fairly cooperative bird on Flying X

Spotted Towhee - modest numbers in multiple locations

Eastern Towhee - 1 - Cooperative female on Cow Creek

Rufous-crowned Sparrow - multiple trips

Chipping Sparrow - fewer than usual

Field Sparrow - many, but lower numbers than usual

Vesper Sparrow - everywhere

Lark Sparrow - Cow Creek and Simons

Black-throated Sparrow - 4 - 3 on Simons and 1 at Flying X

Lark Bunting - 2 - Flying X

Savannah Sparrow - far fewer than usual

Grasshopper Sparrow - good numbers multiple locations

Le Conte's Sparrow - everyone had good looks at this handsome SparrowFest specialty

Fox Sparrow - Simons and Cow Creek

Song Sparrow - good numbers

Lincoln's Sparrow - fair numbers, but at least they are back this year

Harris's Sparrow - 1 - seen by one participant on Eckhardt

White-crowned Sparrow - lower numbers than usual

Northern Cardinal

Red-winged Blackbird

Western Meadowlark

Brewer's Blackbird - Simons tract

House Finch

Pine Siskin

Lesser Goldfinch

American Goldfinch

65 species, if I count correctly.

It was a good day to be a Sparrowhawk!

If you are interested in signing up for SparrowFest next year, the best thing to do probably is join Friends of Balcones NWR.

see <http://friendsofbalcones.org/>

By doing so, you will help the refuge, and you will get the earliest notice possible of next year's SparrowFest (in addition to all the other good stuff that the Friends organize on and for the refuge). Only about 60% of land authorized for the refuge has actually been purchased or placed into conservation easements, so the refuge and Friends still need our help to complete originally planned acquisitions.

Cathy will probably send out notices in early December, and we will do SparrowFest again in late January or early February of next year.

Until then, good birding ya'll,

Byron Stone, Austin

TAS/FOB Bird Walk Feb 3rd, 2013

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 18:51:41 GMT

Craig Rasmussen led 15 birders in exploring the Eckhardt tract of the Refuge. It was a lovely Sunday morning and a good time was had by all. We had great looks and time to study Yellow-shafted Northern Flickers. We had a grasshopper Sparrow sit up in bush for almost 10 minutes and it was a lifer for some. The Gadwall and Lesser Scaup on the pond were also a treat.

Species

Gadwall

Lesser Scaup

Turkey Vulture

Northern Harrier

Red-tailed Hawk

Mourning Dove

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Crested Caracara

American Kestrel

Loggerhead Shrike

American Crow

Carolina Chickadee

Black-crested Titmouse

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Northern Mockingbird

Cedar Waxwing

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Spotted Towhee

Rufous-crowned Sparrow

Field Sparrow

Vesper Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow

Grasshopper Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Lincoln's Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Northern Cardinal

TAS/FOB November Walk with Diane Sherrill

Fri, 30 Nov 2012 20:23:32 GMT

A full contingent of cheerful and enthusiastic birders met at Refuge HQ on November 18, 2012 to enjoy good birding on a most beautiful fall day in central Texas. We checked out the pecan grove and the bird blind before moving into non-public access territory, and then down along Post Oak Creek. Much of the creek was dry, but a little water in the pond afforded a look at a pied-billed grebe and a Scaup (probably Lesser) Other highlights were excellent looks at a Hermit Thrush, finding 6 Sparrow species, and hearing the elusive Golden-crowned kinglets on a couple of occasions. In all, 38 species were counted.

Scaup spp

Pied billed grebe

Red-shouldered hawk

Turkey vulture

Black vulture

Sharp-shinned hawk

Cooper’s hawk

American kestrel

Great egret

White-winged dove

Inca Dove

Golden-fronted woodpecker

Ladder-backed woodpecker

Eastern Phoebe

American Robin

Hermit Thrush

Northern Mockingbird

Western Scrub Jay

Carolina Chickadee

Black-crested Titmouse

Brown Creeper

House Wren

Carolina Wren

Bewick’s Wren

Ruby-crowned kinglet

Golden-crowned kinglet

Yellow-rumped warbler

Meadowlark spp

Spotted Towhee

Song sparrow

Lincoln’s sparrow

Rufous-crowned sparrow

Chipping sparrow

Vesper sparrow

House finch

American goldfinch

Lesser goldfinch

Northern Cardinal

Balcones Big Sit! 2012

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 23:50:58 GMT

Re-posted Report from Laurie Foss

A big thanks goes out to all of you who contributed to our all-time record-setting effort at the Balcones Big Sit today! We completed our day at 5:15 pm with 44 species - a whopping 4 more than ever before. I've included the list below.

A huge highlight for me was the stream after stream of Swainson's Hawks, as well as the very good look at the Peregrine Falcon. An even bigger highlight was getting to spend a spectacular fall hill country day with my favorite birding buddies and some new ones.

If you see any errors in the list don't hesitate to let me know so I can get it corrected.

See you all soon!

Laurie

Big Sit Balcones, Burnet, US-TX
Oct 14, 2012 7:17 AM - 2:47 PM
Protocol: Stationary
Comments: 6:30 am - 5:15 pm

68 deg at 8:00

27 sp at 9:15

80 deg at 9:30

34 sp at 10:00

44 sp at 3:00

Laurie, Shelia, John and Cathy H, Chuck S, Ian and Denise S, Bruce Jones, Deb and Lee Wallace, Diane Sherrill - Data collected with Birdwatcher's Diary (tm) for iPhone
43 species (+1 other taxa)

Double-crested Cormorant 1 12:42 PM
Great Blue Heron 5 8:27 AM, (30.61939, -98.07362)
Black Vulture 61 11:27 AM, (30.61926, -98.07356)
Turkey Vulture 204 10:23 AM, (30.61930, -98.07354)
Northern Harrier 2 10:22 AM, (30.61930, -98.07354)
Sharp-shinned Hawk 3 1:06 PM
Cooper's Hawk 3 10:54 AM, (30.61928, -98.07358)
Red-shouldered Hawk 4 1:14 PM
Swainson's Hawk 645 11:59 AM, (30.61930, -98.07355)
Red-tailed Hawk 2 10:21 AM, (30.61925, -98.07347)
Sandhill Crane 22 2:37 PM
Killdeer 1 8:34 AM, (30.61932, -98.07344)
White-winged Dove 40 7:35 AM, (30.61926, -98.07381)
Mourning Dove 7 7:19 AM, (30.61923, -98.07354)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1 11:13 AM, (30.61936, -98.07359)
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 3 8:05 AM, (30.61931, -98.07365)
American Kestrel 3 7:28 AM, (30.61934, -98.07357)
Peregrine Falcon 1 9:03 AM, (30.61921, -98.07342)
Eastern Phoebe 6 7:51 AM, (30.61933, -98.07359)
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 2 8:12 AM, (30.61929, -98.07353)
Western Scrub-Jay 2 9:23 AM, (30.61927, -98.07351)
American Crow 3 7:47 AM, (30.61930, -98.07371)
Common Raven 3 9:48 AM, (30.61919, -98.07341)
Cave Swallow 195 8:37 AM, (30.61925, -98.07353)
Carolina Chickadee 4 7:41 AM, (30.61929, -98.07350)
Black-crested Titmouse 4 7:41 AM, (30.61928, -98.07345)
Bewick's Wren 2 8:10 AM, (30.61912, -98.07322)
Carolina Wren 5 7:20 AM, (30.61927, -98.07347)
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1 7:41 AM, (30.61929, -98.07342)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2 7:59 AM, (30.61929, -98.07372)
Eastern Bluebird 4 8:05 AM, (30.61931, -98.07365)
Northern Mockingbird 1 7:19 AM, (30.61920, -98.07357)
Orange-crowned Warbler 1 9:43 AM, (30.61926, -98.07354)
Nashville Warbler 2 7:43 AM, (30.61921, -98.07332)
Yellow-rumped Warbler 2 9:41 AM, (30.61914, -98.07349)
Rufous-crowned Sparrow 1 7:31 AM, (30.61923, -98.07344)
Lark Sparrow 6 7:38 AM, (30.61926, -98.07350)
Lincoln's Sparrow 1 8:08 AM, (30.61926, -98.07359)
White-crowned Sparrow 1 8:33 AM, (30.61926, -98.07351)
Northern Cardinal 5 7:17 AM, (30.61931, -98.07356)
Eastern/Western Meadowlark 5 10:02 AM, (30.61926, -98.07347)
Brown-headed Cowbird 1 9:23 AM, (30.61928, -98.07352)
House Finch 5 9:03 AM, (30.61921, -98.07342)
Lesser Goldfinch 6 9:17 AM, (30.61929, -98.07360)

Balcones Canyonlands NWR--Doeskin Ranch, Sep 9, 2012

Sun, 16 Sep 2012 23:58:00 GMT

Seventeen of us birded Doeskin Ranch on Sunday, September 9th. It was a pleasant day. Unfortunately, the creek was dry, but there was a little water in the pond. We had fun and saw some nice birds. The list follows:

Turkey Vulture
Swainson's Hawk
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
Common Ground-Dove
Great Horned Owl
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Empidonax sp.
White-eyed Vireo
Western Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Barn Swallow
Carolina Chickadee
Black-crested Titmouse
Bewick's Wren
Carolina Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Northern Mockingbird
Mourning Warbler
American Redstart
Wilson's Warbler
Rufous-crowned Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
Summer Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Dickcissel
Baltimore Oriole
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch

May 6th, Eckhardt Tract Bird Walk

Tue, 15 May 2012 21:51:53 GMT

On May 6th, ten of us showed up at the Shin Oak Observation Deck to bird the Eckhardt tract of the Balcones National Wildlife Refuge. It was a little cool, damp and windy, but we had a good time. Several of our birds were long-distance sightings, but we had some nice looks anyway. The bird list (in no particular order) follows:

Eckhart:

1-Eastern Bluebird

3-Bobwhite

12-Painted Bunting

2-Crested Caracara

12-Northern Cardinal

1-Yellow-breasted Chat

6-Dickcissel

6-Mourning Dove

1-Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

1-Blue-grey Gnatcatcher

3-Blue Grosbeak

2-Red-tailed Hawk

1-Black-chinned Hummingbird

3-Northern Mockingbird

1-Great-horned Owl

5-Lark Sparrow

1-Vesper Sparrow

1-Chimney Swift

1-Summer Tanager

5-Black-crested Titmouse

3-White-eyed Vireo

1-Black Vulture

4-Turkey Vulture

1-Yellow Warbler

1-Bewick’s Wren

Wildflowers of the Refuge with Bill Carr and Diane Sherrill

(Past member) — Sat, 05 May 2012 16:07:39 GMT

It's been a beautiful and bountiful spring this year, and Doeskin Ranch showed that off to perfection during one of the two plant walks at the Songbird Festival. This tract was burned over the winter, a process that adds nutrients to the soil, removes heavy thatch build up to let air and light reach the seeds and to let the seeds reach the soil. Between that and our wonderful recent rains, Doeskin was bursting with bloom, fruit, and all the creatures that depend on them. The participants were eager and interested, and no one complained about the warm afternoon. No effort was made to keep a count of the plants seen, but they were myriad. Some of the highlights were antelope horn milkweed, blackfoot daisy, agarita (full of berries), little leaf mulberry, escarpment black cherry, and numerous "darn yellow composites", including Navajo tea, greenthread, 4 nerve daisy, golden eye, Texas dandelion, and more. Maidenhair ferns and Big muhly grass created a lovely, shady scene along the water by the creek.The diversity of soils, slope, moisture, and terrain at Doeskin makes this public tract a plant lover's dream!

Wine and Star Shine

Fri, 04 May 2012 17:29:23 GMT

This year's Wild Wine and Star Shine carried the same Safari Theme as Sunday's Children's Event. Jungle decorations by Sandy Gilchrist were just right for a perfect evening at Flat Creek Estate Vineyard. The food and wine were excellent, Jim Nosler performed our dinner music, and 22 items on the silent auction tables kept everyone on their feet.

Congratulations to Chuck Sexton, recipient of the Star Award - presented to the Friends of Balcones member who contributes greatly to the Annual Songbird Festival. Sexton, now retired, remains active by leading premium tours.

A special thank you to the Texas Society of Sculptors and their president Michael Epps for exhibiting 30 works of art by Texas painters and sculptors. This indoor and outdoor exhibition enjoyed a month of viewing and is coming down on Sunday, May 6th.

Also thanks to Jeffery Phillips of the Austin Astronomical Society. The party went from the 'jungle' to the 'sky'. Some of us never get a chance to look through a really big telescope and we so appreciate your being there.

Plus a personal thanks to C. Harrington for her organization skills - with you - it all falls into place.

Balcones Songbird and Nature Festival

(Past member) — Thu, 03 May 2012 18:15:51 GMT

What a treat to be involved in this fun, fantastic, educational and exhausting long weekend again this year!! I was privileged to co-lead an awesome plant walk with our premier central Texas botanist, Bill Carr; and to assist the teriffic tour led by biologist Jim O'Donnell. Heidi's food was delectable, Ken's logistics were spot on, Cathy and Sharon's planning was near perfect, Ruth's and Jim's and Becky's "holding down the fort" was indispensable. Deborah, David, and Rob kept everything moving smoothly....This was not a few days hard work for these folks--this was months of loving preparation for the highlight of our year! All the tour leaders and assistants were shining, and received so many compliments that I overheard. Our bird tours have been sought after for years (people come from all over the country, and sometimes from out of the country), but this year we sold out both our plant-focused tours as well, which proves there is understanding of the "connection" of it all. If anybody reading this has never been to a Balcones Songbird and Nature Festival, you really OWE it to yourself to plan to attend next year!

Spring Wildflower and Plant Walk with Diane Sherrill

(Past member) — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 23:58:04 GMT

What a wonderful Earth Day! What a wonderful way to celebrate it--with a lively, interested, intelligent group of participants. We explored the recently prescribed-burned Doeskin Ranch, discussed drought, fire, the food web, landscaping, the Hill Country, various uses of native plants, and, and, and.....After our horrendous drought (which is now "officially" ended, but don't let that fool you) a warm spring and wetter than usual winter was, literally, a lifesaver for most of our plants and the many "levels" of life that depend on them. Doeskin was gorgeous, and there were so many plants to look at, so many questions, so much dynamic life, that we spent a couple of hours longer than scheduled to get around this tract and get all the questions answered! Of the probably somewhere around 100 plants we saw today, a few real highlights were Scarlet learherflower (Clematis texensis), Antelope Horns milkweed (Asclepias asperula), Blackfoot daisy (Melopodium leucanthum), and the numerous DYC's. (Darn yellow composites) {Composites being daisy/sunflower plants} Join us on the Refuge or check it out on your own--the plants, bugs, butterflies, birds, geology, etc are just waiting for you!!

February TAS/FOB Refuge Bird Walk with Lee and Deb Wallace

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 23:30:13 GMT

On February 12th, 10 birders braved a cold Sunday morning to bird the Eckhardt tract. Scoffing at the sub-freezing temps, we made our way down the trail. We were delighted to see a few Mountain and Eastern Bluebirds. The large flocks of Cedar Waxwings and Field sparrows had us forgetting how cold we were. While we didn't see much at the pond, the work being done will pay off on future trips. Making our way back to the cars, we came upon sizable flock of Mountain Bluebirds. They were stunning and let us get great looks. It made up for the chilled fingers and toes. Everyone agreed that they had a great time! The species list follows:

Black Vulture 12
American Kestrel 1
Mourning Dove 4
Northern Flicker 1
Eastern Phoebe 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 8
Eastern Bluebird 14
Mountain Bluebird 40
American Robin 5
Northern Mockingbird 3
Cedar Waxwing 30
Orange-crowned Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 6
Spotted Towhee 12
Rufous-crowned Sparrow 2
Chipping Sparrow 2
Field Sparrow 15
Vesper Sparrow 12
White-crowned Sparrow 10
Northern Cardinal 6
American Goldfinch 6

SPARROWMANIA 2012

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 01:25:41 GMT

RE-POST from Byron!

CHECK OUT MORE PHOTOS

Hello All,

The 7th annual SparrowFest was conducted yesterday on a chilly, sunny, windy day at Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge.

Two years of drought have resulted in extremely limited food resources for native grassland birds, but we still managed to find some good birds, including 16 species of sparrows, some of them in good numbers, and a good time apparently was had by all.

Bill Reiner, Randy Pinkston and Jeff Patterson conducted trips on the Flying X and Simons tracts of Balcones Canyonlands NWR, and I led two tours (morning and afternoon) of Cow Creek Road, a public road that follows Cow Creek through parts of Burnet and Travis Counties, and is adjacent to several refuge tracts.

Stars of the show were three species of bluebird summoned by Bill Reiner on his afternoon trip (and also observed in the morning at the Flying X by Jeff Patterson and one of his trip participants), 3 Sage Thrashers in two locations, and of course the sparrows, enough of which are hanging on in the drought to still provide a satisfying sparrowhawking experience for most trip participants. One Grasshopper Sparrow located by Jeff and others at the Flying X after lunch perched in one spot for over 20 minutes as all trip participants (and instructors) had great scope views and added the bird to their respective trip lists. That and two other birds found with it were the only Grasshopper Sparrows of the day. We had some glaring misses, including LeConte's Sparrow and Lincoln's Sparrow. Normally, those birds are fairly plentiful, and numbers of each would have run several score for the entire day. In fact, until this year we have been able to provide excellent views of shy LeConte's Sparrows to almost everyone who has ever participated in SparrowFest. To spend an entire winter day, however, in suitable habitat and miss Lincoln's Sparrow in central Texas is downright shocking.

Other birds filled the void, though. Spotted Towhees, Dark-eyed Junco and Harris's Sparrows were all present in somewhat higher numbers than usual, (or were more visible than usual), and the prospect of "exotic" birds like Sage Thrasher and Western Bluebird (Bill found one of the latter during his scouting run on Friday afternoon) kept the adrenalin going for many of us, and rewarded a few lucky individuals who relocated those regional specialties.

My trips to Cow Creek and environs had 12 species of sparrow both morning and afternoon, so even though the numbers of birds were low, we still were able to sample a fairly good diversity, which of course is part of what makes central Texas special.

In summary, despite the wind and drought and low numbers of birds, everyone that I heard from seemed to have a really great time.

We did get a bit of rain last week, and some of the forbs and winter grasses are already beginning to green up.

If we get timely rains later this year, we could have a good crop of grass this summer and fall, and good numbers of birds again next winter.

So if you weren't able to join us this year, please stay tuned for next year's event, which will be held again in late January or early February.

Many thanks to Bill Reiner for locating lots of great birds and leading great trips to Simons Tract morning and afternoon, to Randy Pinkston for helping out with the Simons tour in the morning and Flying X in the afternoon, for bringing sparrow study skins again, and for presenting a short talk on Junco identification (cut shorter by an "Emberizid Emergency" alert when the Grasshopper Sparrows were located), and to Jeff Patterson for leading two great trips around the Flying X, and for finding what Randy dubbed "the world's most cooperative Grasshopper Sparrow) for all to see.

Thanks also to refuge manager Deborah Holle and refuge staff for allowing access and supporting our SparrowMania. Special thanks to Carol Schwope and the fire crew for coordinating recent burns with our planned activities. Many, many thanks to Cathy Harrington for helping organize SparrowFest, and to her husband John who cooked an incredible dinner and two other meals for all participants, and to Sandi Gilchrist, Dub Lyon and all the other Friends of Balcones Canyonlands NWR volunteers who help make this event possible.

It was a good day to be a sparrowhawk.

Good birding ya'll,

Byron Stone, Austin

An annotated list of the 64 bird species seen yesterday is appended below.

7th annual SparrowFest bird list (Saturday Jan 28, 2012):

Gadwall

Redhead

Wild Turkey - 25 - Cow Creek Rd, afternoon

Northern Bobwhite - 5 - Covey at Flying X

Double-crested Cormorant - 2 - Flyover at Flying X

Black Vulture

Turkey Vulture

Northern Harrier - 1 - Flying X

Cooper's Hawk - 1

Red-tailed Hawk - Several locations

American Kestrel - 3+ - Flying X, Cow Creek, Simons

White-winged Dove - 3 - Cow Creek Rd

Mourning Dove - Small numbers in scattered locations

Common Ground-Dove - Simons

Greater Roadrunner - 1 - Cow Creek Rd

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 1 - Simons afternoon trip

Ladder-backed Woodpecker - Small numbers

Northern Flicker - 2 - Flying X

Eastern Phoebe - Small numbers on most trips

Loggerhead Shrike - 1 - Flying X, late afternoon

Western Scrub-Jay - Small numbers

American Crow - 2+ - Flying X, morning

Common Raven - 5 - Flying X, afternoon

Carolina Chickadee - Cow Creek and a few in other scattered locations

Black-crested Titmouse - Small numbers

Brown Creeper - 1 - Simons

Carolina Wren - Small numbers Cow Creek and perhaps other trips

Bewick's Wren - Small numbers

Golden-crowned Kinglet - Simons morning

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Eastern Bluebird - 10+ - Small numbers all three locations

Western Bluebird - 5 - Possibly 6, 1 bird at Flying X, 5 birds (including 3 males) at Simons afternoon trip

Mountain Bluebird - 5+ - Flying X

Hermit Thrush - 1 - Cow Creek afternoon

American Robin - 1000+ - Hundreds or thousands foraging in recently burned area on Flying X, and also in juniper berries at other locations

Northern Mockingbird - Small numbers

Sage Thrasher - 3 - 2, Simons morning, 1 Flying X afternoon

European Starling - 2 - Cow Creek Rd, and perhaps a few in other locations

Cedar Waxwing - 30+ - Cow Creek Rd, Flying X and probably also Simons

Orange-crowned Warbler - 2+ - 1 Simons morning, 1 Cow Creek afternoon

Yellow-rumped Warbler - 10+ - Small numbers along Cow Creek Rd, and Flying X (Myrtle-type only)

Spotted Towhee - 50+ - Good numbers all locations in a variety of habitats

Rufous-crowned Sparrow - 5+ - Small numbers Simons and Flying X

Chipping Sparrow - 9 - Cow Creek Rd only; small flock on morning trip, then one bird on afternoon trip

Field Sparrow - 40+ - Small numbers on most trips

Vesper Sparrow - 40+ - Small numbers on most trips

Lark Sparrow - 10+ - Simons only

Black-throated Sparrow - 3 - Simons only

Lark Bunting - 10+ - Simons afternoon only

Savannah Sparrow - 30+ - Small numbers on most trips

Grasshopper Sparrow - 3 - Flying X during lunch break

Fox Sparrow - 6 - Simons morning trip; Cow Creek both trips

Song Sparrow - 15+ - Very small numbers most trips, Cow Creek had best numbers

White-throated Sparrow - 2 - Two birds both trips Cow Creek

Harris's Sparrow - 25+ - Small numbers on most trips, better numbers than usual

White-crowned Sparrow - 30+ - Small numbers on most trips, but very much reduced from normal

Dark-eyed Junco - 80+ - Good numbers on most trips

Northern Cardinal - 40+ - Good numbers Cow Creek, small numbers elsewhere

Red-winged Blackbird - Small group flyover Simons afternoon

Meadowlark sp - 80+ - Small numbers on most trips

House Finch - 8+ - Small numbers Flying X and Cow Creek Rd

Lesser Goldfinch - 2 - Refuge HQ (Cow Creek morning trip)

American Goldfinch - 10+ - Small numbers on most trips

House Sparrow - 2+ - Cow Creek Rd only

Monthly Refuge Walk with Diane Sherrill

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 17:40:33 GMT

A small but perfect :-) group met on January 8, 2012 to bird the Gainer Tract of the Refuge. The weather was coolish (40's), but very nice for January. Take that, Minnesota! The birding followed the routine which has seemed to be the case this year--very quiet in many areas, then spots here and there with several different species, often very good species. I'm assuming this is due to the drought and food shortage--the birds are congregated in the fewer spaces that can support them. We began the day with the yipping of foxes (not fox sparrows, actual foxes) and spotted bobcat tracks along the draw. Unfortunately, there were also hog tracks out there... And we got to pet the neighbor's donkeys!

As for the birds, we tallied about 30 species, including Golden crowned kinglet, Brown creeper, Northern harrier, Loggerhead shrike, American kestral, Western scrub jay, and several sparrow species--Spotted towhee, Dark-eyed junco, Vesper, Harris's, White-crowned and Chipping sparrow. And, oh, yes, about a gazillion American robins. Unfortunately, we dipped on the Fox sparrow I saw yesterday while scouting. Still, yet another great day on the Refuge!

Post Oak Creek Walk with Diane Sherrill and John Harrington

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 23:39:40 GMT

A large group of enthusiastic birders met at Refuge HQ on a beautiful, warm fall morning on November 6, 2011. We spent the first hour near the HQ offices, at the bird blind, and in the pecan grove. The birding was great out there, including the bird of the day, which is an accidental on the Refuge. An AMERICAN BITTERN was spotted from the bird blind, characteristically remaining incredibly still and moving v-e-r-y slowly when it moved. This appears to be only the 3rd sighting of this bird on the Refuge. Never common anywhere in central Texas, it is usually found well to the east of the Refuge. We hiked along part of the Post Oak Creek trail beyond the dam, and then made our way back to the parking lot. A total of 42 species was tallied in 4 hours. Some of the other highlights were swamp sparrow, dark-eyed junco, house wren, rufous crowned sparrow, golden fronted woodpecker and northern flicker. Many of the participants got life birds; a few got several. Another wonderful day birding on the Refuge!

August Refuge Plant Talk and Walk with Diane Sherrill

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 17:15:48 GMT

This dedicated group met at the Flying X Ranch Tract of the Refuge on August 14, 2011. An informal meeting in the shade had been promised, to avoid the heat, but this bunch elected to spend half the time walking and looking at live examples. Diane Sherrill, owner of NativeEarthscapes, brought a number of books about native plants: field guides, landscaping, wildscaping, and land restoration. After a discussion about these resources, a plant sample was identified and questions were answered. Naturally, which plants best survive in drought was one of the main topics. Gardening for butterflies and other wildlife was another popular subject. Both these topics, of course, provided much fodder for the discussion of the benefits of using natives. That includes the dangers of non-natives, especially those known to be invasive. A trek in the sun gave much evidence of this toughness, as we admired a large colony of full blooming fall gumweed, silver leaf nightshade, a few small damianitas and blackfoot daisies, and many still healthy specimens of native shrubs and trees. We still need rain desperately, but it's good to know that some plants can survive and help support our native wildlife even in the bleakest of conditions.

Parrains Member Mixer June 7, 2011

Thu, 09 Jun 2011 01:57:20 GMT

Now that was fun!
20 people gathered together for great food and conversation about FRIENDS.

-We gained 4 new members!

-Bill Carr got a speaking engagement.

-We met the newest addition to the FWS staff, Nancy Brown. A NEW OUTREACH SPECIALIST for the region right here at our refuge!! She and I chatted about many topics from events to social media! 2 things stand out right now. Marketing Refuge Week and teaming regionally for a common Texas refuge event calendar. Others included grassroots outreach and media lists.

-AND we got a proposal to include our organization in a web forum for local businesses!

This is a great way to spread the word of who we are and what we do as well as bringing commerce to local businesses.

Now that beats a member meeting any day!
Watch for the next one coming soon!

Endangered Ones Tour Monday, May 2 w/ Jim Giocomo and Jake McCumber

Wed, 11 May 2011 14:09:04 GMT

Guest Blogger: Jim Giocomo

The morning started cold and wet, temperature in the high 40’s with the threat of much needed rain. We never saw the rain storms, but a light mist hung in the air. Our main goal was to see the two Endangered birds on the refuge, the Golden-cheeked Warbler and the Black-capped Vireo, and then any other birds of the region. To do this, we needed to travel from one end of the Refuge to the other end to hit the right habitats in areas that are usually closed to visitors. We moved as quickly as we could from headquarters to the far north-western edge of the refuge to the Simons tract.

Black-capped Vireo Habitat

We headed up Cow Creek drive, barely stopping to see the strutting Turkeys and the Osprey perched along the creek. Arriving at the gate we were able to spot the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. Exiting the van, we made our way through the wet grass trying to avoid the hidden prickly pear, listening for Vireos in the Oak motts, or small groves of trees. We flushed a small covey of Northern Bobwhites and listened to a Rufous-crowned Sparrow close in a bush. After passing a few motts, we heard a male Black-capped Vireo singing up ahead.

As we came around the Oak mott trying to spot the singing bird, I noticed a metal rectangle on the ground that I first thought was was some metal pieces left from the previous ranching operations. Then I noticed the wire running from the metal to a plastic case that I recognized as a battery case.

By the time I figured out we were near one of the nests being monitored with a camera by a Texas A&M student, I spotted the nest and tried to move everyone away from the nest. We were about 20 feet back and the female sat low in the shin-high nest. Everyone got a good view and we moved on as quickly as possible. The female never flushed.

On our way out we flushed another covey of Bobwhites and had a nice view of a male Painted Bunting. We loaded back into the van for our almost hour-long drive past the headquarters to the other side of the refuge. During the trip across the refuge I revealed that the Black-capped Vireo we just saw was a Life-bird for me. That’s why I recruited Jake to co-lead the tour. We stopped once to look at a Raven’s nest with four large babies on Cow Creek Road and headed to our final destination near the Lago Vista airport.

One down, one to go. The Golden-cheeked Warblers are found in very different habitat, closed canopy forest with a fairly open understory. We headed through the gate to the first potential site for the Golden-cheeked Warbler, looking down the steep hillside. We heard a Hutton’s Vireo and eventually we heard the Golden-cheeked Warbler about 50 feet away. We never did get a good view. We went back to the gate and followed the dirt roads into the forest. As we headed back to the gate we heard another Golden-cheeked Warbler and tried to track it down. One quick flash of yellow and it was 100 feet away. We saw at least 3 more Golden-cheek’s, but the views were about the same every time. They just would not sit still for a look.

Golden-cheeked Warbler Habitat

It never did rain very hard. I saw my first Black-capped Vireo. 65 species were logged including 6 Vireos. The tour participants, mostly from Texas but some from California, Ohio, and Wisconsin, seemed happy with their trip, especially considering the weather.

May 8 Monthly TAS/FOB trip with Diane Sherrill

Sun, 08 May 2011 15:22:56 GMT

It was a great day to be a birder! Leader Diane Sherrill and 9 enthusiastic participants met at Shin Oak Observation Deck at 7:30 this morning. The plan originally was to go to a non-public tract of the Refuge near the Deck. There was so much birdsong at the deck, however, that we decided to stay there for a while, walking a distance into the non-public area to look for the Black-capped vireo and Yellow breasted chat we could hear. We never got a visual on the Vireo, but the sound of the Chat led Diane to spot a lovely bird perched obligingly in a dead tree. Bob got his scope on it, and everyone got good looks. Also found there on Eckhardt were a couple of Indigo buntings, a Blue grosbeak, several Painted buntings, and one particular spot that was so hopping we couldn't all see all of it. Some of us got good looks at a Common yellow throat; a couple of people were following an immature male Orchard oriole; and in the end, everyone got good scoped looks at an Empidonax flycatcher that was either an Alder or an Acadian. Leaving this spot to head on over to Gainer, we got really good listens to, but no visual, on the other endangered species of the Refuge (besides the Black capped vireo), the Golden cheeked warbler. We heard 2, and chased one for a while, but didn't want to harass him, so turned back. Also on that tract, we had Wild turkey, Summer tanager--a first year male found again by his song, and an adult male; Black chinned hummingbird, White eyed vireo, a plethora of Painted buntings, and a heard only Scrub jay (while we were chasing the warbler). Several people got life birds today. But the Northern lady (Ohio?) who knew Black capped chickadees, but would have had a lifer with a Carolina chickadee went home without a visual. They were singing, they were calling, but they wouldn't come out! That's birding for you! Ain't it wonderful??