LA Birding

Big Bend Texas

A long weekend hiking in Big Bend National Park, Texas in mid July seemed a little absurd to fellow co-workers but if you're a keen birder and the targets are Colima Warbler and Black Hawk you have little choice but to make a summer visit.

Flying in to El Paso, the park is a 5 hr drive from there. I stopped in Ft Davis, where I met up with the others who had a staked out Black Hawk nest by the side of the road. Within minutes I had this difficult bird under the belt. It was certainly a nice change to see a lifer so easily but it did make me appreciate the thrill of seeing a lifer after you've had to suffer through hours of waiting. It almost seemed a little anti-climactic that it was so easy.

On to Big Bend, where we had rented a cottage right at the trailhead for the Colima Warbler dash in the Basin at Chizos Lodge. That evening we enjoyed some dinner on the porch whilst watching the wildlife go by:

White-winged Dove

The guide books had duly warned us of the strenuous hike and they were spot on. I won't lie, it was quite hard work. We left at about 6am to give us maximum time on the trail before the searing heat picked up. By 10am we were about halfway and had reached the Laguna Meadows. This was Colima Warbler territory (although still not quite sure why it is called a meadow). After a short while we found a Colima amongst a flock of Bushtits immediately after we had brief views of a Virginia's Warbler.

We continued onwards and upwards to the famed rarity hotspot of Boot Springs where we also happened upon local guru Mark Lockwood. A well-earned rest at Boot Springs (the non-birding companion was starting to complain bitterly about the lack of lunch) also brought us Blue-throated Hummingbirds, Painted Redstart, Hepatic Tanager, Canyon Wren, Cordilleran Flycatcher and another Colima for those who went up the trail.
Boot Springs

Reluctantly, we left Boot Springs and headed back on the steeper Pinnacles Trail. This trail is meant to be a shorter route back to the cottage but a lot steeper and not sure I would recommend it for those going up for the Colimas. On this route, we stopped briefy to look at some Broad-tailed Hummingbirds noisily chasing each other around a tree. I focussed on one sitting bird and saw bright white ear coverts, a reddish base to the bill and before I could shout male White-eared Hummingbird, the birds all dashed off. We waited for about 45 mins but no re-appearance of this tantalising sighting. Throughout the walk, we could hear the mewing of a young Zone-tailed Hawk on a nest in the canyon and later on, we saw an adult bird soaring with Turkey Vultures.

Boot Canyon (with the famous boot shaped rock)

The hike down seemed an eternity and little birding was done but at least it was downhill. We ran out of water about 45mins from the end of the trail (I hiked in with 4 liters!) and arrived at our cottage exhausted. We managed to get back in time to make it for a well-earned BBQ dinner at the Lodge.

We were up early on Sunday morning to hike the Window trail. Not wanting to overdo it after yesterday, I only hiked a short way but enough to see Varied Bunting, Bell's Vireo and some handsome male Scott's Orioles. Looks like I headed back too soon as the others had a Black Bear!

We headed back towards Alpine from Big Bend and stopped off at Marathon for lunch. Life looked nice and slow here:

While the others headed on to New Mexico, I stayed the night at the Hotel Limpia in Ft Davis to give myself another chance to look for Montezuma Quail. These birds haven't been seen here for a while and it didn' t look like they would break from tradition for me.
Hotel Limpia

Skunk whilst waiting for the Quail

The next morning, the drive back to El Paso was punctuated by some roadside stops along prairie to see Lark Bunting, Lark Sparrow and Swainson's Hawk
Swainson's Hawk in the prairie

Deserted Gas Station

Posted by Andyb at July 25, 2004 1:17 AM