Extreme Birder: One Woman's Big Year

May: Warbler Waves and I Go North

m a y Warbler Waves and I Go North new bird species seen this month: 44 totaL bird species by the end of the month: 580 pLaces birded: Texas, Alaska, Washington, Michigan May 1 We began the day in the dark on another lonely road, listening intently as the wind blew around us, eventually hearing five different nightjars: Chuckwill ’s-widow, Whip-poor-will, Common Pauraque, and both Common and Lesser Nighthawk in under an hour. This area is a relatively remote location known to our Classic leader that is sufficiently distant from the sounds of civilization and a sufficiently mixed habitat for these species. On a (rare) calm night, it is not difficult to hear them, but it was a challenge to pick out each voice from the sounds of the vegetation being blown in the breeze. Our next stop, in the daylight, was for Field Sparrows at a site where we had found one the previous year. Our scouting had not found any Field Sparrows there this year, so we had little hope. Tony stopped the van, and we rolled open the back doors. Before I had a chance to get both feet on the ground so I could look around, we heard a Field Sparrow singing. We were off to Corpus Christi, where we stopped at a lake for a few shorebirds and a Reddish Egret, and then at Rose Hill Cemetery where we found Canada and Cerulean Warblers, and at Blucher Park, where we added Baybreasted Warbler. We drove the roads in Refugio, Calhoun, and Matagorda counties and eventually found a wet field with numerous Buff-breasted Sandpipers . Toward dusk we had very welcome flocks of Hudsonian Godwits flying over. May 2 Today was our Classic team’s Piney Woods day in Angelina and Jasper counties. Even before daylight, invisible Bachman’s Sparrows were singing januarY 85 MaY around us. Around 6:30 the Red-cockaded Woodpeckers began to talk above us and then to fly from treetop to treetop. About 15 minutes later, Brownheaded Nuthatches excitedly appeared, squeaking and fussing as usual. Not far away we drove through an area where Swainson’s Warblers were singing, followed by a single Red-eyed Vireo, a Wood Thrush, Yellow-throated Vireo, and a calling Red-headed Woodpecker. Further drive-by birding in Jasper County interspersed with a few brief stops revealed Yellow-throated, Prothonotary , Northern Parula, and Tennessee Warblers, a soaring White-tailed Kite, a fly-by Wood Duck, a sneaking Eastern Towhee, and a perched-up Prairie Warbler. We checked several Beaumont locations but did not locate any Fish Crows. Sabine Woods and the nearby “willows” were good for more warblers, the highlight being a Golden-winged Warbler. While a Blue-winged Warbler was also reported, we were unable to find it, and in fact, we did not get one on the Classic. We then drove to Winnie and down to Anahuac NWR and the High Island sanctuaries, popular locations during migration. At Anahuac were a Northern Harrier, many calling Sora, a calling Black Rail, a colorful Purple Gallinule, and Savannah and Seaside Sparrows. A long-necked American Bittern tried a reddish Egret hunts for food along the Texas coast (May 1). extreme birder 86 without success to escape our detection along one of the trails. We stopped briefly at Boy Scout Woods at High Island to check the blackboard to see if anyone had seen any goal birds, but not so. We did see a Gray-cheeked Thrush at the drip there before we headed to Texas City for our motel. May 3 This morning we found a couple of Monk Parakeets at a “secret” spot of Tony’s and then went to the Texas City Preserve for Attwater (Greater) PrairieChicken , which while not countable for my big year under the ABA rules because the population is not sufficiently established in the wild, is countable under the Classic rules. There was also a single Sedge Wren there. We explored a couple of local water areas in Corpus Christi and found an Eared Grebe and a previously reported Pacific Loon among the larger Common Loons. Then we were off to the Galveston ferry and the Bolivar peninsula, where we were delighted to find a single Bonaparte’s Gull sitting on the water, Whimbrels, a Long-billed Curlew, and a flock of Bobolinks. Back at Anahuac again, we found White-faced Ibises, and at least...