Early one morning, before it got hot, we climbed the demanding Pinnacles Trail for the Colima Warbler. We saw Townsend’s Solitaire near the bottom; White-throated Swifts and Violet-green Swallows working the cliffs. The Mexican Jays at the summit wanted handouts. We continued on to Boot Springs for the Dusky-capped Flycatcher. We missed the Painted Redstart but got the Hepatic Tanager.
The entire trip went like that. Designated hikes though ever different terrain and habitat. Different target birds every time, but with almost unlimited success in finding them. Jon’s skills got us almost every possible bird. A very well planned trip. A walk down the Windows trail and we saw Scott’s Oriole. A visit to the Sam Nail Ranch for Varied Bunting. The Blue Creek Trail: Gray Vireo. We saw Chihuahuan Raven, Pine Siskin, Black-headed Grosbeak, Cordilleran Flycatcher, Canyon Wren, Hammond’s Flycatcher, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Common Blackhawk, Gray Hawk. On to Carolyn’s house and wildlife refuge in the Christmas Mountains. Scaled Quail, Gray Vireo, Lucifer Hummingbird, Yellow-throated Vireo, MacGillivray’s Warbler, Dusky Flycatcher. Fort Davis State Park and Davis Mountains: Acorn Woodpecker, Montezuma Quail, Gray Flycatcher, Blue Grosbeak, Bushtit, Plumbeous Vireo, Phainopepla. Lake Balmorhea: Clark’s Grebe, Western Grebe, Wilson’s Phalarope, Yellow-headed Blackbird.
We cleaned up. So many birds. Altogether we saw 164 species. 44 of them were new year-birds for me. I went from 300 birds at the start of the trip, to 344 on my year-list now. 5 lifers, even though one of them, the Rufous-capped Warbler in Uvalde, was a “heard-only”. That’s good enough. That counts. I can always look for him again on another trip now that I know where he hangs out when he’s here (even though he’s not here very often).
An uneventful and long drive home. It was a very good trip.
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