Jon helped

 

He birds South Texas every day, so he knows where some of the birds I need are.  We met up in Corpus way before dawn and drove to the Guadalupe River Delta.  We missed the American Woodcock and the Short-eared Owl, but scored on the Sedge Wren, and a total surprise to me, a Winter Wren; all before sunrise.  This is easy.  497.

 

Drove farther north, on Jon’s hunch, to Powderhorn Lake.  Now in the morning light, we played call notes for sparrows and up popped Nelson’s Sparrow and Seaside Sparrow.  499 and it’s not even 9 O’Clock!  We’ve got lots of options to get one more bird.

 

Drove to the LeConte’s Sparrow spot.  Nothing.  Grasshopper Sparrow spot.  Nada.  Drove to a Barn Owl spot out by Austwell.  An empty barn.  Drove back to Aransas Pass, across the ferry to Port Aransas and back to the Birding Center for another try at the American Bittern.  Nope.  Not there.

 

Uh oh.  It’s starting to get a little desperate.  I’m running alternative scenarios through my head to get that last bird if we don’t get another today.  I could drive north tomorrow two hundred fifty more miles to Houston for one of three birds there: Red Vented Bulbul, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Red-cockaded Woodpecker.  I could drive home and catch a plane to Orlando for:  Snail Kite, Limpkin, or Florida Scrub-Jay.  I could catch a plane to Sacramento for Yellow-billed Magpie or California Condor.  Any one of those options are a lot of travel, but doable before the end of the year.

 

Three more possible birds to find here, Barn Owl, Ferruginous Hawk, and Cassin’s Vireo.  Drove to Chapman Ranch for the Barn Owl.  Barn Owls roost in abandoned barns during the day.  Again, an empty barn.  Down to two chances.  Picked the Cassin’s Vireo at Rose Hill Cemetery.  It is an unusual bird for here but has been seen with a mixed flock of little birds; sparrows and warblers.  Scoured the Cemetery.  Found the flock!  Scoured the flock.  Bingo!  Cassin’s Vireo!  Bird number 500 for the year!  Yeaaaa.  I predicted I was going to see 500 species in 2019!  It wasn’t a slam-dunk; it required a concentrated effort in December, and welcome assistance from Jon at the end.  Jon is a good birding friend though, so it felt good to finish with him too.

 

South Texas part of the trip map

 

Zero birds to go.  (And six Continuing Education hours.)