Big Bend Summer Jul 16—23, 2007
Posted by Barry Zimmer
Barry Zimmer
Barry Zimmer has been birding since the age of eight. His main areas of expertise lie in North and Central America, but his travels have taken him throughout much of the wo...Related Trips
Our 2007 Summer Big Bend tour could not have been a bigger success. We enjoyed incredible views of every target bird of the tour, including what I would refer to as the “Big Five”: Colima Warbler, Lucifer Hummingbird, Montezuma Quail, Gray Vireo, and Common Black-Hawk. This region of West Texas provides the only opportunity to see one of these species in the United States (the Colima Warbler) and arguably the best opportunity for the other four.
We had an impressive 12 individuals of the highly sought Colima Warbler on our hike to Boot Springs. Several of these gave us prolonged great views, including an adult feeding a recently fledged young. The first of our Colimas was about two-and-a-half-miles up the trail, thus providing the chance of a much shorter hike for those who didn’t want to go the whole nine-plus miles.
Lucifer Hummingbirds were likewise cooperative with a stunning adult male down the Window Trail and two more on our Boot Springs hike. One of these was viewed from about 15 feet as it repeatedly came into a large blooming agave blossom to feed at eye level. This species is virtually restricted to the Big Bend region as a breeder (the only other area being a small population in an inaccessible portion of southwestern New Mexico).
Perhaps the most challenging of the “Big Five” is the Montezuma Quail. This species is generally difficult to see anywhere, and many who have visited its range swear it is nothing but a myth. The Davis Mountains offer what I believe to be the best single area to find this very elusive species. We have had superb luck over the years, missing it only twice since 1989. This year, however, all reports (including from locals) were that quail populations were down and no one was seeing them. Undaunted by this bit of bad news, we scoured favorite areas of past tours with no luck. Afternoon light was beginning to fade away and in a last-ditch effort we drove a road through good habitat where I had never seen quail before. Good fortune was on our side as an absolutely stunning male was spotted perched up on a small rock next to the road. We soon realized that another male and a female were just feet away from the first bird. We soaked in the beauty of this magnificent species (one of the most incredible birds of the world in my opinion) for about five minutes in the golden evening sunshine!
Anything after the quail might seem anti-climactic, but we also enjoyed wonderful studies of the localized and highly-sought Gray Vireo at Cibolo Creek Ranch. In addition, we heard two others down the Window Trail at Big Bend. Though it ranges through several southwestern states, this species can be devilishly hard to find. Our success rate over the years with Gray Vireo has been very high on this trip.
Finally, we had walkaway Questar views of an immature Common Black-Hawk about 30 feet away. Its repeated plaintive screams were eventually answered when a stunning adult came in to feed it a small lizard. A pair has been nesting within Big Bend for about the past six years, and another viewable pair occurs along our route in the Davis Mountains.
Of course, this tour is about so much more than the “Big Five.” Other localized species such as Crissal Thrasher, Black-chinned Sparrow, Tropical Kingbird, and Buff-breasted Flycatcher were all seen well. A plethora of colorful birds brightened our list with stunning plum-colored Varied Buntings and gaudy multicolored Painted Buntings seen on numerous occasions, brilliant Blue Grosbeaks seemingly around every corner, three species of tanagers, three species of orioles, and displaying Yellow-breasted Chats. Nightbirds were especially noteworthy with a pair of Elf Owls at 10 feet, superb studies of Western Screech-Owl, an astonishing 45 Burrowing Owls in one day, and a Common Poorwill that was literally a few feet from our van. We also had some rarities including Couch’s Kingbird, Dusky-capped Flycatcher, and Yellow-throated Warbler. Other highlights included wonderful views of an adult Gray Hawk in Big Bend, handsome Mississippi Kites and tiny Calliope Hummingbirds in El Paso, and perched Zone-tailed Hawks at Cibolo Creek.
In addition to birds, this tour also yielded an impressive butterfly list (30 species) with the likes of California Sister, Red Satyr, Mexican Yellow, Two-tailed Swallowtail, and Hackberry Emperor. Reptiles put on a great show with several unusual species including mountain short-horned lizard, Texas alligator lizard, Trans-Pecos rat snake, and mottled rock rattlesnake. Mammals included collared peccaries and pronghorns, as well as some tantalizingly fresh mountain lion tracks! Finally, recent summer rains had resulted in a nice bloom of many flowers and shrubs throughout our journey.
All in all this was an absolutely wonderful trip. Our success with the birds was unparalleled, our weather was for the most part very cooperative, and we took time to thoroughly enjoy all the other aspects of nature as well.