Big Bend Summer Jul 14—21, 2008
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
Ten feet over our heads, the star of the Chisos Mountains, the Colima Warbler, flitted about in an oak tree above the trail. Constantly pumping its tail and showing off the yellowish-orange undertail coverts, and occasionally tilting its head down to expose the rufous crown, the highly sought Colima seemed to be putting on a show for our group. Vying for our attention, however, was a stunning scarlet-bellied Painted Redstart in the same tree just feet away. Creeping about the thicker trunks and fanning its large white outer retrices, the redstart was impossible to ignore. What to look at first—the warbler found nowhere else in the United States or the stunning gem that was the redstart? This was a good kind of dilemma. Our 2008 Big Bend Summer tour seemed full of such dilemmas. Target species, spectacularly colorful birds, interesting mammals and reptiles, and splendid scenery were ever-present.
Our trip began in El Paso where we enjoyed the likes of Western and Clark's grebes (some dancing), Gambel's and Scaled quail, a rare Least Tern, 34 Burrowing Owls in one morning(!), Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Cave Swallow, the always elusive Crissal Thrasher, and brilliant Painted Buntings and Blue Grosbeaks among others. Luxurious Cibolo Creek Ranch was our next destination, and here our luck continued. A nesting pair of Zone-tailed Hawks performed splendidly with walkaway scope views. Always spectacular Vermilion Flycatchers seemed to be around every corner, and a plum-colored Varied Bunting put on a show. That evening our owling efforts yielded great views of a pair of tiny Elf Owls, a Western Screech-Owl right overhead, Common Poorwill, and both species of nighthawks!
We arrived at Big Bend National Park on our third afternoon, soaking in the rugged splendor of the landscape. While tallying our checklist that evening outside our hotel rooms, a Gray Vireo began singing nearby. The checklist was immediately abandoned and we enjoyed fantastic studies of this localized species from 20 feet or closer! The next morning, on the Window Trail, we may have experienced our ultimate highlight. Someone spotted a mother black bear with four cubs feeding on acorns in a nearby oak tree. We were able to watch these magnificent animals from relatively close range for over 20 minutes as they fed and played unconcernedly. An amazing five Black-capped Vireos, seven Gray Vireos, three female Lucifer Hummingbirds from as close as 10 feet, another male Varied Bunting, and several Black-chinned Sparrows were icing on the cake. In the afternoon we headed down to Cottonwood Campground along the Rio Grande and were treated to Gray Hawk, Tropical Kingbird, an unexpected Lucy's Warbler, and the wonderful scenery of Santa Elena Canyon.
On our second day in the park we made the all-day hike to Boot Springs in search of the Colima Warbler. Not only did we net five Colimas with several marvelous views, but we also saw Blue-throated Hummingbird, male Lucifer Hummingbird, a rare Dusky-capped Flycatcher, Cordilleran Flycatcher, a vagrant Black-and-white Warbler, and Hepatic and Western tanagers among others. On our final morning in the park we went down to Rio Grande Village where the parade of colors continued. Yellow-breasted Chats, Painted Buntings, Blue Grosbeaks, Vermilion Flycatchers, Summer Tanagers, Hooded and Orchard orioles—every crayon in the box represented!
By midday we were headed north toward the Davis Mountains. Scissor-tailed Flycatchers provided entertainment along the way. In the late afternoon, along Limpia Creek, a pair of Common Black-Hawks quickly became the stars of the day.
Our final morning was spent in the recently acquired Davis Mountains Nature Conservancy Preserve. We added many new birds to our list including Buff-breasted Flycatcher (the only known pair in Texas!), Gray Flycatcher, Violet-green Swallow, Plumbeous Vireo, and Grace's Warbler. Our main target, the incomparable Montezuma Quail, eluded us until mid-morning, when we enjoyed scope views of a calling male from about 100 feet. Later on, a pair of these splendid birds walked right in front of Bob's van and we were able to watch them as they fed along the roadside for 10 minutes or more!
Our return to El Paso the last afternoon produced more highlights still. The locally uncommon Mississippi Kites on the west side of town appeared in record time, so we headed quickly to the hummingbird feeders in my yard. We closed out our trip with an hour of feeder-watching which yielded several brilliant Rufous and one stunning and feisty Calliope among the many Black-chinneds. Surely, this Big Bend tour will be hard to top in the future!