Spring in South Texas: Hill Country Extension 4/9/2025-4/13/2025

Our Hill Country Extension began with an afternoon drive from Laredo to Concan. En route, we tallied several interesting species including 5 Harris’s Hawks, an impressive 18 Crested Caracaras, abundant Scissor-tailed Flycatchers (56 individuals for the day!), Chihuahuan Ravens, Cave Swallows, and a late American Pipit among others. Perhaps most impressive, however, was a field filled with 24 Swainson’s Hawks (including two dark morphs) following a plowing tractor. After arriving at Neal’s Lodge and checking into our rooms, we gathered for a checklist session behind my cabin.  A wonderful Zone-tailed Hawk soared right over us just as we finished our checklist! After an early dinner, we encountered a mob of birds right in the café parking lot. Eastern Phoebe, Brown-crested Flycatcher, Hutton’s and Yellow-throated vireos, Eastern Bluebird, Northern Parula, and Yellow-throated Warbler topped the list. With a bit of daylight left, we decided to check out a nearby spot where I’d had success in prior years with the often-elusive Black-capped Vireo. Within minutes of our arrival, we had completely unobstructed views of a male vireo singing in a bare juniper tree. This was certainly an epic start to the extension!

Black-capped Vireo - photo by Barry Zimmer

The next day, we traveled north to Leakey and then east to a private ranch near the tiny town of Vanderpool. We made several stops along the way. At the first stop, we netted a pair of stunning Golden-cheeked Warblers, at one point no more than fifteen feet away! Yellow-throated and Red-eyed vireos, Black-crested Titmouse,  Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Hermit Thrush, and Black-and-white, Nashville, and Orange-crowned warblers were also tallied. Our second stop produced three more Golden-cheeked Warblers, in addition to Ash-throated Flycatcher and Summer Tanager. The third stop yielded the likes of Carolina Chickadee, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, and another close pair of Golden-cheeked Warblers. The remainder of the morning, spent on a private ranch, was equally productive, with highlights including stunning Vermilion Flycatchers, five Black-capped Vireos (all seen), Cedar Waxwings, Bewick’s Wren, Yellow-breasted Chat, Field and Lincoln’s  sparrows, and several more Golden-cheekeds (for the day, we would tally a staggering 21 individuals).

Golden-cheeked Warbler - photo by Barry Zimmer

We arrived back at Neal’s in the midafternoon and had enough time for a nice midafternoon break. Following an early dinner, we headed out to the famous Frio Bat Cave—a birthing cave for millions of Mexican Free-tailed Bats! We arrived at the cave around 6:45 PM and had time for a little bit of birding before the bats emerged. A large group of Cave Swallows (nesting in the cave entrance), a pair of Canyon Towhees, and a singing Canyon Wren from no more than ten feet away were the highlights. Around 7:30, the bats started coming out of the cave entrance. It started out as a small trickle and then quickly became a steady stream. Numbers of raptors were there to greet the emerging bats with two Harris’s Hawks, a Swainson’s Hawk, a Red-tailed Hawk, and a Merlin diving into the river of bats in hopes of catching dinner. The stream of bats thickened until it seemed the entire sky was filled with bats. Seeing ten million or more bats emerging from their roost is truly one of the great natural history spectacles of the world and a sight not soon forgotten! We topped off the evening with great looks at Common Poorwill from about fifteen feet away. This was simply an astounding day!

Swainson's Hawk - photo by Barry Zimmer

On our third day, we headed south towards Uvalde. Along the way, we found Wild Turkey, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Bell’s Vireo, Cactus Wren, and Cassin’s, Lark, Black-throated, Vesper, and Clay-colored sparrows among a host of other species. At Cook’s Slough, we added Wood Duck, Neotropic Cormorant, Couch’s Kingbird, Great Kiskadee, Audubon’s Oriole, and Olive Sparrow. The nearby Uvalde Fish Hatchery was very productive with many Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, Common Ground Dove, an unexpected pair of Least Grebes, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, a late Wilson’s Snipe, Solitary Sandpiper, Black Phoebe, more raucous Great Kiskadees, and a Pyrrhuloxia. We finished off the day at Park Chalk Bluff. There we had an impressive mixed flock of birds in the large oak grove that contained a pair of Tropical Parulas, as well as Blue-headed Vireo, Long-billed Thrasher, Wilson’s Warbler, an out-of-place Golden-cheeked Warbler, another pair of Audubon’s Orioles, four Hooded Orioles, and an Orchard Oriole. After dinner, we took a leisurely walk around the lodge grounds, where we heard a close Chuck-will’s-widow and had in-hand inspection of the tiny Blanchard’s Cricket Frog.

On our final day, we started out birding around Neal’s. Along the cypress-lined banks of the Frio River, we found a wonderful Green Kingfisher and a male Tropical Parula that we could almost touch. Desert scrub away from the river yielded close studies of a pair of Verdins, a much better view of Canyon Towhee, and an early arriving male Blue Grosbeak.  One last look at Golden-cheeked Warbler before our departure, and then it was on to San Antonio for our final dinner.

 Tropical Parula - photo by Barry Zimmer

In all, we tallied 132 species of birds on this Hill Country Extension, with unsurpassed views of the two Hill Country specialty birds, the Black-capped Vireo and Golden-cheeked Warbler. Despite all the amazing birds we saw, the bat flight may have topped our list of memorable sightings! This short trip is the perfect complement to our Spring in South Texas tour. In combination, the two tours totaled a staggering 262 species of birds this year!

FIVE FAVORITE BIRDS OF THE TOUR:

1. Golden-cheeked Warbler   (six votes; 22 points)
2. Common Poorwill   (six votes; 17 points)
3. Black-capped Vireo   (five votes13 points)
4. Tropical Parula   (four votes; 13 points)
5. Canyon Wren   (four votes; 10 points)

A complete list of the birds recorded on our trip can be found at: 

https://ebird.org/tripreport/351479

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ITINERARY:

      April 9 – drive from Laredo to Concan via Hwy 83 with roadside birding, brief birding on grounds of Neal’s Lodge, county Road 127  (48 species)

     April 10 – Neal’s Lodge, Ranch Road 337 east of Leakey, Brushy Creek Ranch, CR 187 to Utopia, Ranch Road 1050; evening visit to the Frio Bat Cave   (69 species; 83 total)

     April 11 – CR 2690, Cook’s Slough, Uvalde Fish Hatchery, Highway 55, Park Chalk Bluff; evening walk around lodge grounds     (98 species; 126 total)

     April 12 –Neal’s Lodge areas, RR 337, CR 2690; drive to San Antonio with stop at Sabinal feedlot     (69 species; 132 total)

     April 13 – departures for home   (142 total)  (262 in combination with Spring in South Texas tour)