phil jeffrey:: California, 2007 trip planner

California Birding Trip 2007

"Big" Year Stage 1

CA Birding Site Internet Resources

(RGV = Rio Grande Valley)

• California email list
• Monterey Bay email list
• North Bay Area email list
• Mendocino County email list
• Central Valley email list
• Kern County email list
• Inland County email list
• LA County email list
• Santa Barbara Co email list
• Mendocino County email list
• Shasta County email list
• TexBirds archive
• Shearwater Journeys Monterey Pelagics (Jan 21st, Feb 11th)
• Monterey Sea Birds seems to have a limited/no winter schedule
• Monterey Bay Whale Watch
• Point Reyes Bird Observatory
• California County Birding Pages via Joe Morlan's site
• LA Audubon 2007 Pelagic schedule
• Sea&Sage Audubon 2006/7 Field trip schedule (includes a couple of pelagics: 1/20).
• Ventura Co Offshore birding trips of longer duration.

Trip List

Target List

Itinerary

Day 0: Thurs November 23rd 2006: Newark NJ to Victoria TX

Day 1: Fri November 24th 2006: Victoria to Harlingen

Day 2: Sat November 25th 2006: Harlingen to Harlingen via various RGV sites

Day 3: Sun November 26th 2006: Harlingen to Corpus Christi

Day 5: Mon November 23rd 2006: Corpus Christi to Houston

Day 6: Tues November 23rd 2006: Houston TX to Newark NJ

TX Locations (non-RGV)

Anahuac NWR with a series of impoundments and also some trees for migrating land-birds.

High Island/Smith Woods has the reputation as a major migrant trap.

Rollover Pass - good for herons and gulls/terns.

Bolivar Flats - extensive shorebird habitat.

Brazos Bend State Park usually most noteworthy for herons and perhaps Prothonotary Warbler, also allegedly has sparrows along the entrance rd (but pulloffs are difficult and this is a popular park). Least Grebe was reported from here in late 2006.

Aransas NWR for Whooping Cranes and abundant mosquitos. The Rockport Skimmer out of Rockport and Port Aransas does water-based tours which often make it easier to see the Cranes although you can usually see two adults from the observation tower. There are other companies offering such tours.

Kickapoo Cavern State Park (limited access) for Black-capped Vireo - Kerr WMA seems a better option.

Kerr WMA for Black-capped Vireo. The Kerr WMA is located about 80 miles northwest of San Antonio, in Kerr County at the headwaters of the North Fork of the Guadalupe River. Take IH 10 to Kerrville and turn west (south) on SH 16 and connect with SH 27 on the south side of Kerrville. Turn right on SH 27 heading toward Ingram about seven miles. In Ingram connect to SH 39 going west another seven miles to Hunt. Hunt is located to the west (right side) of highway 39. Go through Hunt on RR 1340 heading northwest for 12 miles to the Kerr WMA entrance. Looks to be ~20 miles due north of Lost Maples. Black-capped Vireo (look at this population trend data).

Lost Maples State Park, notably a good site for Golden-cheeked Warbler and allegedly Green Kingfisher, but a little limited beyond that. The park is located 5 miles north of Vanderpool on Ranch Road 187. Open 7 days, no gate.

RGV Locations

10 miles north of Raymondville is El Canelo Ranch turn west down the dusty entrance road and then north again into the ranch itself. Ferruginous Pygmy Owl largely guaranteed. $150/night single occupancy, but then again there's that owl..... Also $35 per half-day of birding. 956-689-5042

South Padre Island Convention Center. Nature trails 7 days, no specific hours, free. various Rails, Franklin's Gull. The south bay section has breeding Mangrove subspecies of the Yellow Warbler but is accessible via boat only, apparently.

Laguna Atascosa NWR Sunrise-sunset/7 days. An Aplomado Falcon reintroduction site but hasn't been memorable for anything else when I've been there in previous years at least in part due to drought. Seems to be much wetter in 2006. From Harlingen, go east on Highway 106 14 miles past Rio Hondo. Take a left at the T and drive 3 miles to the visitor center. From South Padre Island, take Highway 100 out of Port Isabel and exit right on Farm Road 510 at Laguna Vista. Continue 5.4 miles to the Cameron County Airport road. Take a right and continue approximately 7 miles to the visitor center. From Brownsville, go north on Paredes Line Road (1847) through Los Fresnos to Highway 106. Take a right and go approximately 10 miles to the T. Take a left and drive 3 miles to the visitor center. Sprague's Pipit and Long-billed Curlew from Oct/Nov reports - I found the curlews.

Sabal Palm refuge for the usual suspects including Buff-breasted Hummingbird, White-tipped Dove, Long-billed Thrasher, Plain Chachalaca, Least Grebe and more. Visitor Center open 9am-5pm daily, trails open year-round 7am to 5pm. $5. Link to trail map. From US 77/83 go east on Boca Chica past the airport. Turn right (south) on FM 511. At the four way stop continue straight on FM 3068 until it ends at Southmost and turn right. Go 1/2 mile to the entrance on the left. The visitor center feeders were very quiet in Nov 2006 when I was there, but the resaca was still productive.

Brownsville's Fort Brown for Green Parakeet. Tropical Kingbird has apparently been at the golf course nearby. No recent reports from this vicinity, it's still good for the Parakeets in Nov 2006. The parrots appear to be more of a neighborhood Brownsville location rather than the fort itself - and I was unable to find good Red-crowned Parrot locations on this trip.

Brownsville: north on 4 then south on 511 (Indiana Ave) to Utah Rd for Tamaulipas Crow (April 2005) at n.e. corner of airport. - this doesn't apply during winter months when they appear to drift south of the border.

Old Port Isabel Rd for Aplomado Falcon, Cassin's Sparrow - no recent Aplomado Falcon reports from there, although there may be some at Laguna Atascosa.

Resaca de la Palma State Park (WBC site) on west side of Brownsville. Currently the main entrance to Resaca de la Palma State Park is off of Military Highway 281. The existing park entrance is located 4 miles west of Brownsville along Highway 281. It lies due North of River Bend Golf Course and Resort. Apparently by appointment only.

Los Ebanos Preserve in San Benito. 6 days a week from 8AM to 5PM closed Thursdays. $5. Private and not part of the World Birding Center cluster. On State Hwy 100 between Harlingen and Brownsville, Texas. From Expressway 77/83, take the South Padre Island exit and go east 100 yards to our entrance on the left.

Harlingen Arroyo Colorado Sunrise-sunset 7 days. Free. Take Expressway 83 to Ed Carey Dr. Exit on to Ed Carey Dr. Travel North on Ed Carey Dr. until you come to Arroyo Colorado site on the east side of the road. May be a good site for Green and Ringed Kingfisher but few reports seen from there.

Estero Llano Grande State Park in Weslaco. 8am-5pm during Nov-Apr, closed Mondays ($3). May-Oct also closed Tues. Green Kingfisher has been reliable, Red-crowned Parrot reported, Northern Jacana was there Aug-Oct. Take Expressway 83 to FM 1015. Travel South on FM 1015 crossing Business 83 and Mile 6 North. Look for the World Birding Center entrance on the east side of FM 1015 before reaching Mile 5 North (at the point where the road curves right if you are headed south from US-83). It should be possible to navigate back roads between Estero Llano and Frontera Audubon if you have a better map than I did - E 18th St looks like a good bet.

Weslaco Valley Nature Center ($3). Closed Mon. Tue-Fri: 9am-5pm, Sat: 8am-5pm, Sun: 1pm-5pm. In Gibson Park - 1 block south of Business 83 on Border Street in Weslaco. Road construction: from west take Milano St/Westgate temp exit and then frontage road; from east take Airport Dr/Texas Blvd then south on Texas Blvd to Business-83 west. Either way take Border Ave south of Bus-83 for 1.5 blocks. This seems to be of marginal interest since it is very urban and lacks much habitat.

Frontera Audubon site in Weslaco. Green Kingfisher on 2/18. 1101 South Texas Blvd, Weslaco several blocks south of 83 near 12th St. S Texas Blvd is "Mile 5 Rd W" coming from US-281. Open 7 days (Sat best). Sun-Fri 8-4pm, Sat 7am-7pm. Weslaco is about 17 miles west of the US-83/US-77 junction in Harlingen. This is a relatively small site in suburban Weslaco, nevertheless has a good selection of species.

Edinburg Wetlands World Birding Center in Edinburg (WBC site), also now have their own web site as of Dec 2006. Trails Sunset-sunrise/7 days. $2. Take Rt-83 to North Highway 281. Travel north on Highway 281 to the University Dr. exit. Travel east on University Dr. until Raul Longoria St. Turn south on Raul Longoria to Sprague St. Travel east on Sprague St. until you reach Edinburg Scenic Wetlands on your left. I've not been to this site.

Santa Ana NWR (also Wiki link here). Refuge headquarters is located 7 miles south of Alamo, Texas, on FM 907 about 1/4 mile east on U.S. Highway 281. Trails open 7 days sunrise-sunset. This is a little east of McAllen. Clay-colored Robin and Tropical Parula have been my main finds here, historically.

Allen Williams residence, $10 Fee. Directions: 750 Sam Houston Ave., Pharr, TX. From McAllen: exit Expressway 83 at Jackson Rd. Follow Jackson Road south to its intersection with Jackson Avenue. Eastward Jackson Avenue becomes W. Sam Houston. Turn east onto Houston and continue to 750, which is on the north side of the street between the Senior Friends Fitness Center and the Skinner/Silva Funeral Home. This appears to be south-west of the US-83/Rt-281 intersection. At one point a big rarity magnet, this didn't seem to be the case in Nov 2006 - I wasn't seeing any reports from there whatsoever.

Quinta Mazatlan in downtown McAllen - Weds-Sat 8-5pm, Tues 8-8pm, Sun/Mon closed. $2. Take Expressway 83 to 10th Street exit. Travel South on 10th St. Turn East on Sunset (Wyndham Garden Hotel on corner). Proceed along Sunset to Quinta Mazatlan with parking lot out in front of the big brown gates.

McAllen sewage ponds: shorebirds, waders, ducks. From McAllen go south on 115 towards Hidalgo. Turn right (west) on Idela Drive and follow it until it ends. This is just a little south of the airport and on the west side of 115 - it was CLOSED ON SUNDAY when I went there and in fact the birding access wasn't clearly marked so it's status is uncertain even if it is on the birding trail maps.

McAllen Green Parakeets as of 12/05 they are staging at 10th and Dove which is several blocks north of the previous Hastings Bookstore location. Supposedly they are still in this general area - looks to be perhaps 5 miles north of US-83, with alternative (faster?) access via US-281 exiting at Owassa Rd (which seems to be what Dove becomes).

Anzalduas County Park. Mission. Fee on weekends. Opens 8am-sunset. From US 83 west of Mission follow FM 1016 south about 5 miles, then right on FM 494 (look for sign to park). (Alternative: exit S Shary Rd/494 from US-83). Near Granejo. Historically - Vermilion Flycatcher, Tropical Parula have been my main finds here. Also good for Gray Hawk, Spragues Pipit (2/18), NB Tyrranulet.

Bentsen-RGV is open 6am-10pm/7 days. $5. This site is radically changed since the refit, so it's a question how good it remains - I've spoken to some birders who are fairly negative about the "revisions", although doubtless this is not the only viewpoint. Activity was fairly low there in Nov 2006, but this may have been seasonal and the fact that it is a wet year. Either way, the experience there will no longer be as distinctive as it was on my 2000-2002 visits.

Nature Conservancy's Chihuahua Woods - web page lists it as currently closed due to fire danger. Normally sunrise-sunset. 956/580-4241. US-83 west of Mission to Goodwin Road/FM 492 exit (at H.E.B. Food Store). Turn left (south) onto FM 492 and go about 1 mile to Business 83 (at blinking light). Turn right (west) onto Business 83 and go about 0.8 miles toward where the road curves northwestward. At the curve, go straight onto blacktop road parallel to the railroad track for about 0.1 miles. Preserve entrance is on the left, where the blacktop road crosses the railroad track.

La Sal de Rey tract: North on US 281 to the intersection of TX 186. Go east on TX 186 to USFWS La Sal del Rey tract of LRGVNWR. In winter, Lark Buntings along the shoulders of TX 186. A public information map of this tract is posted 2.3 miles west of Brushline Rd. on TX 186 near the GTCBT site sign. Entry points are off of TX 186, Chapa Rd., Brushline Rd., and an unnamed dirt road that T's into Brushline Rd. An extensive network of trails east of Brushline Rd. A map indicating access points may be obtained from the Santa Ana NWR HQ. In winter, pre-dawn at the public information spot on TX 186 - early morning exodus of roosting Sandhill Cranes (4-10K), Snow Geese (100-10K), up to 3K Long-billed Curlews (they leave while it is still dark). At dusk, at the northernmost entry site on Brushline Rd. and hike to the lake where you'll be able to see curlews, cranes and geese return, silhouetted against the sunset over the lake. Also good for wintering Say's Phoebes. White-tailed Hawk, Crested Caracara etc year-round.

Roma Bluffs is on the south-west side of Roma and appears to just be an overlook rather than a good site (although there are a lot of birds on the checklist, which may be more "theoretical"). Take US-83 Business to downtown Roma. At the intersection of US-83 Business and Lincoln Ave. turn West onto Lincoln Ave. Travel West to the intersection of Lincoln Ave. and Portscheller. Take Portscheller South to Convent. The World Birding Center is located on the Southeast corner of the intersection of Portscheller and Convent. There are brown signs along US-83 pointing to the turn off in the older western part of Roma.

Santa Margarita Ranch - not found specific online info on this site, but is on the river access to the south of Salineno - TX trails maps contain the relevant info.

Salineno - DeWind's usually depart at the end of March, appear to have arrived as of mid Nov 2006.

El Rio RV Park at Chapeno - still feeding the Brown Jays (7am and 11am as per Wiki), no reports of the Jays as of 11/06 - in fact at that time they were nowhere to be found along the TX side of the Rio Grande.

San Ygnacio Bird Sanctuary: At end of Washington street in San Ygnacio. Joel Ruiz, curator San Ygnacio Bird and Butterfly Sanctuary; TX Lower Coast Birding Trail # 87, P.O. Box 100; San Ygnacio, TX 78067 Tel. 956-765-8468. datlax@sc2000.net. White-collared Seedeater at the end of the Raptor Trail by the San Ygnaico RV Park's Boat Ramp on some of their favorite grasses that were not damaged. (very elusive as of 11/06)

Species Notes

And Greg Lavaty's advice from 2006: Along Morrison Rd and near Eldridge Rd at the Addick's Reservoir. To get to Morrison Rd you will take I-10 west and exit at Pederson Road. Go north on Pederson until you reach SH 90 and turn left onto SH 90. Proceed west on 90 a short distance until you reach 2855 and turn right (north). Take 2855 north for several miles until you reach 529. You will notice as you cross 529 that 2855 diminishes in quality quite a bit. Proceed to the end of 2855 where you are forced to turn left (I believe you could turn right but there is a gate in the way). At this point you are on Morrison Rd. This is the place where you want to search for the LeConte's Sparrows. I usually drive very slowly along Morrison looking and listening and occasionally stopping to pish. If it isn't windy you should be able to find the LeConte's without much trouble. I would suggest proceeding down Morrison until you reach Pattison Rd. Turn north on Pattison and again you will be in the middle of excellent habitat for the sparrows. Continue north until you reach Hebert Road and turn left. You will find some hedge-rows here which are usually good for sparrows. This is the best place that I know of to find Harris's Sparrows. The other option which is closer to town would be Eldridge.

In monitoring the explosive expansion of Tropical Kingbird in south Texas I have found a near 100% habitat segregation between these two virtually identical species. Indeed, I find that looking at the habitat in which a given bird is found is a 95% accurate predictor of its identity when the bird vocalizes. Tropicals inhabit open areas with mostly shorter and especially more widely spaced trees and shrubs. There is usually a fresh water source within immediate area. Golf courses and similar terrain constitute typical Tropical Kingbird habitat. Couch's Kingbirds are found in areas with taller, and especially more closely spaced trees. The presence of surface water is not required, though some territories do have this feature. My guess is that this habitat segregation does not reflect preferred habitat as much as it reflects competition between two species whose niche is very similar. I suspect that the numerically dominant Couch's Kingbird forces Tropicals into somewhat marginal habitats.

In Port Aransas Texas, arriving from the ferry (from 2002):
Leave the ferry and turn right at the first intersection ( Circle K Store ) and you are now on the "Cutoff" Road. It is poorly marked with few street signs.
Go ~.3 mi on the cutoff road , and turn right just past the; old Paradise Motel. Drive down a new paved driveway to a small parking lot. The driveway will be bordered by a new fence next to the motel.
Park and follow the new sidewalk to arrive at the boardwalk which goes out over a willow covered swampy area. I believe the area is from runoff from the motel. Anyway, It is one of the few areas with real trees on Port Aransas and attracts the migrants. The new boardwalk has three large viewing areas with plenty of room. Photographers can get great close-ups ( with dark backgrounds ) of warblers, waterthrushes, etc.

From Feb 13th 2006: Tropical Kingbird - a pair at the extreme south tip of the Ft. Brown Golf Course in Brownsville. These birds wandered around on the course, but sang fairly often so they were easy to relocate. Gray-crowned Yellowthroat - 1 or 2 birds in the grassy margin between me and the Kingbirds. This spot is aobut 20 yards east of a Golf Course refuse dump (on the dirt road that circles the course).

From March 9th 2006: Red-crowned Parrots and Green Parakeets ahve been present the past several mornings at 7:30 AM at the corner of Oklahoma and 11th Street in Weslaco about four blocks west of Frontera Audubon Thicket. The Red-crowned Parrots leave early and sometimes are back about 6PM. The Green Parakeets fly over frequently during the day.

Yellow Rail (on the prairie) and King Rail at Anahuac NWR on March 8th 2006.

Red-crowned Parrot: In Brownsville, look for parrots in the general vicinity of Honeydale and Los Ebanos Streets; in Harlingen at the K-Mart near the intersection of Morgan and Grimes Streets; in McAllen on the east end of Dallas Ave (near Mockingbird St). Best times are at dawn and dusk Red-crowned Parrots at around 0700 in the neighborhood across 88 from Frontera Audubon, Weslaco and around the Valley Nature Center late in the day.

Green Parakeets at 10th/Dove or 10th/Violet in McAllen, a bit before 1700. Also Fort Brown in Brownsville.

The Thayer's Gull that was found on Nov. 10 was still on the beach near marker 96 between Port Aransas and Corpus Christi on Nov. 13 and 15. The bird is an adult.

California Gull on Bolivar flats on Nov 18-19th, also at Flour Bluffs south of Corpus Christi on Nov 21st.

11/19/06: The area at the end of Indian Beach Drive is quite birdy, with many Sedge, Marsh and House Wrens, Palm Warblers, several species of sparrows, kinglets and other interesting songbirds. (Indian Beach Drive is south of Galveston on the barrier island, on the right (north) just past Galveston Island State Park but before San Luis(?) pass.

On the Upper Texas Coast a RED PHALAROPE was found in Jefferson County on Saturday, November 18. The bird was still present 11/21. The bird was in a flooded field off of McDermond Road, which is off of FM 365. This is west of Fannett.

Santa Ana NWR: The Clay-colored Robin is being seen at the start of trail B and we had a Northern-beardless Tyrannulet near the new hawk tower.

11/22: the White-Collared Seedeaters have started to show themselves more. This morning at 0925 and when I left at 0933, there were a male and female in the Carrizo(cane) across from the observation platform and in the back towards the river, I could hear two more calling; but no visual. The males are not yet singing. 12/03 Laysan Albatros, Pt. Arena Medocino Co. Now showing. Yesterday I went to up to see if I could see the Laysan Albatross that has been occasionally reported at the Pt. Arena pier for several years. I arrived about 1:30 PM. On my way out to the pier there was quite a nice painting on plywood of my target nailed to the pier railing compete with the English and Latin names. I asked one of the fishermen if he knew about an albatross that hung out her. He said "Oh yeah, Al's here `Al' (sort for Albert or Alice is guess) I saw him over there over the there just a few minutes ago". This would be a lifer so my heart raced a bit as my hands raised my binoculars in search of the wayward bird. Not seeing him my feet moved me to the end of the pier and I scanned the water. Out about a hundred yards out, floating near a channel marker ball, Al sat on the water sleeping. He was about the same size as the ball. Huge. Black and white. Bobbing. Shortly, he pulled his pink bill out and shook his head, then flew to about 100 feet from the end of the pier. Clear day, looks were great. Near tears. I am always joyous and gratified to see pelagics from land, as my stomach has no guts for Pacific Ocean swells. So seeing this amazing bird beauty form a stable platform through my clear 60 power zoom Leica Televid was truly awesome. Al is an adult plumaged bird and has that Laysan gray eye shadow that made me think that I should be thinking of Al more as an Alice. One of the locals informed that Al is indeed quite regular. She has been arriving in November over the past several years and leaves in early April. She is quite tame and I saw her begging food from a couple in an orange sea kayak. The gal nudged her away with her paddle. The fishermen apparently toss her some fish regularly. Seems that the local birders know about her regularity, so they only post it occasionally to Mendobirds, as this is no big local deal. Al, it seems, is most regularly seen in the early morning and afternoon from the pier. Guess she goes fishing herself in between. The fisherman said he sees her most every day during her season. So all of this is to tell you, that if you would like to see a Laysan Albatross without taking a pelagic and having a much slimmer chance of seeing one, then Pt. Arena may be a good option for you. It is about a 3.5 hour drive north from San Francisco up US101, CA 138 and the Pt. Arena - Boonville winding road.

12/07 FYI, by word of mouth, the adult BROWN BOOBY is still present as of Thurs, 7 Dec on the south end of Flatiron Rock, Trinidad, Humboldt County, CA. Updates and details can be heard by calling 707-822-Loon.