24 February 2017

Yesterday as we were driving to Caddo Lake State Park (Texas) for the night we saw a sign for a National Wildlife Refuge (NWR).  I had not seen one on the road map so I googled (I love Google) Texas NWRs and a map appeared with the names of all the NWRs in Texas, including the Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge.  Well that settled our plans for the morning –a visit to a newly discovered refuge.

The Caddo Lake is a 28,000-32,000-acre lake, depending upon the water levels.  It is the only naturally occurring lake in Texas, or so I read.  The refuge adjoins a small portion of the lake.  The Caddo Lake NWR was established in 1980, and is a portion of the former, approximately 8,500-acre, Longhorn Army Ammunition Plant.   The refuge has an auto tour route along miles of former military roads, along with hiking and biking trails.  While there are over 216 species of birds recorded in the refuge,  we only saw 22 and surprisingly none of them were waders (e.g., herons, egrets) or waterfowl.  The big surprise of the visit was the really friendly refuge staff.  Every time a refuge service vehicle passed they stopped to see if we were okay and if there was anything we needed.  Most times refuge staff in service vehicles simply pass us by.

In 1993, a portion of the Caddo Lake NWR and its wetlands became the 13th site in the United States designated as a Ramsar wetland – wetlands of International importance under the Ramsar Convention.  This is a big deal since there is strict criteria to become a Ramsar site.

This boardwalk/fishing pier is at Caddo Lake State Park

View from the pier

Refuge sign

Northern Flicker

Auto Tour Road

Caddo Lake

Maybe this is for people who are driving in the dark???

Cedar Waxwings

Remnants of the old ammunition buildings

Bird Species Seen or Heard at Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge:

  • Blue Jay
  • Killdeer
  • Tufted Titmouse
  • Eastern Phoebe
  • Northern Flicker
  • American Crow
  • Hermit Thrush
  • Northern Cardinal
  • American Robin
  • Mourning Dove
  • Carolina Chickadee
  • Ruby-crowned Kinglet
  • Orange-crowned Warbler
  • Pine Warbler
  • Red-bellied Woodpecker
  • Song Sparrow
  • Cedar Waxwing
  • Northern Mockingbird
  • Turkey Vulture
  • Eastern Bluebird
  • Brown-headed Nuthatch
  • Chipping Sparrow

After spending a couple of hours at the refuge in search of birds – oh I almost forgot, we also saw a mink – we spent the next four hours driving to our next campground – Bonham Lake State Park, near Dallas-Fort Worth.  This is a small, 21 site campground situated adjacent to the 65-acre Bonham Lake.  We got to the campground around 3:30 pm, and there were no other campers in the RV loop, and although people can make reservations it is essentially a first come, first serve campground.  That is, you can reserve your site type (tent or RV), but not a specific site.  Therefore, being first, we got to choose any site we wanted.  Sweet!!!.  We found a somewhat isolated, hopefully quiet site (turned out not to be so when a group of young boys and their fathers showed up later and camped next to us).

We set up camp then birded the area.  Right around the campground birds were busy feeding on bugs and berries.  We had eight different species just around our small campsite. The big surprise was a Brown Creeper.  We then walked about a half mile along the camp road birding as we went.  We were so intent on birds that we failed to see a bobcat along the road until it flushed.  Wow! a bobcat.  That was fun to see.  And to think, it was right beside the road when it bounded away from us.  Darn, I wish I had gotten a frontal view.  In all we had 19 different bird species – almost as good as at the refuge, and in a shorter period of time birding too.

When we got back to the campsite a male Cardinal had been and continued attacking our mirrors thinking it was chasing off a competitor.  We had to cover the mirrors least it destroyed them or itself.

Yellow-rumped Warblers …

… were numerous at the campground

Golden-crowned Kinglet – for once this bird wasn’t 30+ feet off the ground

Fox Squirrel

Northern Cardinal – who goes there?

Away with you, she’s mine

Killdeer

Bath time – American Robins

Bonham Lake

Bird Species Seen or Heard at Bonham Lake State Park

  • Yellow-rumped Warbler
  • Double-crested Cormorant
  • Canada Goose
  • American Coot
  • Pied-billed Grebe
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • Red-bellied Woodpecker
  • American Crow
  • Brown Creeper
  • American Robin
  • Blue Jay
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Golden-crowned Kinglet
  • Tufted Titmouse
  • Orange-crowned Warbler
  • Black Vulture
  • Turkey Vulture
  • Carolina Wren
  • Cedar Waxwing

25 February 2017

We left the campground early and headed to Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge.  This is a new refuge for us too.  The 11,320-acre refuge was established in 1946.  They have a nice, new visitor center overlooking a portion of the refuge, which includes a part of Lake Texoma.  The refuge offers a wildlife drive (4-miles round trip) and a number of hiking trails.  We took a portion of the Haller’s Heaven Nature Trail, beginning in the Goode Day Use Area.

We saw a total of 44 different bird species (not bad, not bad at all), including a FOY (first of year ) – Harris’s Sparrow.  I was thrilled to see this bird as I have not seen it in over ten years.  Woohoo!!!

The refuge sign was behind a barbed wire fence, which I chose not to cross

Great Blue Heron

Snow Goose, including several dark morphs

Eastern Meadowlark

The Haller’s Heaven Nature Trail

There was actually a picnic table here

Not a problem for us. Sometimes I think people could walk faster than we drive when we are out searching for, and looking at, birds.

Nice sign in front of the visitor center

Bird Species Seen or Heard at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge:

  • Eastern Bluebird
  • American Robin
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Eurasian Collared Dove
  • Eastern Meadowlark
  • Killdeer
  • Northern Cardinal
  • American Crow
  • Forester’s Tern
  • Turkey Vulture
  • Black Vulture
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Double-crested Cormorant
  • Gadwall
  • Greater Yellowleg
  • Savannah Sparrow
  • Snow Goose
  • Northern Shoveler
  • Blue-winged Teal
  • American Coot
  • Northern Pintail
  • Green-winged Teal
  • American Wigeon
  • Bufflehead
  • Northern Harrier
  • Long-billed Dowitcher
  • Mallard
  • Belted Kingfisher
  • Eastern Phoebe
  • Carolina Chickadee
  • Yellow-rumped Warbler
  • Loggerhead Shrike
  • Field Sparrow
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • Tufted Titmouse
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • Blue Jay
  • Carolina Wren
  • Lincoln Sparrow
  • Northern Mockingbird
  • Pied-billed Grebe
  • Harris’s Sparrow
  • Chipping Sparrow
  • American White Pelican

After spending a couple of hours touring the refuge it was time to head to the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma, which meant driving almost 200 miles.  Along the way we saw a lot of dead animals along the road shoulders –mostly skunks.  Must be mating time or raging hormones as we’ve seen a lot of dead roadside skunks.  Each time I tell Jack another animal committed suicide.  I’m sure many of these poor animals (skunks, opossum, armadillo, and raccoons) are killed at night.

We got to the refuge around 3:30 pm, got a campsite in the Doris campground (Yes!!!  This refuge has a good sized campground – two in fact).  After securing our camp site we visited the Visitor Center.  They have a very nice interpretive display of life on the plains.  This refuge is known for its Bison and Longhorns (cattle).  While we didn’t see either, we do hope to see both tomorrow.  The plan is to spend two nights here before heading back to Texas.

With less than two hours of afternoon birding, including the campground, we managed to see 22 different species.  In the campground there were four Wild Turkey feeding.  Several Tufted Titmouse serenaded us at dinner time.  For such a small bird they have such clear, strong voices.

The Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge was established in 1901 and consists of 59,020-acres for the preservation of a remnant mixed grass prairie.  This was another new refuge for us.

Refuge sign

Lots of Savannah Sparrows

And this Vesper Sparrow

The refuge contains a number of impoundments with dams of various sizes

Love the colors on this Wild Turkey

Why did the turkey cross the road?

Why not.

Bird Species Seen or Heard at Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge:

  • Red-tailed Hawk
  • Northern Harrier
  • American Kestrel
  • American Crow
  • Wild Turkey
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • Eastern Bluebird
  • Northern Mockingbird
  • Canada Goose
  • Redhead
  • Ring-necked Duck
  • Savannah Sparrow
  • Vesper Sparrow
  • Chipping Sparrow
  • Hermit Thrush
  • Killdeer
  • Sandhill Crane (flying overhead)
  • Eastern Meadowlark
  • Yellow-rumped Warbler
  • Northern Flicker
  • Tufted Titmouse
  • Mourning Dove

26 February 2017

Woke up to Wild Turkeys – 25 of them – walking through our campground loop.  Many of them were Tom (male) turkeys, displaying and showing off.  Fun to watch and listen (Gobble, Gobble, Gobble).   Three came right up to the table where Jack was boiling water for his coffee.  Probably looking for a handout – not from us.  Then shortly thereafter along came five deer.  They must be fed by humans too because they were very tame.

Got an early start on checking out the refuge.  We drove to the western entrance and then made our way back, searching for Bison and Longhorn.  On the way out we saw plenty of Bison, but no Longhorns.  On the way back as we got closer to our campground and the Visitor Center we began to see lots of Longhorns, with some even crossing the road in front of cars.  They know who has the right-of-way.

There are also several “Prairie Dog Towns” within the refuge.  We stopped to check out the cute little critters as they perch alert on their mounds.  When they run they remind me of a friend’s dog when it runs- a scamper.

We did a 2.0-mile hike (Kite Trail – none seen, human kind or birds) – out and back in rocky terrain (from Lost Lake Picnic Area to Boulder Picnic Area).  I did have one small tumble when I wasn’t paying attention to the trail and my foot caught on a rock.  Luckily I didn’t damage my binoculars (most important) or injury myself (at least not too bad – a scraped hand and bruised backside).  Since it is a Sunday there were a lot of people out enjoying the trails and the refuge – mostly people from Oklahoma, which makes sense since that is where the refuge is located.  The refuge iabout 15 miles from Lawton, Oklahoma – a good size military town.

At one point along the trail we had a large mixed flock of sparrows: Field, Chipping, Song, Vesper, Harris’s, and a Spotted Towhee or two.  Great to see so many different sparrows at one time, makes for good comparisons.

After our hike we checked out a couple of small lakes on the refuge looking for waterfowl or wading birds.  Most lakes were barren of birds.  I guess they are on their way north.  Speaking of which, while on the hike we had about eight various sized flocks of Sandhill Cranes heading north.  These are most likely the Sandhill Cranes headed for the Platte River before the final migration into northern Alaska and Siberia.  Imagine flying all the way from Texas to Northern Alaska or Siberia and back each year.  What an amazing journey.

We got back to the campground around 4:00 and our loop was empty.  We thought we would check out some of the other loops to see how many people are here for the night – not many – and what sites we liked (for future reference).  Once that was done we drove back to our loop only to find a car from Texas that had backed into the site and a man rifling through our stuff – things we had set out so people would know our campsite was occupied.  He was lifting the 20 lb. propane tank we keep in a crate.  When we confronted him he claimed he thought the items had been abandoned.   I was spitting mad at this idiot.  I don’t care if the items had been left behind – no one in their right mind would abandon these items – taking them is theft.  I’m still mad as I write this blog.  Oh, and all the time his wife was sitting in the car smiling.  I did write down their license plate number.  I should have gotten my phone out and taken a photo of him.  I reported him and his actions to the refuge manager.

The day had started out windy and overcast, but by afternoon the sun showed itself and the wind died down.  Despite the Texas idiot, we had a good day.  We also had a good showing of birds – 44 species in all with only 5 of them waterfowl.  And 22 species we didn’t see yesterday on the refuge.

A “Look at Me” Tom Turkey

Several Wild Turkeys strutting their stuff

These three Wild Turkey were in an adjoining campground site

This deer stared at me for the longest time. Sorry no food for you.

Bison

Eastern Meadowlarks were everywhere

This one singing its heart out

Luckily we didn’t see any prairie dogs crossing the road or dead along side the road

Another signing Eastern Meadowlark.  Its beak looks so long.

Ah, the Red-headed Woodpecker – amply named

The Red-headed Woodpecker wondering if we had left yet – that big white, imposing thing on the side of the road (our van)

Field Sparrow

More Prairie Dogs

Harris’s Sparrow

Rufous-crowned Sparrow

Trail

Longhorn cattle

And more Wild Turkeys when we got back to our campground site

Bird Species Seen or Heard at Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge:

  • Wild Turkey
  • Tufted Titmouse
  • Caroline Chickadee
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • American Crow
  • Eastern Meadowlark
  • Canada Goose
  • Red-bellied Woodpecker
  • Northern Harrier
  • Red-tailed Hawk
  • Northern Flicker
  • Killdeer
  • Savannah Sparrow
  • Cedar Waxwing
  • Eastern Phoebe
  • Mourning Dove
  • Northern Mockingbird
  • Red-headed Woodpecker
  • Blue Jay
  • Chipping Sparrow
  • Harris’s Sparrow
  • Field Sparrow
  • Rufous-crowned Sparrow
  • Spotted Towhee
  • Eastern Bluebird
  • Vesper Sparrow
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Gadwall
  • Bewick’s Wren
  • Pied-billed Grebe
  • American Kestrel
  • Sandhill Crane
  • Song Sparrow
  • Ruby-crowned Kinglet
  • Belted Kingfisher
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • Mallard
  • Double-crested Cormorant
  • American Wigeon
  • Red-shouldered Hawk
  • Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
  • White-breasted Nuthatch

27 February 2017

This morning we woke up in a fog – literally.  We decided to go in to Lawton for breakfast (Jimmy’s Egg – good food and lots of choices) and we needed to buy a new camp stove.  We had trouble lighting our existing stove, or at least keeping the flow of propane going to the burners – a leak.  We also needed to restock on groceries.

After Lawton we headed back to Texas and Caprock Canyon State Park.  We intend to stay here one night, although once we got here we found a really nice state park with lots of trails.  Lots of wildlife in the park.  As we were driving to the campground I noticed a coyote coming out of the campground and crossing the road behind us.  The coyote didn’t seem to have a care in the world.  Not cautious like other coyotes we’ve seen on our trip.  Next to the campground is a Black-tailed Prairie Dog community.  Its town is next to the camp restroom/shower building.

Once we were settled at our campsite, we headed out for a short hike on the Canyon Overlook trail and boy did we see some great views of the canyon’s red rocks.  Beautiful.  Coming back to the campground we noticed a Bison grazing near the campground bathroom (and Prairie Dog Community).  The Bison have free range in the park and can often be found wandering through the campgrounds.  This lone Bison bull was content to remain at the prairie dog town.  In addition to the Bison, Coyote, and Black-tailed Prairie Dogs, we also saw a Mule Deer.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a high wind day (25-35 mph, with gusts to 65 mph), which will start about 11:00 am.  We will do a short hike in the morning and then head to our next campground – Palo Duro State Park near Amarillo, Texas.  This state park is supposed to be the number one rated state park in Texas.   We will also drive the rest of the Caprock Canyon State Park roads and see the remaining portions of the canyon visible to park users.

As far as birds go, we did see 9 species in the park, including a flock of Mountain Bluebirds, despite the high winds.  With the sun shining on the males’ blue backs, the Mountain Bluebirds are spectacular.  The Mountain Bluebirds and Cedar Waxwings were having a difficult time flying into the wind.  On the trail we did flush a number of Scaled Quail.

Not all red-rock canyon – an overgrazed plateau

Bird Species Seen or Heard at Caprock Canyon State Park:

  • American Crow
  • Eurasian Collared Dove
  • Scaled Quail
  • Northern Flicker
  • Mountain Bluebird
  • Cedar Waxwing
  • White-crowned Sparrow
  • Northern Mockingbird
  • Northern Cardinal

28 February 2107

After lots of dead ones, I encountered my first “live” striped skunk.  Saw the skunk walking across the campground road headed towards an RV with a small dog tied up outside.  Luckily the dog didn’t see the skunk and the skunk took a left hand turn to avoid the dog.  The Bison was still in the campground area making it difficult to get to the restrooms without a detour around the beast.  Not many birds around, although a few more were observed than yesterday.  Maybe they are hiding in the vegetation to escape the winds.  Luckily the wind is warm – makes the hike more pleasurable.

Despite waking up to overcast skies and winds (15+ mph) we braved the Canyon Loop Trail and hiked 2.64-miles round-trip.  The trail was actually quite nice – essentially a two lane road.  This is a really beautiful park.  We probably should have stayed here another night as when we got to our next state park – Palo Duro – we were a little disappointed.  Scenic yes, but not as beautiful, to us, as Caprock Canyon State Park.  The Hackberry campground host at Palo Duro said the two park canyons are connected – same canyon system.

The “restroom” Bison

The trail we hiked

The canyon contain “Satin Spar Gypsum”

Rock Wren

One of two Greater Roadrunners we saw near the campground

Bird Species Seen or Heard at Caprock Canyon State Park:

  • Tufted Titmouse
  • Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
  • Eurasian Collared Dove
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Red-tailed Hawk
  • Rock Wren
  • American Kestrel
  • American Robin
  • Tree Swallow
  • Northern Mockingbird
  • Mountain Bluebird
  • Greater Roadrunner
  • Western Meadowlark
  • Scaled Quail
  • American Coot
  • Scaup Sp.
  • Pied-billed Grebe
  • Cedar Waxwing
  • Belted Kingfisher

We left Caprock Canyon around 11:30 am and made our way (all of about 80 miles) to Palo Duro State Park, arriving around 1:00 pm.  We plan to stay at this park two nights.

The winds have picked up with gusts exceeding 30 mph, so no trail hiking today (although we saw a fair number of cars parked at trailheads).  We drove the park roads and checked out the other campgrounds, walked our campground loop, and just hung out at our campsite.  Even fewer bird species seen or heard here than at Caprock Canyon State Park.

Due to high winds and low humidity, there is a burn ban in effect.  This includes propane fires so we can’t use our new camp stove.  Really???  I’m not sure how the use of a propane stove on a metal picnic table would cause a fire.  So what to do.  No hot meals unless we eat out in a neighboring town.  There is a store that sells burgers, etc., but it closes at 4:00 pm on weekdays.  Luckily the towns of Canyon or Amarillo aren’t too far away.  Tomorrow we hope to visit a nearby wildlife refuge – Buffalo Lake National Wildlife Refuge.

Bird Species Seen or Heard at Palo Duro State Park:

  • Golden-fronted Flicker
  • Wild Turkey (ten showed up at our campsite hoping for a handout)
  • Eastern Bluebird
  • Northern Harrier
  • American Robin
  • Cedar Waxwing
  • Dark-eyed Junco

1 March 2017

Brrrrrrrrrr. What a cold morning – around 28 degrees F.  outside.  We packed up quickly and made our way to Canyon, Texas so Jack could get his coffee at McDonalds.  He loves the Senior Coffee deal.  He’s gotten it for as low as 39 cents.

The 7,664-acre Buffalo Lake National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1958 and has one of the largest remaining short-grass prairie ecosystems in the United States. We saw a lot of prairie, but we didn’t see a lake.  Why?  Because the lake was essentially drained in the early 1990s to prevent the deposition of organic feedlot contaminants from upstream.   However, there is a seasonal marsh that provides habitat for migratory birds.  There wasn’t much water left in the marsh when we visited, and was being used only by a few Gadwalls.

The dominant bird species observed on the refuge was the Western Meadowlark – they were very abundant.  There were also a lot of American Kestrels.  In one tree we saw an American Kestrel and three Western Meadowlark.  I guess the old adage “keep your friends close and your enemies closer” is true with birds too.  You often see predator and prey birds in the same tree.

After taking the auto tour route, we did a short hike, but didn’t see much in the way of birds – only two Northern Flickers and a Ladder-backed Woodpecker.  In all, only 20 species were observed during our 4-hour visit to the refuge.  This was our first visit to the refuge, so another new refuge to add to our “refuge” life list.  When looking at the bird species checklist the best times to visit – to see the maximum number of birds – is during spring or fall migration.

Refuge sign – notice the down coat. It was still cold outside when we got here.

Western Meadowlark

Eurasian Collared Dove

This was a water hole for wildlife. A nearby windmill generated the water for this watering hole.

There were a number of different signs similar to this one. One was a turtle, another a snake.

Paved path to viewing platform

Viewing platform

View of the seasonal marsh from the viewing platform

Savannah Sparrow

Hiking trail

Bird Species Seen or Heard at Buffalo Lake National Wildlife Refuge:

  • Eurasian Collared Dove
  • Western Meadowlark
  • Red-tailed Hawk
  • American Kestrel
  • European Starling
  • American Robin
  • Mourning Dove
  • Scaled Quail
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • Eastern Bluebird
  • Northern Harrier
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Savannah Sparrow
  • White-crowned Sparrow
  • Ring-necked Pheasant
  • Northern Flicker
  • Ladder-backed Woodpecker

After our visit to the refuge we stopped in Canyon as Jack wanted to visit the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum.  While he spent an hour in the museum, I checked emails and googled a couple of state parks in New Mexico.  Tomorrow we head further west and leave the great “Birding” state of Texas behind.

Once back at Palo Duro State Park we relaxed for a couple of hours, enjoying the warm sunshine.  The campgrounds sit in the canyon and so the winds aren’t as strong as up top.

While at the refuge, there was an interpretive sign and at the bottom it said “Nothing comes easily on the high plains -except the wind”.  We can attest to that.

Black-crested Titmouse

Bird Species Seen or Heard in Palo Duro State Park:

  • Greater Roadrunner (right next to our campsite)
  • White-winged Dove
  • Hermit’s Thrush
  • Black-crested Titmouse
  • Golden-fronted Woodpecker
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Spotted Towhee
  • Brown Thrasher
  • White-throated Sparrow

I did see two White-winged Doves mating.  Afterwards they sat on the tree branch side-by-side and proceeded to beat each other with their wing. The bird on the left would slap the other bird with its right wing, while the bird on the right would slap the other bird with its left wing.  This went on simultaneously for about 10 seconds.  Almost reminded me of a Three Stooges skit.

Tomorrow we head back to New Mexico…

It’s Always a Great Day to Bird