Earlier this month (13th Sept) we kicked off the first of our Fall club birding trips with a field trip to the home of Ward and Denise Turner who kindly hosted us on their property in Grimes County. Situated close to Camp Allen, the property has a nice mix of woodland and prairie habitats. It includes a small creek and an area of bottom land with a pond. We started the morning birding around their yard before splitting into two groups one of which trekked around the property and the other which watched the bird feeders and took advantage of their high balcony which overlooks the tree canopy.
My group headed into the woods and by the time we left their yard had already racked up close to 20 species. Early highlights included a flyover Baltimore oriole, Ruby-throated hummingbirds, a distant heard only Pileated woodpecker, and multiple heard only White-eyed vireo! A Red-shouldered hawk and fly over Indigo bunting tested our ear-birding skills and almost as soon as we entered one of the trails leaving the parking area, we ran into our first group of fall migrants. This small group of birds contained our first of many Blue-gray gnatcatcher, as well as a Yellow-breasted chat, a Yellow warbler, and a Black-throated green warbler. Other resident birds including Carolina chickadee and Tufted titmouse tagged along with the group and afforded nice views. Further down the trail we negotiated a small creek and ran into a pair of Great-crested flycatcher one of which was uncharacteristically perched low in the understory. Reaching the edge of the woodland we spotted Western kingbird and almost immediately upon entering the grassland adjacent to the woods, we came across a Least flycatcher perched up on the barbed wire. As the landscape opened up before us, many of the group switched to butterflying mode and worked on plant ID, and we enjoyed the pleasant downhill stroll to the pond. Here we were met with a Great blue heron, a distant Great egret, and our first kettling vultures. The moon was visible and became a useful marker for trying to identify distant swallows flying at high elevation. A small group of migrating kingbirds were a real highlight at this location and below them on the same snag an Olive-sided flycatcher was the highlight of the trip for many. Heading back into the woods we failed to find the resident Barred-owl but were greeted with great views of a young Red-bellied woodpecker. All too soon it was time to return to the house as the day began to heat up. The Turners had very generously provided snacks for us which we enjoyed in the shade as we discussed our favorite moments from the morning. We were extremely grateful to them for their very kind hospitality and look forward to visiting them at their wonderful property again soon
Mark
Birds seen or heard by my group (29 species)
- Mourning Dove (7)
- Ruby-throated Hummingbird (5)
- Great Egret (1)
- Great Blue Heron (1)
- Black Vulture (1)
- Turkey Vulture (2)
- Red-shouldered Hawk (1)
- Red-bellied Woodpecker (3)
- Downy Woodpecker (2)
- Piliated Woodpecker (1, heard only)
- Olive-sided Flycatcher (1)
- Least Flycatcher (1)
- Great Crested Flycatcher (3)
- Western Kingbird (1)
- Eastern Kingbird (3)
- White-eyed Vireo (12)
- American Crow (4)
- Tufted Titmouse (4)
- Cliff Swallow (1)
- Swallow sp. (3)
- Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (8)
- Carolina Wren (5)
- Eastern Bluebird (3)
- Yellow-breasted Chat (1)
- Baltimore Oriole (1)
- Yellow Warbler (1)
- Black-throated Green Warbler (1)
- Northern Cardinal (5)
- Indigo Bunting (1, flyover, heard only)
- Dickcissel (1, flyover, heard only)