Hagerman

[Perry]

I'm heading up to Hagerman tomorrow to work on my year list and see if I can find the Scoter and Northern Shrike. Does anyone know of some nice spots to find LeConte's Sparrow up there? I'm going to be wearing waders and rain gear to tromp through raining fields.

Perry

[lei]

Good luck, and let me know if you see any Pileated Woodpecker there. :)

[Connie Sandlin]

The WW Scoter and Northern Shrike were seen again today by the TOS field trp group.

[riecket13]

Perry, I've been sick at home in Dallas and i don't check this forum that often, sorry I missed your post. If ANYONE is going up to Hagerman and would like a local guide, call me at 214 384 8085, i don't have a car, so catchin rides with people is pretty much the only way i can get out, ask betsy about that :), anyway, i'm a student at Austin College, it's about five minutes out of the way to grab me, but i'll probably save you five from not getting lost on the backroads, and perry if this helps, they've been seen in two places reliably (five or more birds in both locations), one is the Goode Area, not the field near the picnic area but in the second field on the right on the road to the picnic area, there should be a gap or low spot in the fence, walk in, take a right and stay relatively close to the fence in the tall grass with scattered dead trees and brush. Also in the area off of Q pad, drive out on Q pad till you reach a point where you can leave the dike to the right and walk out into the field without getting soaked, you will have to walk through a large area of dead cattails and then you will enter an extremely brushy, grassy area. Walk back and forth through it, especially in areas with mini-topographical changes, make sure you park in an area were you will not block the road on Q pad.

[riecket13]

and lei, pileated woodpecker is easiest along Meadow Pond Road. Take the road down about 1/4 mile, turn into the woods at the Yellow "pipeline" sign there is an old pipeline cut that goes all the way to the creek. Listen for PIWO as you walk, there are also quite a few other interesting woodland residents in this area, it is one of the largest contiguous tracts of bottomland hardwood in the region. about 700 acres. Those of you who get lost easily might want to take a compass, but if you go in the morning head towards the sun to get back to where you started. or take a right when you run into the creek with water in it. and just follow the creek back up the road. Just don't cross any roads or fairly large water bodies and you should be all right

[Perry]

Thomas,
I may take you up on it, if I can find a free Saturday or Sunday. I'm after 360 birds this year, so I'm working on any and all birds in the area during January that I have not already found. If I can swing it, I would love to trade favors. I'd pick you up for a morning of birding for helping pick of some year birds at Hagerman. Target Birds:

Greater White-front
Wood Duck
Greater Scaup
Common Merganser
Eared Grebe
Black Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Wilson's Snipe
Herring Gull
Red-headed Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Pileated Woodpecker
Northern Shrike (of particular interest)
Bewick's Wren
Winter Wren
Sedge Wren (of particular interest)
Marsh Wren
Chipping Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Le Conte's Sparrow (of particular interest)
Lapland Longspur
Western Meadowlark
Rusty Blackbird (of particular interest)

I'll try to touch base this week or next if I can carve some time.

[lei]

Thomas, thanks for the reply. I went to the place you mentioned last spring and I saw one PW. Just haven't seen any since then.

Perry, I saw a couple of winter wrens near the tower yesterday (Monday).

[riecket13]

perry, just out of curiosity do you mean 360 for the state or for NCTX?

[Perry]

360 in the full ABA area. I'm a birder with kids and the life style that goes with it. While you don't have a car to go where you want, I have a car but am tied to raising kids. For the past six years I usually find 280ish in a year. In 2005, I hit a high of 327 for myself. This year I am setting a goal to reach 360. I know to do that, I have to get every bird possible in the area. I will be making a trip to High Island for the first time in five years this spring. That will go a long ways towards my goals.

Do you think morning or afternoon would be best? Sometimes in this cold, it's better mid-morning to early afternoon when things warm up.

Lei,
Thanks for the heads up. I haven't been going to Arbor because there isn't much there that will increase my list right now. I'll have to try to find those Winter Wrens. I'm also hoping to make a few evening visits to find Screech Owls when it warms up.

[lei]

Perry, I stared at the Winter Wrens through my viewfinder for several seconds. I didn't take any shot because there were always some twigs blocking part of the birds.

Last year I was lucky enough to see both Eastern and Western Screech Owls in someone's backyard in Ft Worth. Not sure I can do the samething this year.

[riecket13]

morning works best unless its an extremely cold day, then i usually give it a little time, more for myself than for the birds, they're always up early

[dihoekstra]

Hey Perry, do you remember what birds you saw on this trip to Hagerman?

[Perry]

I do. I had 61 species. I missed the Northern Shrike, which was a target bird. Here are the highlights:

Wild Turkey
Ruddy Duck
Snow Goose
Ross's Goose
Gadwall
Wigeon
Mallard
Shovler
Pintail
GW Teal
Canvasback
Ring-necked Duck
White-wing Scoter
Eur Col Dove
Lesser Yellowlegs
Harrier
Red-shouldered Hawk
Kestrel
PB Grebe
Eastern Phoebe
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Golden-crowned Kinglet
American Pipit
Goldfinch
Sparrows:
Fox
Song
Lincoln's
Swamp
Harris's
White-throated
White-crowned
Junco
Savannah
Field
YR Warbler