With my next monthly trip to Houston I had yet
another opportunity to try to check off a couple more birds for my TX state
list. As with previous trips I would be
short on free time so my search distance would be limited. As usual there didn’t appear to be any
possible statebirds in Harris County which surrounds Houston. So I expanded my review of the eBird Needs
Alert reports to include Galveston County to the south, but there were no possibilities
there either.
Then my search focused on Henslow’s Sparrow
– a species I added to my Louisiana list earlier that month and a bird I still needed
in TX. There were a couple recent
reports about 90 minutes to the northeast in the Big Thicket in Hardin County. A bit far away, but possible on my last
evening in the area given that my hotel that night would be on the north side
of the city close to the airport. So
that was one target to aim for at the end of my trip. As I continued my research I noticed that several
of the checklists with Henslow’s also had Red-cockaded Woodpeckers. I haven’t seen Red-cockaded anywhere in a
number of years, and hadn’t even thought about that species as a possible
target in TX. It had been many years since
I had birded its habitat in the “piney woods” of east TX and had no idea if I
had this endangered species on my TX list.
With a quick search of my lists I realized Red-cockaded was indeed a
bird I still needed in TX. Unfortunately
the locations with both Henslow’s and Red-cockaded were too far away for this
trip, so going to one spot for both was out of the question.
So next I modified my search to just look
for Red-cockaded and amazingly found recent reports just 30 minutes north of Houston’s
Bush (IAH) Airport. The location was
W.G. Jones State Forest, and there were actually quite a number of reports in
the area going back several years. (How
did I overlook this on all my many Houston trips?) With some research on the Forest’s Facebook
page I found that the area was being managed for the woodpecker, and there were
several colonies successfully breeding there.
Recent sightings were especially focused on the area north of SR1488 close
to the State Forest headquarters. And although
specific locations were absent on most sightings (not atypical for eBird), one
sighting mentioned up to 2 pairs along the northern edge of the forest. And another older sighting from last fall
mentioned the intersection of the main trail and the Lookout Trail. I felt like I had enough to go on, even
though I was partially relying on a 5-month old sighting. Given the short distance from the airport I
would still have enough time to make a quick 1 to 1 ½ hour stop there right
after I arrived at IAH before heading to my meetings on the first day.
My plans were set – a try for the
Red-cockaded Woodpecker the day arrived in Houston, and an attempt for Henslow’s
Sparrows the evening before I left.
My flight to IAH was right on time, the
weather was good, and after my short drive to W. G. Jones State Forest I was ready
for my woodpecker search. I parked at
the Forest headquarters and went inside to ask for more specific
directions. They mentioned one spot
where birds nested last summer, which was just a couple hundred yards from the
area I was heading to, so it looked like my researched location was accurate. Five minutes later I was on the main trail and
quickly found the marked trees where the Red-cockaded’s nested last year. But February was too early for them to be
starting their 2017 nesting activities, and there were no birds at this
spot. Then I walked north up the main
trail and found several trees where the state forest had installed nest holes
for the woodpeckers, but again no activity.
The habitat in the area seemed excellent, with the pine forest filled
with Pine Warbler songs and Brown-headed Nuthatch calls. So it looked like I would have to run into birds
foraging somewhere in the pines rather than near potential nest sites.
I continued walking slowly north on the
main trail toward the locations mentioned in the eBird posts. Soon I passed by a sign for the Red-cockaded
Woodpecker Trail heading off to the west – hmmm, that one sounded like it had
potential. But I passed it by in favor
of the eBird locations. Next I reached
the intersection with the Lookout Trail, and heard distant Red-bellied and
Downy Woodpeckers, but not my target.
Then I made a loop near the northern edge of the park, but again came up
empty.
Now I was back at the Lookout Trail, and decided
to head west for a brief attempt in that area.
I was now running out of time but I wasn’t too disappointed that today’s
search was likeIy to be unsuccessful. After
all, now that I was familiar with this area, and since these birds are present
year-round, I could come back to this spot in just a couple months during
nesting season and most probably find them rather quickly. Not a minute after I resigned myself to
coming up empty on this trip I heard a couple faint calls in the distance that
sounded a bit like the “skeet” calls of my target bird. Or was I just trying too hard? Luckily the calls continued, and as I neared
the bird I could now clearly hear the calls of a Red-cockaded Woodpecker. Success!
It was at that point that I noticed I was right at the west end of the
Red-cockaded Woodpecker Trail – looks like the State Forest folks were telling
me where to look all along.
Although my time was up and I needed to
head back to the car, I really wanted to see this bird. So I kept getting closer to the calling bird,
and finally saw it fly into a nearby tree.
I spent about 5 minutes getting excellent views as it foraged from tree
to tree. Though I didn’t have a camera,
at least I was able to get this recording of the Red-cockaded’s call notes posted on my Flickr page -
https://www.flickr.com/photos/84823168@N07/32666694324/in/dateposted-public/
The Red-cockaded Woodpecker was #435 for my
TX list, and my 6th state for this endangered species. Though my statebird map below shows I still
need it in a few southeastern states within its range.
But the birding part of my trip wasn’t over – I still planned a try for Henslow’s Sparrow on my last evening in the area. My meetings that day finished on time and I made the late afternoon drive to the north east to the Big Thicket. There were quite detailed directions for these birds in a wet field just east of the headquarters. And fresh off my successful search for this species in Louisiana, I was pretty optimistic. Unfortunately it was not to be – despite close to 2 hours of walking through nice habitat I found only 1 sparrow, which with just a quick look I was 98% sure was just a Swamp Sparrow. I ran into numerous Sedge Wrens, but couldn’t flush up a Henslow’s. But now that I know about this potential target I’m hopeful I can give it another try on a future Houston trip – though likely not until next winter.
And now a post script –
In researching both the Henslow’s Sparrow and
the Red-cockaded Woodpecker, I found nearby locations for 2 other possible TX statebirds
– Bachman’s Sparrow and Swainson’s Warbler.
All 4 are birds of the TX piney woods - looks like I've needed to do more birding in that region for some time. And something to look forward to on an upcoming spring trip to Houston.
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