A South Texas Adventure with Nature Trip - Texas bird watching trip report

A South Texas Adventure with Nature Trip - Texas bird watching trip report

A South Texas Adventure - Day 9

King Ranch

Kings Ranch Nature Tour
We’re very excited to include in the itinerary a full day of wildlife watching at the famous King Ranch. This historic (1853) and enormous (825,000 acres!) ranch hired its first conservationist manager in 1946 and has effectively operated large portions of the ranch as nature reserves ever since.

White-tailed Deer, Pronghorn and Bobcat are now common here and the ranch has recorded over 350 bird species including the largest nesting population of Ferruginous Pygmy Owl in the U.S.

This portion of the tour will be led by a King’s Ranch Birding Guide as we search for these and other tough to see species such as Tropical Parula, Audubon’s Oriole and Botteri’s Sparrow in the remote southern section of the ranch.

Our full day customized tour also includes lunch and beverages.

Note:Tour is scheduled to begin at 07:00 allowing us to fully enjoy this all-day adventure yet still have time to reach our evening’s destination in Corpus Christi.

Monday 24 ^th of April 2023 and we will meet in the reception at 6 thirty. My alarm goes off at 4 and I have tea and the avocados I bought yesterday for breakfast. I had the bread yesterday evening and I was full so I could not eat the avocados.

My bags were packed and I went to the reception at 6 twenty and the group were having their breakfast. Our Guide went to get the van and we brought out our luggage. And it was cold, well, a bit “nippy” but it will be OK when the sun is coming up.

Waiting for the van

The van is coming

Time to take off to the King Ranch

We arrive to the gate at King Ranch 10 minutes past 7 and we will wait for someone to come and open the gate. The King Ranch Guide come to open the gate and we enter the King Ranch and we drive for 10 minutes and we change the van as we will go with the King Ranch van.

King Ranch provide van and a Guide/ Driver and a picnic lunch for us. We drive to the HQ where they have restrooms. We have a short briefing and we will go south on the ranch and we will start by looking for the Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl.

Turkey Vulture

There is a Turkey Vulture flying over the HQ and I try to get a picture before we leave. We drive along the gravel road and we stop when we reach the Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl area and we get out of the van. Our Guide play the Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl sound on his blue tooth speaker and we can hear the owl replying.

There are many Nilgais on the ranch and I have seen more of them here on the ranch than I have ever seen in India. They have bought them from a zoo hundred years ago and this is the only “exotic” animal that they have had success with on the farm.

Here is a lot of deer as well as they have land that can be leased for hunting.

Nilgais crossing the road

The nilgai

The nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus) (/ˈnilˌɡaɪ/, literally meaning "blue cow") is the largest antelope of Asia, and is ubiquitous across the northern Indian subcontinent. It is the sole member of the genus Boselaphus, which was first described by Peter Simon Pallas in 1766. The nilgai stands 1–1.5 m at the shoulder; males weigh 109–288 kg, and the lighter females 100–213 kg.

A sturdy thin-legged antelope, the nilgai is characterised by a sloping back, a deep neck with a white patch on the throat, a short crest of hair along the neck terminating in a tuft, and white facial spots. A column of pendant coarse hair hangs from the dewlap ridge below the white patch.

Sexual dimorphism is prominent – while females and juveniles are orange to tawny, adult males have a bluish-grey coat. Only males possess horns, 15–24 cm long.

Looking for the owl

We see the Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl flying across the road mobbed by two Summer Tanagers. We keep an eye out for the owl that had disappeared behind the trees. But we are lucky and the bird is coming back and is sitting in a tree next to the road.

Covered in the foliage as it is windy and the leaves are blowing back and forth in front of the owl.

So, I had to try to take the pictures during the micro second the owl was in clear sight.

Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl

Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl

Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl

Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl

We walk around looking for the Tropical Parula and we have a couple of trees that are full of birds and I manage to get pictures of a female Tropical Parula. We tried to find the male but we gave up. I got a picture of the beautiful Black-throated Green Warbler.

We walked down through the pasture and the group spotted one more Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl while I was in the bushes looking for other birds. The only picture I got was of a female Hooded Oriole.

Tropical Parula

Black-throated Green Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler

Broad-winged Hawk

Hooded Oriole

We drive back to the HQ for the picnic lunch and we spot one Crested Caracara perching close to the road and we stop so I can get out to try to have a picture. I have time to shot from the hip before the bird took off.

But I was happy when I got back in to the van, I had a half decent picture of the Crested Caracara, a must have when you have visited Texas and the Mexico area.

Crested Caracara

Crested Caracara

Crested Caracara

We make two stops to try to get a picture of a sparrow and we get to see two of them on the second stop, but too far away for any pictures. We have a group of the pig looking animals crossing the road not long from where we are looking for the birds.

And again, I cannot remember the name of the animal but a quick search for “pig looking mammal in Texas” and I find out that the animal is called Javelinas.

Javelinas

Roaming around the western part of the state and the brush country of South Texas is a unique animal known as the javelina, or collared peccary. It has a piglike snout and a stout little body, but these characteristics are not enough to make it a member of the true pig family.

Looking for the sparrow

Javelinas crossing the road

eBird Report

King Ranch--Norias Division--Center/HQ area, Kenedy, Texas, US
Apr 24, 2023 07:30 - 11:59
Protocol: Traveling
39.43 kilometer(s)
Checklist Comments:   Before lunch birding
20 species

Wild Turkey 17
Mourning Dove 1
Greater Roadrunner 1
Franklin's Gull 7
American Black Vulture 2
Turkey Vulture 3
Broad-winged Hawk 3
Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl 1
Crested Caracara 3
Brown-crested Flycatcher 5
Eastern Kingbird 1
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 3
Barn Swallow 5
Hooded Oriole 3
Brown-headed Cowbird 3
Great-tailed Grackle 2
Tropical Parula 1
Black-throated Green Warbler 1
Summer Tanager 3
Scarlet Tanager 1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S134870576

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)

Today's track at the King Ranch - Before lunch

We drive for our lunch and the have a picnic table at the work force dwellings and our Guide from the King Ranch goes through the whole history of the king Ranch while pointing at a map every now and then.

I could not help but thinking that the history of the King Farm was the most important with the visit. And our Guide knew how to talk.

We left the picnic table and now we are going to drive towards west and we are driving through a huge oak forest. We have not given up on the male Tropical Parula and we make a few stops to see if we can see the bird.

Driving through the huge oak forest

Driving through the huge oak forest

Driving through the huge oak forest

Looking for birds

Looking for birds

We don't see many birds in the forest, we could hear some birds but not much happening with the birds. We pass two cattle gates and we park the car to have a walk around to give the male Tropical Parula another chance.

I am very pleasantly surprised when we see Dung Beetles. I and not only me thought that the Dung Beetles was to be found in Africa only.

Dung beetle

Dung beetle

Dung beetle

The dung beetle was much smaller than the African but it was the same thing going on. Male rolling the dung and the female jump on if she likes the ball and they take off to have babies.

And I still have my adventure with the dung beetles in Africa fresh in mind.

Dung beetle

Dung beetles are beetles that feed on feces. Some species of dung beetles can bury dung 250 times their own mass in one night.

Many dung beetles, known as rollers, roll dung into round balls, which are used as a food source or breeding chambers. Others, known as tunnelers, bury the dung wherever they find it. A third group, the dwellers, neither roll nor burrow: they simply live in dung.

They are often attracted by the feces collected by burrowing owls. There are dung beetle species of various colors and sizes, and some functional traits such as body mass (or biomass) and leg length can have high levels of variability.

All the species belong to the superfamily Scarabaeoidea, most of them to the subfamilies Scarabaeinae and Aphodiinae of the family Scarabaeidae (scarab beetles). As most species of Scarabaeinae feed exclusively on feces, that subfamily is often dubbed true dung beetles.

There are dung-feeding beetles which belong to other families, such as the Geotrupidae (the earth-boring dung beetle). The Scarabaeinae alone comprises more than 5,000 species.

The nocturnal African dung beetle Scarabaeus satyrus is one of the few known invertebrate animals that navigate and orient themselves using the Milky Way.

Two dung beetles busy on the dirt road

Here we can see that this dung beetle just started with his ball

Långfingrade Laban arrives to the scene and he tries to steal the shit ball

They are soon fighting

Långfingrade Laban gives up, but now they collide with another dung
beetle and Långfingrade Laban tries to steal the new shit ball

Here we go fighting again

Långfingrade Laban gives up and he leave the scene

Look at this guy, trying to get a CD shaped piece of shit in to a ball
THAT'S THE SPIRIT WE'RE LOOKING FOR!

Yes, the guy with the flat ball was rolling his “DISC” up and down the dirt track desperately trying to shape it in to a ball. If he fails, he will not get any female to get on board. He was really trying and I felt sorry for him.

My Guide told me not to intervene with nature
- What do you mean, like Bangkok freezing all over in 200 years?
I will take the chance and it is only one dung beetle. My Guide gave me a surgical glove and I jumped out of the car with a bottle of water. We need to get the shit a wee bit wet so we can form the ball.

Pouring some water over the dung

Pouring some water over the dung

Borrowing the dung

Making a prober ball for my new friend

Good enough?

I had to be quick as I felt sorry for my new friend desperately looking for his dung ball

He gets his dung ball land he is the happiest dung beetle in the world

He takes off with his new dung ball like he had fire in his ass

And I can see that he is happy with his new dung ball

Looking for birds

Looking for birds

I got to see both the male and female Tropical Parula but the pictures were very bad and they ended up in the trash bin.

Time passed quickly and it was time to get back to our van and to drive to Corpus Christi for the last night in Texas. We spotted some birds of prey on the way back and the most exciting was a red racoon but it turned around just as I was going to take a picture.

There were many wild turkeys and it seems to be breeding times as the males performed some kind of display, but no pictures. But it had been a nice day at the ranch and it had been interesting to see the area. But not more exciting than that I was happy to go back to the hotel.

eBird Report

King Ranch--Norias Division--Center/HQ area, Kenedy, Texas, US
Apr 24, 2023 13:01 - 15:33
Protocol: Traveling
31.13 kilometer(s)
Checklist Comments:   After lunch bird watching
11 species

Wild Turkey 15
Cattle Egret 25
Turkey Vulture 1
Harris's Hawk 2
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Crested Caracara 1
Brown-crested Flycatcher 2
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 2
Loggerhead Shrike 1
Great-tailed Grackle 1
Tropical Parula 1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S134901180

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)

Today's track at the King Ranch - After lunch

Group photo before we are leaving

The Guide from King Ranch follow us to the gate when we have swapped van and he open the gate. We also have a group photo and we are on the way to our last birding stop for this time in Texas. We will stop at the Sarita Rest Area to have a look for the Brewer's Blackbird.

It will be a quick stop and then it will be NON-STOP to the Hotel in Corpus Christi. It takes a little time before we spot the Brewer's Blackbird and it is only females there, but we got to see the Brewer's Blackbird.

Hooded Oriole

Brewer's Blackbird

eBird Report

Sarita Rest Area (US77)(LTC 003), Kenedy, Texas, US
Apr 24, 2023 16:28 - 16:48
Protocol: Traveling
0.52 kilometer(s)
Checklist Comments:   This stop was only to look for the Brewer's Blackbird
5 species

Collared Dove 1
Turkey Vulture 2
Hooded Oriole 1
Brown-headed Cowbird 2
Great-tailed Grackle 6

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S134901138

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)

From: eBird
Sent: Sunday, 14 May 2023 23:05
To: aladdin
Subject: Your Brewer's Blackbird observation in eBird

I am writing about the following observation:

Species: Brewer's Blackbird
Count: 2
Observation Date: Apr 24, 2023
Location: Sarita Rest Area (US77)(LTC 003), Kenedy, Texas, US
https://ebird.org/checklist/S134901138

The documentation you have provided shows a Hello - Your photo shows a female Brown-headed Cowbird, as evidenced by the chunky bill compared to a blackbird bill. Thanks!

Full speed towards Corpus Christi but we had to pass one boarder check point a little north of the Sarita Rest Area. They asked if we were all US citizen and they waved us on. We were hauling arse when we had to make a U-turn.

Our Guide had spotted a turtle trying to make it over the highway so we had to turn around to assist the turtle. We were happy to see that the turtle was OK when we returned.

The turtle is on the way to safety (I hope)

We reach the hotel around 18 thirty and we will go have dinner. So, we will meet at the reception at 19:15 and we will walk down to the restaurant in the marina. I usually don't join for dinner but as this is the last night I decided to join.

We walked down to the marina for a sea food restaurant, an old barge or something. they had steaks so I ordered a steak with tea. I have not been so lucky with the tea here in Texas, but they did their best, full disaster, but as I said, they did their best.

Last dinner

We walked back to the hotel and I will go have a look for birds along the marina tomorrow morning before changing clothes and showering in my room. We will leave for the airport at 10 thirty.

You just need to click HERE to find out if I see any birds in the marina and if I make it to my flight to Toronto.

eBird Trip Report

Since April 2023 eBird offer a new feature, to create Trip Reports. At least this is when I first heard of this feature and I have decided to make the eBird Trip Reports instead of my list of OBSERVED birds.

And of course, this also means that I will HAVE TO go back and do the same for my old birding adventures, WHEN I HAVE THE TIME!

Today's Trip Report: Southern Texas bird watching tour with Nature Trip - Day 9 | Click HERE

Download | PDF

Lifers
Icons for lifers used in the eBird trip reports

Species lifer:First time that someone observes a species in their life

Photo lifer:First time that someone photographs a species in their life

Audio lifer:First time that someone audio records a species in their life

Exotic species
Exotic species flags differentiate locally introduced species from native species.

Naturalized:Exotic population is self-sustaining, breeding in the wild, persisting for many years, and not maintained through ongoing releases (including vagrants from Naturalized populations). These count in official eBird totals and, where applicable, have been accepted by regional bird records committee(s).

Provisional:Either: 1)member of exotic population that is breeding in the wild, self-propagating, and has persisted for multiple years, but not yet Naturalized; 2)rarity of uncertain provenance, with natural vagrancy or captive provenance both considered plausible.

When applicable, eBird generally defers to bird records committees for records formally considered to be of "uncertain provenance". Provisional species count in official eBird totals.

Escapee:Exotic species known or suspected to be escaped or released, including those that have
bred but don't yet fulfill the criteria for Provisional. Escapee exotics do not count in official eBird totals.

Tweet

OK, it has come to my knowledge that we have senior citizens visiting my web page. How hard can it be? So it's not very easy for them to see the blue coloured links to the next page.

Jiffy (also jiff)

noun [in SING.] informal a moment: we'll be back in a jiffy.

ORIGIN late 18th cent.: of unknown origin.

So as you understand, in a jiff pretty much depends on your internet.

So I put a “Next” button here and I hope that there isn't any problem to understand how to use that one. So just CLICK the “Next” button on your left hand side and you will be on the next page in a jiff!

Marunong ka mag-tagalog? Walang problema! Magpunta sa kabilang pahina pindutin ang “NEXT” button sa itaas

Faites vous parlez le français? Pas de problème! Pour arriver à la page suivante faites s'il vous plaît un déclic le bouton “Next” ci-dessus!

Haga usted dice el español? No hay problema! Ver la siguiente página sólo hacer clic el botón “Next” encima!

Farla parla l'italiano? Non problemi! Per vedere la prossima pagina lo scatto per favore giusto Il bottone “Next” sopra

Sprechen sie Deutsch! Kein problem! Wenn Sie die folgende Seite sehen wollen gerade klicken der Knopf “Next” oben!

คุณพูดภาษาไทยได้ไหม ไม่มีปัญหา ถ้าคุณต้องการไปหน้าถัดไป ให้กดปุ่ม “Next” ข้างบนนี้

Вы говорите по-русски? Просто нажмите синюю кнопку "Next" с левой стороны и Вы моментально переместитесь на следующую страницу!

E ni Svenskar och inte förstår Engelska så ska ni skämmas. J och Björn, med det menar jag inte att alla mina stavfel ska ältas varje gång vi träffas.

Well, the flag of Skåne, just a BONUS flag.

You are visitor no.

To www.aladdin.st since December 2005

Visitors from different countries since 26th of September 2011

Mobilize your Site

View Site in Mobile | Classic