A male Golden-cheeked Warbler pauses briefly in the Edwards Plateau near Concan. Photo: Rich Hoyer
The oaks and limestone hills of the Edwards Plateau form a cool, green boundary between east and west Texas. Here amidst a profusion of spring wildflowers and a varied array of eastern and western birds, we’ll look especially for the region’s two special summer residents, Golden-cheeked Warbler and Black-capped Vireo.
After two full days on the Edwards Plateau we’ll travel west to Big Bend National Park and the Davis Mountains where tall mountains rise out of the arid west Texas plains. In this scenic region birds from Mexico and the Rocky Mountains converge and include some highly sought-after species such as Lucifer Hummingbird and Colima Warbler.
This tour can be taken in conjunction with our tour, Upper Texas Coast in Spring.
Day 1: The trip begins at 4 p.m. at San Antonio International Airport. Night in Kerrville.
Days 2-3: Concan lies in the heart of the limestone hills of the Edwards Plateau. Here we’ll search particularly for the two most celebrated plateau residents, Black-capped Vireo and Golden-cheeked Warbler. The region provides delightful east-west contrasts as, for example, when one stands along a cypress-fringed stream listening to Eastern Wood Pewee and Great-crested Flycatchers, Carolina Wren and Yellow-throated Vireo, their voices mingling with those of Ash-throated and Brown-crested Flycatchers, Western Scrub-Jay, Canyon Wren and Rufous-crowned Sparrow filtering down from the adjacent dry hillsides and rocky outcroppings. The Texas hill country seems anything but Texan in its cool lushness, and some of the areas we’ll visit, such as Lost Maples State Park, are very beautiful. On one evening we’ll visit a local bat cave, where we’ll witness the mind-boggling exodus at dusk of literally millions of Brazilian Free-tailed Bats. Nights in Concan.
Day 4: This morning we’ll begin the long drive to the Chisos Mountains. Perhaps the most notable feature of the day will be the dramatic change to the arid landscapes of west Texas. En route we’ll stop to admire Cave Swallows and any Crested Caracaras or Harris’s Hawks we come upon, and scan the ever-present Turkey Vultures for Zone-tailed Hawk. Night in Big Bend National Park.
Days 5-7: Bordering the sculptured canyons of the Rio Grande, the Chisos Mountains rise out of Big Bend National Park in a broken mass of colored sandstone reaching to almost 8000 feet. The range supports a variety of interesting birds including Lucifer and Blue-throated Hummingbirds, Gray Vireo, Varied Bunting, Black-chinned Sparrow and Scott’s Oriole, but Colima Warbler is the major attraction since it can be seen nowhere else in the United States. We must make a long climb to find the warbler, but the scenery is dramatic, and our pace will be slow, punctuated by Acorn Woodpecker and Mexican Jay and perhaps a few migrants. All of one day will be devoted to this objective.
Big Bend provides delightfully varied birdwatching, and in addition to the mountains and high desert we’ll visit the Rio Grande floodplain, where cottonwoods and giant mesquites attract an entirely different set of birds. Vermilion Flycatcher, Bell’s Vireo, Summer Tanager and Painted Bunting are common and, in recent years a pair of Common Black-Hawks have nested near Rio Grande Village. Other scarce species we may encounter include Cordilleran Flycatcher, Tropical Kingbird, Crissal Thrasher, Lucy’s Warbler and Painted Redstart. At this season there may be a fine collection of migrants, perhaps including something quite unexpected. On at least one evening we’ll search for Lesser Nighthawk and Elf Owl, both fairly common here. Nights in Big Bend National Park.
Days 8: After a final morning in Big Bend we’ll drive to the Davis Mountains in time to look for Montezuma Quail which sometimes in past years (but not recently) visited the feeders here in late afternoon. Night in Fort Davis.
Day 9: We’ll visit the mixed forests of a Nature Conservancy Preserve on the north side of Mount Livermore. In addition to the more common southern Rocky Mountain birds such as the distinctive sounding Rocky Mountain race of White-breasted Nuthatch, Western Bluebird and Hepatic Tanager, we should see Gray Flycatcher, Plumbeous Vireo, Grace’s Warbler and perhaps Buff-breasted Flycatcher, a pair or two of which have nested here in recent years,. We feel fortunate to have access to this lovely Preserve and we’ll spend most of the day within its boundaries. Night in Fort Davis.
Day 10: After a brief check of Davis Mountains State Park for Phainopepla and migrants, possibly including Virginia’s Warbler, we’ll drive to Lake Balmorhea, a locality rich in waterbirds including Western and sometimes Clark’s Grebes, before continuing to Midland-Odessa. Night in Midland.
Day 11: The trip concludes this morning in Midland.
Updated: 16 June 2007
Prices
- 2008 price about $2,920
- Single Occupancy Supplement $450
- 2009 price not yet available
Notes
This tour is limited to seven participants with one leader; 14 with two leaders.