Fall 2001 Meeting
Prude Ranch Fort Davis Texas, Sept 6-8, 2001
The fall 2001 meeting of Texas Ornithological Society, hosted by Friends of Davis Mountains Preserve, was held 6 - 8 September 2001 in the Davis Mountains of far West Texas. Centered at Prude Guest Ranch, the meeting provided an outstanding opportunity for participants to see the area's resident and migrant species, enjoy field trips to sites not typically open to the public, observe a hummingbird banding demonstration, and attend talks by authoritative speakers including a special banquet presentation by renowned ornithologist and artist Dr. John O'Neill.
A total of 277 people attended the meeting, a near record. Twenty-eight volunteers lead field trips, gave talks, handled registration, or worked on myriad other tasks in order to make the meeting a success. Field trips to Davis Mountains State Park, Balmorhea State Park, Post Pena Colorado, Miller Ranch, Buffalo Trails Council Scout Ranch, Cibolo Creek Ranch, Davis Mountains Resort, Limpia Crossing, and eight venues on The Nature Conservancy of Texas' Davis Mountains Preserve resulted in sightings of 184 species. Highlights included Brown Pelican, Buff-breasted Flycatcher, Canada Warbler, and Spotted Owl in addition to area specialties such as Common Black-Hawk, Acorn Woodpecker, Hutton's Vireo, Mountain Chickadee, Pygmy Nuthatch, Grace's Warbler, and Western and Hepatic Tanager. Meeting participants delighted in the sight of hundreds of hummingbirds frequenting feeding stations at private residences in the Davis Mountains; a total of 8 species were recorded - Blue-throated, Magnificent, Lucifer, Black-chinned, Anna's, Calliope, Broad-tailed, and Rufous. The complete bird sightings list is posted below.
Back at the ranch, meeting participants enjoyed Friday afternoon programs presented by Susan Craig ("Looking for Mr. Mousebreath - Banding Wintering Loggerhead Shrikes in Texas"), Madge Lindsay ("World Birding Center Update"), and John Schmidt ("Beauty is Only Feather Deep"), as well as a Saturday afternoon hummingbird banding demonstration by Brent Ortego. Evening programs were presented by Kelly Bryan ("The Davis Mountains: Last Ornithological Wilderness in Texas") on Thursday and by Greg Lasley ("Robinson Crusoe Island and Its Endangered Hummingbird") on Friday. Saturday evening was packed full of activities, including a west-Texas style barbeque buffet, a humorous door prize giveaway, a display of artwork and program ("Texas to Peru and Back - The Circle to 'Great Texas Birds'") by Dr. John O'Neill, a brief business meeting, and, for the heartiest of souls, a star party lead by volunteers from Big Bend Astronomical Society. Additionally, long-time area residents and TOS members Clay and Jody Miller were given a framed print of an Aplomado Falcon by Dr. O'Neill as a lifetime achievement award.
Linda Hedges
TOS Director, Region IV
Fort Davis
| Pied-billed Grebe Brown Pelican Double-crested Cormorant Great Blue Heron Great Egret Reddish Egret Green Heron White-faced Ibis Turkey Vulture Gadwall Mallard (Mexican Duck) Blue-winged Teal Northern Shoveler Northern Pintail Green-winged Teal Ruddy Duck Osprey Northern Harrier Sharp-shinned Hawk Cooper's Hawk Common Black-Hawk Red-shouldered Hawk Swainson's Hawk Zone-tailed Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Golden Eagle American Kestrel Merlin Prairie Falcon Peregrine Falcon Wild Turkey Scaled Quail Montezuma Quail American Coot Killdeer Black-necked Stilt Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Solitary Sandpiper Spotted Sandpiper Long-billed Curlew Western Sandpiper Baird's Sandpiper Stilt Sandpiper Long-billed Dowitcher Common Snipe Rock Dove Band-tailed Pigeon Eurasian Collared-Dove Whit-winged Dove Mourning Dove Inca Dove Greater Roadrunner Western Screech-Owl Great Horned Owl Spotted Owl Common Poorwill Whip-poor-will White-throated Swift Blue-throated Hummingbird Magnificent Hummingbird Lucifer Hummingbird Clack-chinned Hummingbird Anna's Hummingbird Calliope Hummingbird Broad-tailed Hummingbird Rufous Hummingbird Belted Kingfisher Acorn Woodpecker Golden-fronted Woodpecker Red-naped Sapsucker Ladder-backed Woodpecker Northern Flicker Olive-sided Flycatcher Western Wood-Pewee Willow Flycatcher Least Flycatcher Hammond's Flycatcher Dusky Flycatcher Gray Flycatcher Cordilleran Flycatcher Buff-breasted Flycatcher Black Phoebe Say's Phoebe Vermilion Flycatcher Ash-throated Flycatcher Cassin's Kingbird Western Kingbird Eastern Kingbird Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Loggerhead Shrike Bell's Vireo |
Plumbeous Vireo Cassin's Vireo Hutton's Vireo Warbling Vireo Steller's Jay Western Scrub-Jay Chihuahuan Raven Common Raven Horned Lark Violet-green Swallow Northern Rough-winged Swallow Cliff Swallow Barn Swallow Mountain Chickadee "Black-crested" Titmouse Verdin Bushtit White-breasted Nuthatch Pygmy Nuthatch Cactus Wren Rock Wren Canyon Wren Bewick's Wren House Wren Ruby-crowned Kinglet Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Black-tailed Gnatcatcher Western Bluebird Townsend's Solitaire Swainson's Thrush Hermit Thrush American Robin Northern Mockingbird Curve-billed Thrasher Crissal Thrasher European Starling Phainopopla Orange-crowned Warbler Nashville Warbler Virginia's Warbler Yellow Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Black-throated Gray Warbler Townsend's Warbler Hermit Warbler Grace's Warbler Black-and-white Warbler American Redstart Prothonotary Warbler Northern Waterthrush MacGillivray's Warbler Common Yellowthroat Wilson's Warbler Canada Warbler Yellow-breasted Chat Hepatic Tanager Summer Tanager Western Tanager Green-tailed Towhee Spotted Towhee Canyon Towhee Cassin's Sparrow Rufous-crowned Sparrow Chipping Sparrow Clay-colored Sparrow Brewer's Sparrow Vesper Sparrow Lark Sparrow Black-throated Sparrow Lark Bunting Savannah Sparrow Lincoln's Sparrow Northern Cardinal Pyrrhuloxia Black-headed Grosbeak Blue Grosbeak Lazuli Bunting Varied Bunting Painted Bunting Dickcissel Red-winged Blackbird Eastern Meadowlark Yellow-headed Blackbird Brewer's Blackbird Great-tailed Grackle Brown-headed Cowbird Bullock's Oriole Scott's Oriole House Finch Lesser Goldfinch American Goldfinch House Sparrow |