Abilene Spring Meeting Trip Descriptions

FIELD TRIP AND DESCRIPTION

TRIP #1 – FRIDAY

MITCHELL COUNTY. Lake Colorado City State Park habitat is notably arid and desert species are more common. Expect Pyrrhuloxia, Scaled Quail, Black-throated Sparrow, Cactus Wren, waterfowl, wading birds, shorebirds, gulls and terns. Fisher Park on Champions Creek Reservoir holds waterfowl, shorebirds, and spring passerines.

Moderate to long distance walking, the most demanding of which will be at Fisher Park, walking around the lake. Entry fee at the state park.

DIFFICULTY: MODERATE

Depart 6:15 a.m., return 3:00 p.m.

TRIP #2 – SATURDAY

TAYLOR COUNTY. Kirby Lake, the top hotspot for the whole region. We’ll look for waterfowl, gulls, and terns, possibly Hudsonian Godwit and Buff-breasted Sandpiper. Hargesheimer Water Treatment Plant for shorebirds and the fab five of the marsh: Virginia Rail, Sora, Swamp Sparrow, Common Yellowthroat, and Marsh Wren. County Road 131 where a large stand of oaks attracts migrating songbirds, and Red-bellied Woodpecker is sometimes found; we may stop at a field on private property where Sprague’s Pipits and Upland Sandpiper are often found.

All birding will be done with short walks from the car.

DIFFICULTY: EASY

Depart 7:15 a.m., return 3:00 p.m.

TRIP #3 – SUNDAY

TAYLOR COUNTY. Kirby Lake, the top hotspot for the whole region. We’ll look for waterfowl, gulls, and terns, possibly Hudsonian Godwit and Buff-breasted Sandpiper. Hargesheimer Water Treatment Plant for shorebirds and the fab five of the marsh: Virginia Rail, Sora, Swamp Sparrow, Common Yellowthroat, and Marsh Wren.   

All birding will be done with short walks from the car.

DIFFICULTY: EASY

Depart 7:00 a.m., return 12:00 p.m.

TRIP #4 – SUNDAY

TAYLOR COUNTY. Cedar Creek’s riparian habitat, with focus on neotropical migrants, with some semi-regular (almost expected) species like Gray Catbird, Swainson’s Thrush, Painted Bunting, Great Crested Flycatcher, Wilson’s, Nashville, Northern Waterthrush and Black-throated Green. Rare but recent finds: large warbler list including Mourning, MacGillivray’s, Ovenbird, Blackburnian, Blackpoll, Hooded. Philadelphia Vireo

Lots of walking on flat ground.

DIFFICULTY: MODERATE

Depart 7:00 a.m., return 12:00 p.m.

TRIP #5 – FRIDAY & SUNDAY

TAYLOR COUNTY.  Hargesheimer Water Treatment Plant for shorebirds and focus on finding the fab five of the marsh: Virginia Rail, Sora, Swamp Sparrow, Common Yellowthroat, and Marsh Wren. Main section of the Abilene State Park, featuring some of the best riparian woodland in Taylor County with species that are common in the Eastern including Great Crested Flycatcher, Red-eyed and Yellow-throated Vireo, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Summer Tanager; migrants include Swainson’s Thrush, a variety warblers, and Lazuli and Indigo Bunting.  Mountain Pass Rd. (Friday only) for Black-capped Vireo, Bushtit, Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay, Canyon Towhee, Rufous-crowned Sparrow.

There will be short walks on trails at the state park, and scanning the lake with scopes. Mountain Pass Rd will be done from the car, with short walks after pulling over.

DIFFICULTY: EASY

Depart 7:00 a.m., return 3:00 p.m.

TRIP #6 – FRIDAY, SATURDAY & SUNDAY

SHACKELFORD COUNTY.  Chimney Creek Ranch, a private ranch in Shackelford County. The ranch is a working cattle ranch with focus on land conservation and restoration. See all the details at www.chimneycreekranch.com.  Target species include Mississippi Kite, Swainson’s Hawk, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Black-capped Vireo, Eastern Bluebird, Cassin’s Sparrow, Lark Sparrow, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Eastern Meadowlark, and Painted Bunting.   On Friday and Saturday only we’ll visit the small town of Albany to get our “urban” birds for Shackelford County.

Walking most of the day.

DIFFICULTY: MODERATE

Depart 6:00 a.m., return 3:30 p.m. (noon on Sunday)

TRIP #7 – FRIDAY & SATURDAY

JONES COUNTY: Lake Fort Phantom, starting at Sea Bee Park along the lake and then the north side where the dam produces deeper water. Expect lots of water birds (ducks, shorebirds, and wading birds). Abilene Water Treatment Plant holds a mix of ducks and shorebirds. The “fab five” of the marsh can also be found at this location: Virginia Rail, Sora, Swamp Sparrow, Common Yellowthroat, and Marsh Wren.

Most of the walks will be short and there will be lots of time working with scopes to scan bodies of water. We might do a little more walking at the water treatment plant, depending on what birds we’re looking for. 

DIFFICULTY: EASY TO MODERATE

Depart 7:00 a.m., return 2:00 p.m.

TRIP #8 – SATURDAY

HASKELL AND KNOX COUNTIES: Lake Stamford in Haskell County is vastly under-birded. Your trip will contribute to our knowledge of the region and no doubt yield an assortment of waterfowl and wintering passerines. In and around the small town of O'Brien in northern Haskell County - breeding birds, shorebirds, and anything else of interest that crosses our path.  Lake Benjamin and Truscott Brine Lake in Knox County, where we’ll look for waterfowl, shorebirds, and grebes, along with the usual grassland and agricultural breeders.

Lots of birding will be done with scopes and the walking distances will generally be short. There may be entry fees at some facilities.

DIFFICULTY: EASY

Depart 6:30 a.m., return 4:00 p.m.

TRIP #9 – SATURDAY

COKE COUNTY: At Oak Creek Reservoir, we’ll scan the lake for waterfowl; a main target here is Carolina Chickadee, harder to find outside the oak woodlands of far northeast Coke County. EV Spence Reservoir in an arid county seems to be the most reliable spot for Western Grebe and, when lucky, Clark’s Grebe, good shorebirds and a high species diversity of both water birds and passerines around the lake.  The Sanco and Silver Loops where the potential for desert species is high including Black-throated Sparrow, Scaled Quail, Cactus Wren, Vermilion Flycatcher, Brewer’s Sparrow; Rufous-crowned Sparrow and Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay are also possible.

All the birding will be done with short walks from the car. There may be entry fees at some facilities.

DIFFICULTY: EASY

Depart 6:45 a.m., return 4:00 p.m.

TRIP #10 – FRIDAY, SATURDAY, & SUNDAY

RUNNELS COUNTY: Lake Ballinger is a mixture of freshwater, large deciduous forest and arid mesquite scrub, often covered in ducks and geese more than at other hotspots in the region. The woods attract migrants like Wilson’s and Nashville Warblers, Yellow-breasted chat. At Ballinger City Park, we'll look for migrants that we might have missed at the lake. The park has large trees which can attract warblers and breeding birds like Yellow-billed Cuckoo and Summer Tanager.

We'll be scanning lakes and fields with scopes and any walking will be limited to short trips from the car. There may be entry fees at some facilities.

DIFFICULTY: EASY

Depart 6:30 a.m., return 3:00 p.m. (noon on Sunday)

TRIP #11 – FRIDAY & SATURDAY

COLEMAN AND CONCHO COUNTIES. Coleman City Park with its large trees where “eastern” forest species are possible including Red-bellied Woodpecker, Great Crested Flycatcher.  Lying along the Colorado River between Coleman and Concho Counties is the region’s largest body of water, O.H. Ivie Reservoir. Visiting this destination is a natural way to visit two counties in the same day.  

We'll be scanning lakes with scopes and walking will be limited to short distances along the lake and brief trips from the car. There may be entry fees at some facilities.

DIFFICULTY: EASY

Depart 6:15 a.m., return 4:00 p.m.

TRIP #12 – FRIDAY & SATURDAY

NOLAN COUNTY: We'll start our day at Lake Sweetwater, good for waterfowl, shorebirds, loons, and grebes, with large forest with classic eastern species and neotropical migrants. Marsh around its edges that sometimes hold Virginia Rail and Sora. At the end of the day, we'll explore county roads in search of all three bluebirds, winter sparrows, and "hill country" species like Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay in the mesas.

Our time will be spent scoping bodies of water and short walks anticipated along county roads.

DIFFICULTY: MODERATE

Depart 6:45 a.m., return 3:00 p.m.

TRIP #13 – SUNDAY

CALLAHAN COUNTY: Clyde Lake boasts a large list of waterfowl and shorebirds, plus the scrub habitat around the lake has often produced Vermilion Flycatcher and Curve-billed Thrasher. T & P Lake is more forested around the edges. Expect a different mix of breeding woodland species like Downy Woodpecker, Summer Tanager, and migrants like warblers and vireos. Spring Gap Road. with breeding species like Black-capped Vireo and Black-and-white Warblers in the summer. If a Golden-cheeked Warbler were ever to show up in the region, this is the spot for it.

Time will be spent scoping bodies of water with short walks anticipated along county roads. There may be entry fees at some facilities.

DIFFICULTY: EASY

Depart 7:00 a.m., return 1:00 p.m.

TRIP #14 – FRIDAY & SATURDAY

FISHER COUNTY CENTURY CLUB: Welcome to the Wild, Wild West of Fisher County where much of the county is agricultural fields planted in cotton. A series of intrepid birders have which little ponds are likely to turn up ducks, which county roads have amazing canyons and vistas that get into the mesas, and which landowners have granted access to their slice of Fisher County heaven.  We can promise a very strong start (or finish) to your goal of finding 100 species in this county, targeting waterfowl, shorebirds (if there’s any water), spring migrants, breeding species, "eastern" forest birds, "hill country" birds like Rock Wren, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, and any rarities we can find along the way.

More time will be spent walking than on some other trips. There will also be longer periods of time driving between birding locations.

DIFFICULTY: MODERATE

Depart 6:45 a.m., return 4:00 p.m.