Port Aransas CBC 2019-12-16

I was happy to help out on the 43rd Port Aransas Christmas Bird Count yesterday. I covered the Aransas Pass area for the second year. The count circle is centered between Port Aransas and Aransas Pass since many year-round and winter-resident songbird species don't occur on Mustang Island. I had limited success finding them this year. I'm still discovering the secrets to birding Aransas Pass.

Judging from Google Maps, Aransas Pass has lots of dense woods that looks like good songbird habitat, but very little of it is publicly accessible. It's mostly divided up into large residential lots in semi-rural neighborhoods. In the few areas where I could actually enter some woods and at several roadside spots I played an Eastern Screech-Owl recording to see what songbirds it attracted. The woods were loaded with Gray Catbirds, Hermit Thrushes, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Northern Cardinals, Lincoln's Sparrows, and Eastern Phoebes.

After I'd left one of the few publicly accessible areas, the local transfer station (AKA the dump), I saw a flock of dozens of Yellow-rumped Warblers crossing one of the residential streets (appropriately named Myrtle). I quickly pulled over to look closer and found a Couch's Kingbird, two Eastern Bluebirds, and a single Pine Warbler. I think there were probably more Pine Warblers and maybe more species mixed in this large flock, but it was scared away by a large truck and I could not relocate it.

Among the many (sometimes scary) no trespassing signs, it made my day when a resident asked what I was doing and then invited me onto her property to look for birds. I found my only White-eyed Vireo, Black-crested Titmouse, Chipping Sparrows, and Great Kiskadee of the day there, and got her contact info for next year. I emailed her a list of the 15 species I found on her property.

Here are my photos from the day on Flickr. Most of these are also attached as iNaturalist observations below.

Here's my eBird summary of the day, and attached are some observations.

eBird Checklist Summary for: Dec 16, 2019

Number of Checklists: 17
Number of Taxa: 73

Checklists included in this summary:
(1): AP - RV Park 128 E Myrtle Ave, Aransas Pass US-TX (27.9149,-97.1366)
Date: Dec 16, 2019 at 7:30 AM
(2): AP - 650–656 W Matlock Ave, Aransas Pass US-TX (27.9118,-97.1482)
Date: Dec 16, 2019 at 7:49 AM
(3): AP - 354 N 9th St, Aransas Pass US-TX (27.9149,-97.1513)
Date: Dec 16, 2019 at 8:02 AM
(4): AP - transfer station - 750–848 W Myrtle Ave, Aransas Pass US-TX (27.9195,-97.1453)
Date: Dec 16, 2019 at 9:05 AM
(5): 328 W Myrtle Ave, Aransas Pass US-TX (27.9169,-97.1403)
Date: Dec 16, 2019 at 9:36 AM
(6): AP - cemetery - 2140 Highway 35 N, Aransas Pass US-TX (27.9368,-97.1222)
Date: Dec 16, 2019 at 9:51 AM
(7): AP - 1902 N McCampbell St, Aransas Pass US-TX (27.9332,-97.1298)
Date: Dec 16, 2019 at 10:45 AM
(8): AP - 2302 N McCampbell St, Aransas Pass US-TX (27.9390,-97.1254)
Date: Dec 16, 2019 at 10:57 AM
(9): AP - 483–523 Rabbit Run Rd, Aransas Pass US-TX (27.9432,-97.1318)
Date: Dec 16, 2019 at 11:06 AM
(10): AP - 1109–1273 Longoria Rd, Aransas Pass US-TX (27.9489,-97.1341)
Date: Dec 16, 2019 at 11:26 AM
(11): AP - 1109–1273 Longoria Rd, Aransas Pass US-TX (27.9489,-97.1341)
Date: Dec 16, 2019 at 11:27 AM
(12): Ingleside--FM1069/Elephant Wallow Pond
Date: Dec 16, 2019 at 1:18 PM
(13): AP - Prairie View Cemetery - 2218–2498 McMullen Ln, Aransas Pass US-TX (27.9186,-97.1812)
Date: Dec 16, 2019 at 1:34 PM
(14): Aransas Pass Community Pk (CTC 054)
Date: Dec 16, 2019 at 2:15 PM
(15): AP - 592–698 E Ransom Rd, Aransas Pass US-TX (27.8884,-97.1479)
Date: Dec 16, 2019 at 3:01 PM
(16): Conn Brown Harbor, Aransas Pass (Aransas Co. portion)
Date: Dec 16, 2019 at 3:13 PM
(17): AP - Aransas Pass general area
Date: Dec 16, 2019 at 7:21 AM

5 Northern Shoveler -- (1)
2 Mottled Duck -- (16)
540 Redhead -- (16)
15 Ring-necked Duck -- (11)
2 Lesser Scaup -- (15),(16)
1 Bufflehead -- (14)
14 Red-breasted Merganser -- (16)
40 duck sp. -- (16)
32 Pied-billed Grebe -- (11),(14),(16),(17)
17 Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) -- (2),(14),(15),(16),(17)
10 Eurasian Collared-Dove -- (1),(11),(17)
17 White-winged Dove -- (2),(3),(5),(17)
37 Mourning Dove -- (3),(5),(6),(12),(13),(16)
1 Common Gallinule -- (1)
3 American Coot -- (11)
8 Sandhill Crane -- (17)
5 Killdeer -- (7),(13),(14),(16)
76 Laughing Gull -- (1),(11),(14),(15),(16),(17)
10 Ring-billed Gull -- (14),(15),(16)
2 Royal Tern -- (14),(16)
3 Common Loon -- (16)
37 Neotropic Cormorant -- (1),(14),(15),(16)
21 Double-crested Cormorant -- (14),(16)
16 American White Pelican -- (3),(17)
56 Brown Pelican -- (14),(15),(16)
8 Great Blue Heron -- (1),(13),(14),(16)
6 Great Egret -- (11),(14),(16),(17)
15 Snowy Egret -- (1),(11),(14),(17)
2 Little Blue Heron -- (14),(16)
4 Tricolored Heron -- (14),(15),(16)
30 Black-crowned Night-Heron -- (1)
5 White Ibis -- (16)
18 Black Vulture -- (1),(13),(16)
51 Turkey Vulture -- (1),(4),(11),(12),(13),(14),(16),(17)
6 Osprey -- (3),(13),(15),(16)
1 Northern Harrier -- (16)
1 Red-shouldered Hawk -- (12)
3 Red-tailed Hawk -- (13),(17)
1 Belted Kingfisher -- (11)
1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker -- (3)
4 Ladder-backed Woodpecker -- (7),(13)
2 Crested Caracara -- (3)
2 American Kestrel -- (13),(17)
15 Eastern Phoebe -- (1),(2),(3),(4),(5),(6),(9),(12),(14),(15),(16)
1 Great Kiskadee -- (11)
1 Couch's Kingbird -- (5)
1 White-eyed Vireo -- (11)
2 Loggerhead Shrike -- (13),(16)
1 Black-crested Titmouse -- (11)
17 Ruby-crowned Kinglet -- (1),(2),(3),(4),(6),(7),(8),(9),(11)
2 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher -- (6),(11)
14 House Wren -- (3),(4),(6),(11),(16)
6 Carolina Wren -- (3),(4),(6),(8)
21 European Starling -- (13),(17)
21 Gray Catbird -- (1),(3),(4),(6),(7),(11)
24 Northern Mockingbird -- (1),(2),(3),(4),(6),(7),(9),(11),(16)
2 Eastern Bluebird -- (5)
16 Hermit Thrush -- (3),(4),(9),(11)
3 House Sparrow -- (3)
6 American Pipit -- (14)
3 American Goldfinch -- (5)
2 Chipping Sparrow -- (11)
15 Field Sparrow -- (3),(6),(11)
1 Savannah Sparrow -- (14)
31 Lincoln's Sparrow -- (2),(3),(4),(6),(11)
1 Western/Eastern Meadowlark -- (16)
559 Red-winged Blackbird -- (4),(6),(13),(14),(16),(17)
400 Brown-headed Cowbird -- (13)
211 Great-tailed Grackle -- (6),(11),(13),(14),(15),(16),(17)
10 Orange-crowned Warbler -- (2),(3),(4),(6),(9),(11)
1 Pine Warbler -- (5)
71 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) -- (1),(3),(4),(5),(6),(7),(9),(11),(13),(14)
31 Northern Cardinal -- (2),(3),(4),(6),(7),(9),(11),(13),(17)

Posted on December 18, 2019 12:54 AM by mikaelb