Sabine Pass Trip

Several weeks ago I had some free time so I decided to take a ride up to Sabine Pass and see what was going on at Sabine Woods Bird Sanctuary.  This is one of my favorite haunts that I frequent and it never disappoints as seen by my previous blog posts involving this area.  I haven't been up this way in a while and thought I might get lucky and see the beginnings of spring migration, it being a favorite fall-out area.  It was a comfortable 58 degrees outside, sunny, but windy as hell.  I checked a local weather station on my smart phone and found it to be gusting upwards of 26 mph.  Windy days make for haphazard birding.  When I arrived the first thing I usually do is walk over to the small covered area near the entrance and check the clipboard hanging there to see what observations had been reported.  The last entry was made back in October of last year. 

Cutting off on one of the side trails I began hearing the calls of a red-bellied woodpecker and found it working its way up the trunk of a tree.  At times it twisted its head in odd positions as it probed the tree’s every nook and cranny for bugs.

I walked over to the man-made drip site to see if anything was present and found an eastern phoebe resting on the drip line enjoying the day.  A few minutes later a black and white warbler passed through. After about a half hour nothing more showed up so I decided to go and check out the swift tower that had been built several years back.  

The Driftwood Wildlife Association is an organization that promotes the conservation of chimney swifts and came up with the plans for these nice towers.  This one has been here for several years and so far no swifts have been observed utilizing it.

 I then encountered an area that was barricaded encompassing a large oak and hanging from the barrier tape I find a sign that read “DO NOT ENTER OWLS NESTING”.

I immediately began glassing the upper branches for any sign and then movement on a branch caught my eye and it was then that I discovered a juvenile great-horned owl.

I respected the yellow tape, walking its edges to a spot where I could get a better view, not wanting to risk frightening it or eliciting a response from the adults.  By that I mean a response towards me in the form of sharp talons.  I never saw the adults, but owls have a knack for concealment and I’ll bet a $100 bill that they were somewhere in the upper story of the trees watching me.  I tried locating the nest itself but was unsuccessful.  Owls do not build their own nests, but use old hawk, crow, raven, osprey, squirrel, eagle, and great blue heron nests.  They do not add anything to these nests and so over time they tend to break down quickly.   Juveniles will disperse from the nest and hop from limb to limb in what is known as “laddering” or “branching” as a way of exploring the area until they are able to fly.  I read of an instance when a juvenile had fallen to the ground and had to literally claw its way up the trunk of the tree to return to its perch. 

This dispersal from the nest may also act as a survival mechanism preventing nestlings from becoming the prey of bobcats and raccoons.   It never moved from its perch, but it also never took its eyes off of me.  Since I had owls on my mind I decided to stroll over to a spot in this scrap of woods where the oak upper story is thick providing a dense niche for roosting, where in the past I have spooked several barn owls and have found lots of pellets for study.

The easiest way to find an owl roost and pellets is to look for “white wash”- a gracious label for owl crap.  It wasn’t long before I came across a site where the ground was splattered and an accumulation of pellets scattered among the leafy floor.

Most of the pellets I found had already begun to break down from recent rains that came through this area. Dissecting them is really interesting and not only helps determine the diet of owls in a particular area, but also sometimes lead to new discoveries as with what happened in Ireland where barn owl pellets revealed the skulls of mammals never before found there.  Pellets I came across all contained the fur and bones of rodents.  I can remember in the past walking in the open fields on the north side of these woods and seeing hispid cotton rats scurrying all around my feet.  Using Mark Elbroch's book " Animal Skulls: A Guide to North American Species"  I was able to identify the top photo remains as that of a hispid cotton rat and the other as a marsh rice rat.

Suggested Reading:

How to Spot an Owl by Patricia Taylor Sutton and Clay Sutton 

Gambusia Trail II

On December 11th I drove back to Sabine Pass to finish up with the Gambusia trail and decided to stop off at Sabine Woods first to see what was going on there. When I first arrived it was rather quiet, but that ended soon. Before long I was seeing sparrows (white-crowned, white-throated) along with blue-gray gnatcatchers, red-bellied woodpeckers, mockingbirds, cardinals, Carolina chickadees, eastern phoebes, a hermit thrush, gray catbirds, and American goldfinches.

Along one trail I came across some whitewash on the ground below the branches of an oak tree. This sign usually designates the roosting site of an owl. This was confirmed seconds later when I discovered an owl pellet about a foot from the splatter. I looked up into the tree hoping to find the one responsible, but no luck. Then again they are pretty deft at concealing themselves in the thick upperstory of trees, so I very well may have unknowingly looked right at it.

A little while later I stumbled upon a dead hispid cotton rat. Couldn't find any visible wounds on it. These rats along with the rabbits that frequent this area are the main prey of bobcats, coyotes, owls, snakes and hawks found here.

Had the rat fallen from the talons of a hawk or an owl? Note the pads on the bottom of one of its rear feet. This is good to know when trying to identify tracks.


Years ago someone mounted an owl box on the trunk of a tree on the edge of one of the trails that had eventually become consumed by honeybees. I published a entry on this box a while back showing the comb in its early stages and then how later the house became literally engulfed by it. Hurricane Ike then came through and knocked it from its mount to the ground, shattering it. Returning to this spot I find that a new box had been installed and upon closer inspection through my binoculars I could see a honeycomb inside. It will only be a matter of time before it too will be consumed.

On the way to Sea Rim (and Gambusia Trail) I found a dead killdeer on side of the road that probably had been struck by a passing auto. It was hit so hard one of its wings was knocked loose. I’m surprised I don’t see more of these birds dead along this highway. They prefer the edges I’m sure due to the presence of loose gravel, which is the type of substrate they prefer for nest building, which is no more than a “scrape”. The gravel is a blend of colors that match up quite well with the spotting on their eggs, providing excellent camouflage. I came upon one of these nest sites years ago on this very road and was privileged to witness the distraction behavior performed by the adult that it displays when a predator comes near its eggs or young. It will extend one of its wings mocking an injury to distract the predator to itself and away from its nest. The prior post I speak of is located here.

I finished up the Gambusia Trail loop, not seeing much more than the last trip I made here recently. I came across what I thought was a live fiddler crab, but it was no longer with us.

I also found another long trail of coyote tracks, which I followed until it ended at an area of thick grass near the dunes.I brought along some PerfectCast for this very reason so I could cast a coyote track for my grand-daughter. I normally use plaster of Paris for casting tracks, but this time I used PerfectCast, and I must say it came out much better than the latter. I ordered it from a company called Acorn Naturalists, which by the way has an extraordinary catalog that contains all of the trappings of the naturalist’s trade. While waiting for the cast to dry I sat on the boardwalk and had lunch. The breeze off of the gulf that day was pretty vigorous. I pulled out my smart phone and checked the local meteorological station maintained by the NOAA that is set up right down the road near the ranger’s station. It showed the temp to be 51 and the wind coming from the ENE at 13 knots (15 mph). This calculated the wind chill to be around 46 degrees but the warmth of old Sol made it comfortable, and I didn't complain, especially after the scorching summer we experienced. The only thing that came my way was a northern harrier gliding low, as usual, over the desiccated marsh. Ever so often it would dip really low to the ground and I suspect it does this in order to flush out any prey that might be hiding in the knee-high grass. Best bet is to stay vewy, vewy still (to quote Mr. Fudd). I was recently rummaging through Helen Cruickshank’s book “ Thoreau on Birds”, which by the way, if you do not have a copy of this book, you must get one. It is filled with nothing but interesting bird observations made by the “hermit of Concord”. He must have really liked this hawk in particular, because in his notes he stated “The sight of the marsh hawk in Concord is worth more to me than the entry of the allies into Paris.” Its flight is described well in this passage:

[April 8, 1856] “The marsh hawks flew their usual irregular low tacking, wheeling, and circling flight, leisurely flapping and beating, now rising, now falling, in conformity with the contour of the ground."

He sometimes referred to the harrier as a “frog hawk”.

[April 23, 1855] “See a frog hawk beating the bushes regularly.”

[May 2, 1858] “If I were to be a frog hawk for a month I should soon know some things about the frogs. How patiently they skim the meadows, occasionally alighting, and fluttering as if it were difficult ever to stand on the ground. I have seen more of them than usual since I too have been looking for frogs.”

[April 19, 1858] “He skims steadily along exactly over the edge of the water, on the meadow side, not more than three or four feet from the ground and winding with the shore, looking for frogs, for in such as tortuous line do the frogs sit. They probably know about what time to expect his visits, being regularly decimated.”

After about 45 minutes I pried the cast from the sand and dusted it off revealing a satisfactory representation of the coyote track. Even the claw marks showed up nicely. Grand-daughter is going to like this.

While I was loading my gear into my truck I heard a harrier calling from the ground not far from where I was parked. Was it the one I had spotted moments earlier? I grabbed my camera and slowly walked towards the sound and spotted the bird on the ground about 15 feet from where I stood. At first I thought that it had captured something because, ever so often it would look down at the ground it front of it. I watched, photographed and captured video for about five minutes before it flew. I walked over and searched the area where it had stood, but didn't find anything. Had it tried to capture something, but missed? I was close enough to see its facial disk and owl like head. The video below shows both of these characteristics very well. When it looks straight on at the camera is does appear to be “owlish”.

Sabine Pass Trip

This past Monday (October 25) I decided to head over to Sabine Woods (formerly known as Grim’s Woods and owned by the Texas Ornithological Society), one of my favorite haunts, hoping to catch some of the last remnants of fall migration. As I approach the city limits of Sabine Pass I still catch glimpses of the carnage left by hurricane Ike. It’s hard to believe it’s been two years since it collided with our shores. When I arrive, I'm greeted by a stiff southerly breeze hurtling in off of the gulf, which I’m thankful for since it helps keep the hungry mosquitoes at bay, and allows my concentration to stay focused on the other wildlife.

I checked the website (on my Android) of a local meteorological station maintained by the National Data Buoy Center and it shows the wind direction coming in from the SSW at 16 knots, with gusts of 21 knots.

I check the log located under the covered area near the entrance to see what birdlife has been seen and find 14 species of warbler listed along with many other birds.

The main trail had at one time consisted of a wooden boardwalk, but hurricane Ike did away with that. Thanks to local volunteers whom have maintained the trails, birders still have a way to get around. I decide to head over to a particular area where a water drip is located.

I sit on the bench and watch as a number of warblers- Nashville, black-throated green, common yellowthroat, yellow-breasted chat bathe and drink from the ground bath that lies under the copper drip tube. Other birds such as a red-eyed vireo, blue jay, catbird, and a blue-gray gnatcatcher also visit. I also watched as a female ruby-throated hummingbird flew up to the tip of the tubing to get a drink on the wing. After about 45 minutes I decided to do a little exploring along the various trails that traverse these woods. Gulf fritillary, monarch, and sulfur butterfly species were present.

I came upon the bird box that I had written about back in March 2008 that had been consumed by honey bees. It had fallen from the tree it was mounted on and now lay on the ground. One of its walls had come off revealing the inside of the box that once housed a massive hive. A nearby hackberry tree was covered with old sap wells left behind by yellow-bellied sapsuckers that are winter residents here. Some of the wells had sap oozing from them which is also an attractant to butterflies and other insects as well as hummingbirds.

I came across a pair of lifeless, tattered monarch wings lying on the ground near the base of the hackberry tree. Most of the thorax and abdomen were gone leaving only enough tissue to bind the wings. Monarchs are in the middle of their migration towards Mexico as I write this, and the SSW wind I spoke of earlier is not conducive to their journey, but a cool front will be coming through from the north by the end of the week, which should help send them, along with the migrating birds, on their way. I look closely at the wings and notice that they belonged to a male, due to the presence of a distinct spot, known as the andoconium, found on each of the hind wings, which are responsible for emitting pheromones.

There’s a particular area of oaks in these woods that has a thick upper story known to be a good area for roosting owls. I’ve accidently spooked a few barn owls in the past from their daytime roost. On the ground lots of whitewash can be seen denoting an area where one had roosted, and after a few minutes of searching I came across an owl pellet lying in the ground litter. Note the portion of skull with tooth protruding on the left side.

Turk’s cap (Malvaviscus arboreus), aka- Drummond Wax-mallow, Texas Mallow, Mexican Apple, Red Mallow, May Apple, Wild Turk’s Cap, Bleeding Heart, is a native perennial shrub of Texas and is a favorite of hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees for the nectar it provides. Birds and other fruit-eating animals feed on the small red marble-shaped fruit that are mealy and have an apple-like taste to them. Livestock occasionally browses its leaves. The flower petals and fruit, I’ve read, also make a good tea.

A bobcat had left its presence in the sandy trail. I spotted one back in 2005 here that was strectched out on the walkway near the entrance.

I was able to get a nice photo as seen below, before it slowly rose from the ground and trotted off into the dense cover.

Not far from this track on the edge of the trail I find sign of another mammal that walks these grounds. At the base of a young pecan tree on one side is a swipe of dried mud. This rub was left by a feral hog right after it wallowed in the mud.

These swine pests are not native to this country and it is believed were introduced here way back in the late 1600's by Spanish explorers as domesticated livestock. They eventually became free-ranging and feral which led to their eventual control over Texas lands. Hogs rub to remove excess mud or just to scratch an itch caused by parasites such as fleas and ticks. They'll rub on whatever's available- trees, fence posts, utility poles, and rocks. Looking down at my feet I find the sign of yet another mammal.........a golfer ;-)

My journey home is finished of nicely by the sighting of a total of 14 scissor-tailed flycathers, doing what they do best- flycatching from power lines.

Boneyard

A small 3-stall boathouse at the Marshland Unit of Sea Rim State Park has served as a nesting site for cliff swallows since 1989. During the spring and summer months I would often stop by to watch literal clouds of these and three other swallow species- barn, cave, and tree feed over the nearby fields. Unfortunately all that remains of the this spot, following Hurricane Ike, is a mere skeleton of the previous structure. As I walked around the remnants of a neighboring attached structure I spotted an owl pellet on the ground. Owls along with other birds (hawks, shrikes, herons, swallows, jays, flycatchers, etc.) cough up oblong shaped capsules containing parts of the animals they eat that their bodies can’t digest, mostly fur, bones and feathers.

I came to the assumption that the pellets belonged to an owl, due to their size and contents, and also because of the presence of whitewash (owl feces) indicating they’ve been roosting here. Hawks usually tear their prey into bite size pieces as they eat resulting in a pellet that may not contain large identifiable parts.


Owls on the other hand swallow their prey whole resulting in a pellet containing the complete skeleton and fur of its meal. I also came across another site nearby where a number of pellets over time had broken down leaving behind a small “boneyard” consisting of jaw, leg, skull and other bones.

This area was more exposed to the elements allowing the pellets to get wet which in turn dissolved the mucus that held them together. Fur was then washed away leaving behind a swell of bones.

Miles of open savannah surrounding this marshland coastal ecosystem provide perfect habitat for mice and voles. I think that owls hunting these fields at night are using this structure to feed and in turn, expelling pellets from prior meals on the ground below their perches. Where are these owls roosting during the day I wondered? I came to the conclusion that the closest place would be Sabine Woods which is about 3 miles down the road from here where I’ve seen both barn and great-horned owls. I’m considering setting up a camera trap at this location, which may provide some interesting photographs and prove if owls are responsible for this “boneyard”.