A whole lot of West Texas!

While we ventured north for family commitments during the Thanksgiving week, our dear friend covered the region. Check out this fantastic (and quite photogenic) trip summary from Steve Gross. His 6-day trek rummaged up 124 species, though he did cover just about every 'hot spot' west of the Pecos. If only he'd made it into Big Bend National Park, the trip would have had seven species of grebe! (Least Grebe is still rumored to be loitering near Daniel's Ranch)

Many thanks to Steve for sending us his trip list and keeping us posted about other regional sightings! We are grateful to hear (and share!) these lists and keep folks current on local bird life - please do e-mail us when you've been in the region, we can credit you for reports, allow you to remain anonymous, or not re-share the sightings at all (in case your boss is checking up on sick days that you were out birding...)

Back to Steve's trip!

Primary locations included:
Balmorhea
Lawrence E. Wood (Davis Mts)
Davis Mts. State Park
Franklin Mountains
Guadalupe Mountains

Species:
GREBES
Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe
Eared Grebe
Western Grebe
Clark's Grebe
PELICANS
American White Pelican
CORMORANTS
Double-crested Cormorant
Neotropic Cormorant
HERONS, EGRETS AND BITTERNS
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Cattle Egret
DUCKS, GEESE AND SWANS
Snow Goose
Ross's Goose
Cackling Goose
American Wigeon
Gadwall
Green-winged Teal
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Northern Shoveler
Canvasback
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Common Goldeneye
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Common Merganser
Ruddy Duck
NEW WORLD VULTURES
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
HAWKS, EAGLES AND KITES
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Harris's Hawk
Zone-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Golden Eagle
FALCONS AND CARACARAS
American Kestrel
NEW WORLD QUAIL
Scaled Quail
Gambel's Quail
RAILS, GALLINULES AND COOTS
American Coot
PLOVERS AND LAPWINGS
Killdeer
SANDPIPERS
Long-billed Dowitcher
Greater Yellowlegs
GULLS
Ring-billed Gull
Bonaparte's Gull
PIGEONS AND DOVES
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
White-winged Dove
Inca Dove
KINGFISHERS
Belted Kingfisher
WOODPECKERS
Acorn Woodpecker
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Williamson's Sapsucker
Red-naped Sapsucker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
TYRANT FLYCATCHERS
Eastern Phoebe
Black Phoebe
Say's Phoebe
WAGTAILS AND PIPITS
American Pipit
KINGLETS
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
SILKY-FLYCATCHERS
Phainopepla
WRENS
Cactus Wren
Rock Wren
Canyon Wren
Bewick's Wren
MOCKINGBIRDS AND THRASHERS
Northern Mockingbird
Sage Thrasher
Curve-billed Thrasher
THRUSHES
Western Bluebird
Mountain Bluebird
Townsend's Solitaire
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
GNATCATCHERS
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Black-tailed Gnatcatcher
LONG-TAILED TITS
Bushtit
CHICKADEES AND TITS
Mountain Chickadee
Juniper Titmouse
Black-crested Titmouse
NUTHATCHES
White-breasted Nuthatch
CREEPERS
Brown Creeper
PENDULINE TITS
Verdin
SHRIKES
Loggerhead Shrike
CROWS AND JAYS
Western Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
STARLINGS
European Starling
OLD WORLD SPARROWS
House Sparrow
FINCHES, SISKINS, CROSSBILLS
Cassin's Finch
House Finch
Pine Siskin
Lesser Goldfinch
American Goldfinch
WOOD WARBLERS
Yellow-rumped Warbler
SPARROWS, TOWHEES, JUNCOS
Green-tailed Towhee
Spotted Towhee
Canyon Towhee
Rufous-crowned Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Clay-colored Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Black-chinned Sparrow
Black-throated Sparrow
Sage Sparrow
Lark Bunting
Savannah Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
SALTATORS, CARDINALS AND ALLIES
Northern Cardinal
Pyrrhuloxia
BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES, GRACKLES, ETC.
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Brewer's Blackbird
Common Grackle
Great-tailed Grackle