As we approached Roswell, I mentioned a hoped-for encounter in the desert to the east of the city.  Fortunately she trusts me.

  We were instructed to drive to the edge of the lek.  At one point a few of the birds walked between our vehicle and the one other vehicle that was there.  The looks were wonderful and we decided that they are North America's answer to birds of paradise.  It is incredible how they can transform their bodies when they begin to display.  Two days into the trip and everything else was going to be gravy!

These two birds were photographed through the windshield, so it's not the clearest shot, but I've included them because they were intensely displaying right in front of us.

 

Aside from my calf feeling like I'd gotten kicked by a pointy-toed cowboy boot, we spent a very enjoyable Monday in the Davis Mountains.  We have now twice missed Montezuma Quail there.

This Acorn Woodpecker proved to be a very cooperative photo subject:

We then drove through much of the night and got to the Kerr Wildlife Management Area in the morning.  We heard 6 or 7 Black-capped Vireos and 6 Golden-cheeked Warblers.  They were both hard to see, even when calling and singing right in front of us.  I managed a few poor photos of each.

We spent the rest of Wednesday on Padre Is and at Port Aransas.  Late morning and we could hear the flight calls, with many warblers landing in the trees and bushes after their long Gulf flight.  While there was no classic Texas fallout (up at High Island, where we are heading, there was), we had more warblers and other migrant songbirds to look through than we had ever seen before.  It shattered my best days in the fall at Point Reyes, with the birds very approachable and in immaculate plumage. 

This Hooded Warbler was very cooperative at the Port Aransas Birding Center.  At Paradise Pond at Port Aransas, we watched this nearly tame Prothonotary Warbler.

We had 12 species of warblers on Wednesday, 4/11/07, including the above, plus Yellow-breasted Chat, several Tennessee Warblers, and more Black-throated Green Warblers and Northern Parulas than we knew what to do with.  We also saw both Scarlet and Summer Tanagers.  At Paradise Pond we watched a Summer Tanager eat two wasps.

We slept in a little on Thursday morning, then visited the Birding Center and Paradise Pond again at Port Aransas.  The migrants were far fewer, but still very nice, including this Northern Parula at Paradise Pond.

The boardwalk at the Birding Center had a lot to offer:

Stilt Sandpiper

Wilson's Snipe

American Alligator

This Laughing Gull was photographed from our car while taking the ferry from Port Aransas to Rockport.  Driving through Rockport, we stopped briefly at Rockport Demo Bird Garden.  It was very nice, though the birds were few--I bet there had been many more the previous day.  We carefully avoided the many fire ant mounds on the lawn, and watched this Bronzed Cowbird.

By 8pm we were checked into our hotel between Houston and Winnie and were at the Boy Scout Woods at High Island at 7am.  More to come in part 2.