We then drove on to McKittrick Canyon with our new-found friends, stopping on the way to look at a Cooper’s Hawk flying overhead.  We had a quick lunch and looked around, finding minimal bird activity which included a Western Scrub Jay, Canyon Towhees, and a Black-tailed Gnatcatcher.  There were no water sources seen and as a result found fewer than expected birds. 

So we broke off and headed our separate ways, with our new destination being Dog Canyon.  The interesting thing about Dog Canyon is that we had to drive around the mountains into New Mexico to get to the canyon, which is in fact in Texas.  We stopped at Rattlesnake Springs in New Mexico, which despite historically being a great birding location, was very quiet even with lots of water.

We pulled into the campgrounds of Dog Canyon a little too quickly, and got a reprimand from the park ranger for that.  We got our tents set up just as it got dark.  We ate our sandwiches in the cool/ cold breezy evening and enjoyed the mostly quiet evening. Somehow, Steve and I got into a discussion about politics, of all things, but no harm was done.  My cold had progressed to the point of a stuffy nose, sneezing and a deep cough, so there was little rest to be had that night.  I couldn’t breath, I was cold and I was at an elevation where oxygen was scarce anyways. My legs caught multiple cramps trying to get into and out of the tent, and I couldn’t sleep, so finally, I went to sleep in my sleeping bag sitting in my chair with a fleece over my head.  I actually slept pretty well there.

We woke up fairly late (just after seven a.m.), and broke camp and went to bird the canyon.  I had notice last night that my camera’s ISO had been turned down to LO and my pictures were all blurred, so I was looking forward to seeing how my new pictures would come out.  Unfortunately, I was feeling really bad.  I was having trouble catching my breath as we walked up hill, and after only a quarter of a mile or so, I told Steve to go on without me.  We had come upon an Acorn Woodpecker’s stash and the pair were flying back and forth to the snag with regularity.  I took some pictures of them for awhile, but even that couldn’t hold me there, and I  headed back to the car and took an hours nap.  Steve returned and basically told me that I didn’t miss much, just Bushtits and a Rufous-crowned Sparrow.  The sparrow would have been a year bird, but the rest was more important. 

I napped as Steve drove back around the mountains and headed towards El Paso.  We stopped at Pine Springs, where Steve found a Cassin’s Finch (only his second in Texas) and a Hermit Thrush.

Driving through the desert, we ran into dry rain (where the rain never reaches the ground), a sand storm, and a heavy rain storm accompanied by some serious wind.  We decided to go to the feeders at the Franklin Mountain State Park just north of El Paso, where we hit the jackpot!  Gambels and Scaled Quail were everywhere!  White-winged and Mourning Doves,  as well as numbers of House Finches were in the majority, but Black-throated and White-crowned Sparrows, a Curve-billed Thrasher, a Canyon Wren, and Pyrrhuloxia made their presence known too!  We stayed there until dark then headed to dinner and the pharmacy, where I got some much needed medication. We checked for the time of sunrise (7:30) and set our alarm clock for seven a.m.

It was light at seven the next morning, and we jumped out of bed and headed directly to the Rio Bosque Wildlife Preserve, looking for the Crissal Thrasher.  We were unsuccessful in that search, but we did see a number of great birds, including a Verdin, Harris Hawks, Northern Harrier, a Sharpie and a Zone-tailed Hawk that was too far away to photograph by the time I got the camera out.

 Next we drove to the McNary Reservoir, where we saw the four species of grebes previously seen, and a huge variety of ducks including our only Common Goldeneye, and an individual Cackling Goose.  Also, flying with Ring-billed Gulls were a couple of Bonaparte’s Gulls. 

 After getting our fill of water birds, we headed towards the Davis Mountains, and found a Golden Eagle perched on the side of the road on 118 just south of Kent.  It flushed when we stopped and we got a chance to observe it flying in the distance for a couple of minutes.  We continued to the Lawrence E Wood Picnic area just northwest of the McDonald Observatory, where we looked for the Williamson’s Sapsucker, which is commonly seen there.  Unfortunately, after making a complete tour of the park, we saw just about nothing, except for a Ruby-crowned Kinglet that I pointed out to Steve.  He pointed out that it was next to a Williamson’s Sapsucker and then the birds became more active, and we saw numbers of Chipping Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos, and a White-breasted Nuthatch and Western Scrub Jay.

After running out of new birds, we headed to the Davis Mountains State Park, catching a Northern Harrier working the side of the mountain on the way.  At the park, there are 3 sets of feeders.  The first is at the welcome center, but it was not really active.  The second feeder is next to the park hosts campsite.  The third was in the back, but was not really set up to watch long term from outside and the doors were locked for the indoor observation area.  We went back to the second feeder and set up our chairs away from the observation area, since the seating area is a little close to the feeders.  We sat down as somebody walked up to the seating area and we watched from a distance until I realized that there was activity around the corner and out of sight from where we were sitting. It turns out that there was a water feature over there!  I moved over to the seated area, but Steve stayed in his chair, and I felt a little weird about the move, but got some decent shots of some good birds, including an Acorn Woodpecker, Canyon Towhee, and Cactus Wren.  After young Florida birder Andy Bankert joined us, he pointed out a Rufous-crowned Sparrow. One of my target birds was the elusive Phainopepla, and one showed up as the light was being lost to the night, so the pictures were not much more than good for identifying/ verifying the sighting.

We woke up early for our last day of birding, and went back to the picnic area, looking for Western Screech Owls.  It was cold (22 degrees Farhenheit), and quiet (like it was when we first drove up the day before).  We did not hear any owls, but we did hear a lot of Common Ravens, our Nuthatch from the day before, and little else.  We then moved back to the state park and went to the back feeder to see if we could find a Montezuma Quail, which will periodically come to the feeders.  Before they opened the doors to the indoor observation room, Steve found a Red-naped Sapsucker.  We went inside and Andy showed up again.  Steve and Andy got a chance to chat, and we saw a Red-naped Sapsucker that may or may not have been the same bird.  Initially, I thought it was a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, but have changed back to Red-naped.  A Spotted Towhee made an appearance, as well as a cool looking Oregon subspecies of the Dark-eyed Junco.  Another bird, which I didn’t pay much attention to, was a Field Sparrow, which apparently was a rarity for the area.  I didn’t get a good picture of it, and deleted it from my camera before Steve asked me for proof for eBird.

 When it became apparent that the Montezuma Quail was not going to show, we decided to head to Balmorrhea State Park, where we were greeted by a Roadrunner in the parking lot.  We went into the “pool” area, which is a spring fed pool with a sandy bottomed deep pool with tiled sides.   The water from the spring is the source of water for Balmorrhea Lake, as well as the irrigation source for the farmlands for miles around. There were Lessor Scaup and Pied-billed Grebes swimming and diving in the water.  It was quite an experience watching these birds from above, swimming underwater, twenty feet below the surface.  Above the water, we saw Black and Eastern Phoebes, and a nice Fox Sparrow (which was another rarity).  It was interesting watching a pair of Rock Wrens interacting in the brush, where one actually bounced on the branch to move the branch up and down with it’s weight.  We moved to the back of the park to look for Green-tailed Towhee and Brewer’s Sparrows.  We whiffed on the sparrow, but did get the towhee.  At the wetlands area, there were some beautiful Hooded Mergansers, that I was able to get a few nice pictures of, as well as a Belted Kingfisher, Snowy Egret and a Says Phoebe (making the trifecta of phoebes at the park).

We headed back towards home afterwards, but stopped in Fort Stockton to look for Burrowing Owls and gasoline (At least we found gas).  We then drove straight to Junction, where we stopped at South Llano River State Park to spend some time at the feeders.  The feeders were busy with Spotted Towhees and some fairly common western birds seen all week.  I decided to move out of the blind and go look for birds in the bush.  I heard a Spotted Towhee calling and decided to go see if I could find it.  I got to where I thought it might be and started pishing.  I have to say that this was one of the best responses that I have had in awhile.  There were five or six Spotted Towhees, a couple of Black-throated Sparrows, a Field Sparrow, and a number of White-winged Doves and Cardinals all jazzed up.  It was getting dark, so we headed to Darrel and Dawn’s home, where we had a nice visit, a good nights sleep, and a trip home the next morning.

We had 122 species for the trip, 35 new birds for my year list, and 4 lifers for me.