Texas and Birding Rockport
March 13, 1998
With bird identifications, I need all the help I can get. Sometimes I begin to think that I know a few birds, then some bird comes along that smacks me back into reality.
Here at Goose Island State Park near Rockport, TX. brother Scott, sis Peggy, inlaw Sonny, wife Pat and I watched a grey bird land on a yaupon bush about 10 yards outside the front window of our motorhome. Mockingbird! was my first guess.
Scott replied, “But its beak is not right and its shape is wrong.”
“Must be some kind of flycatcher then,” I answered. There it was in plain view with the early-morning sun shining directly on it. “Can see no whiskers, not a flycatcher beak” I said. But to be sure we looked through all the larger flycatchers in our bird book to make sure we did not overlook something. Yes, we tried as hard as we could to make this bird into a flycatcher, but it just did not fit. No! It was also not a curve-billed thrasher – bill did not curve enough.
“Look! It's throwing up! Scott said. The bird’s feathers were ruffled and it appeared very heavy- bodied. Its beak moved like it was singing; it shook its head and up came a yaupon berry that it spit out on the ground. In a flash, this mystery bird flew across the front window and landed on the opposite side of the motorhome -- again in full view.
“The beak is curved slightly at the tip, just like a Mockingbird,” I said. “It also has dark eyes and a long tail.” Then I remembered the old saying “If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck -- it is probably a duck.” Yes, our mystery bird was a Mockingbird. Our only excuse for the mis-identification was that the poor bird was sick, cold and fluffed-up. I have had problems with very common birds before. Having seen mockingbirds all my life, I feel very confident in identifying a Mockingbird by its general appearance without thinking about the precise characters used in its identification. Usually, its general appearance and behavior are enough – it sits on branches in exposed places when it flies the white wing spots show clearly and it sings like a Mockingbird. Of course, some of the Thrashers also sound much like a Mockingbird so it would be wise for me not to depend on its song – especially since I cannot hear well. But our mystery bird had not been singing anyway -- too many yaupon berries had given it a tummy ache. I don’t know if it is a scientifically documented fact that birds sing less when they have a yaupon stomach ache, but it seems like a reasonable guess that song might be inhibited when there is a yaupon berry in the throat that can’t decide which way to go -- up or down.
For the remainder of the day, Scott and I got a well-deserved ribbing. When we were uncertain about a duck at Rockport, Sonny Miller said: “It's probably a Mockingbird.”
Again, for a long-legged shorebird, I said, “Looks like a Willet.”
“Must be a Mockingbird,” said Sonny.
Scott and I had much better luck with our identifications at Aransas Wildlife Refuge a couple of days ago. Of course, it is the home of possibly the most famous rare bird in Texas – the whooping crane. Most have already begun their migration back to Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada, but we were able to see three of them from the viewing tower. We enjoyed watching them search the marsh for one of their dietary staples, the blue crab. According to a report in the Spring Port Aransas/Mustang Island Visitors’ Guide, they can eat as many as nine of these crabs in ten minutes. They also eat clams, small marine organisms, crawfish, wolfberry, and acorns. I often forget that they are the largest bird in North America. They average five feet tall and have a wing-span of about 7.5 feet.
It has been a very good year for the cranes. Since their near-extinction in 1941, their numbers have increased to a total of 300 birds in captivity and in the wild. Last year the refuge hosted 160 cranes and this year the number is up to 181 – an all-time record.
With a good spotting scope and some nice warm weather, I can spend hours on this viewing tower watching across the marsh and the wind-blown live oak thickets. Several feral hogs and five piglets foraged out in the open. Ducks, herons, egrets and various shore-birds can be seen. But it was windy and cold so that I could only last about 30 minutes.
However, it was warmer on one of the trails. The willows are in full bloom, which attracts the warblers. Yellow-rumps are very common, but we also saw black/white and yellow-throated warblers.
The surviving members of my parents (the C. W. Sterling kids) are here at Rockport – one of Scott’s favorite places. Dorothy, Peggy/Sonny, Fanny, Winfield/Pat, Scott, Ruth, John/Linda and Peter/Anne are here. We missed Bruce! John’s kids Casey and Peter came and we were introduced to Peter’s attractive and interesting girlfriend, Natasha. Marjorie came up from the Valley with Fanny. Diana and her friend George are also here. Peter and Anne left Sunday morning and were replaced by others. Peter has taken a short, five-week, job in Thailand and Anne is going with him. Dorothy and I want to go with him, but he claimed that his company would not pay our way. Oh well!
Saturday night Scott cooked a “Low Country Boil” of shrimp, fresh corn on-the-cob, and potatoes. That boy really knows how to cook! It was delicious.
