Chasing the Spotted Rail at Choke Canyon State Park

Let's rewind to December 29, 2020. I finally have an opportunity to chase the Spotted Rail at Choke Canyon State Park. But there was an issue, the weather was supposed to be awful. Do I risk it or do I stay put? A 5.5 hour drive in the dark and rain seemed like a bad idea, so I stayed in Dallas. And I am very thankful for that. I had a really bad feeling leading up to the trip, and my gut was right. It was cold and rainy all day, and driving home from work (at the same time I would have been on the road) I got a flat tire that I would not have wanted to deal with on a rural road at night.

Fast forward to January 16, 2021. I'm moved in to my condo, my car has new wheels, it's a long weekend, and the weather could not be better. Let's get on the road!

"Why?" - most non-birders when I tell them what I'm doing. "5.5 hours? For a bird? That doesn't seem worth it." Of course, they're incorrect with that statement. It isn't just a bird, this is a Spotted Rail we're talking about. An ABA code 5 rarity, this would be the rarest bird I've seen in North America (although strangely not the rarest bird to Texas with the White Wagtail being a first state record). This is the 4th ABA record of the bird and the 3rd Texas record, although the first chaseable record of this bird. The first two specimens were dead birds found in Pennsylvania and Brown County, TX and the third was a Houston area record that was turned into a wildlife rehabber and never seen again. 

Spotted Rail

Rails are an interesting family of birds. American Coots and Common and Purple Gallinules are related and are the most likely to be seen, but I have also had solid luck with Sora and Clapper Rail. They are notoriously hard to see due to their habitat and habits. They live in marshy areas and love to hide, so good luck seeing them. It's my understanding that the ABA allowed counting heard-only birds partially to stop people front tramping over habitat of Black and Yellow Rail. Little is known about them due to their elusive nature, but it is known that Veracruz, Mexico and Cuba are about as far north as the bird gets. But rails are known to wander hundreds of miles away from their normal range.

Long story short, the odds of another one turning up are very low, so you better better not waste the chance to see one. 

Vermillion Flycatcher

After a night of staying with friend of the blog Anthony, I woke up early to make the remaining 2.5 hour drive to Choke Canyon. The weather was perfect and I knew it was going to be a good day from the moment I entered the park. This is on the far north end of the range of south Texas specialty birds, so within seconds I had a Great Kiskadee and Long-billed Thrasher. Upon parking I had great looks at a Vermillion Flycatcher and Green Jays were squawking in the trees behind me. Let's do this.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

There wasn't much to do, within seconds of walking up I had views of the Spotted Rail running between clumps of cattails! Getting a picture was very difficult, as the rail was usually visible for just a few seconds at a time. Those few seconds were outstanding, though. Whoever found this bird deserves heaps of praise because it could be so hard to find. They walk very low to the ground, and we couldn't even see it move. But eventually we got excellent looks at it, and the light was perfect to allow for outstanding views with no shadows.

One of the few times it was cooperative

After an hour of admiring the bird it was time to look for others. Although I would not see them, Hook-billed Kite, Long-tailed Duck, Black-throated Gray Warbler, and Anna's Hummingbird had also been reported, as well as a host of other birds that I rarely get to see.

My walk down Hawk Alley was extremely productive. Audubon's Oriole and Verdin were highlights, but they didn't steal the show. That spot was deserved for Common Paraque, and this was the first time I saw one without having someone point it out! I'm cheating because I saw briefly in flight, but (shocker) I couldn't relocate it when it settled down. A calling Dickcissel was unusual and out of season. 

Common Paraque taken at Estero Llano Grade State Park

I returned to 75 Acre Lake to scan for the Long-tailed Duck and Hook-billed Kite, but neither materialized, although Sora and Cinnamon Teal were nice consolations. By now I was running out of time, and I still had about 6 hours between me and Dallas. I made one pass at the Black-throated Gray warbler spot and came up empty, but I did get an Olive Sparrow that was very cooperative.

Say's Phoebe

By now it was 1:00, I had to go. But I can safely say I will be back. Choke Canyon's Calliham unit is very small, but it packs an insane birding punch and rare birds frequently turn up here. I was there 4.5 hours and didn't even bird the whole park and I had 70 species. You better believe celebratory Czech Stop was consumed on my way home.

Tyler State Park and Rarity Chasing

 Mid-December wound up being full of great birding opportunities. This year has seen an irruption of finches as they disperse south due to low conifer seeds in northern forests. Evening Grosbeaks, Pinyon Jays, and even a Clark's Nutcracker have shown up in Texas, and birds like Mountain Bluebird, Pine Siskin, and Western Bluebird have spread out in greater numbers across the state. 

Another bird that has swarmed Texas is Purple Finch, and a rare wintering bird that is usually only found in east Texas and even then it is uncommon. This year they have been way more common, showing up farther south and farther west, including White Rock Lake. But Purple Finches being more common overlapped with another opportunity: Christina has never been camping as an adult and this was an opportunity to turn her into a camper and a birder! I also wanted to try for Brown-headed Nuthatch, #1 on my nemesis list now that I have Magnificent Frigatebird checked.

We started out on the Blackjack Trail, which had great sparrow habitat. White-throated Sparrow was abundant and we got great looks at Chipping and Field Sparrow as well. American Goldfinches were common as well. After quickly finishing the short trail we started Loop A, which took us through us through excellent pineywoods, which had to have Brown-headed Nuthatch, right?

White-throated Sparrow

Loop A is a 2.5 mile trail that winds through excellent forest that was very active. Cedar Waxwings were everywhere, as were Carolina Chickadees. I checked every Eastern Bluebird in hopes that I could get a Western, but no luck. Woodpeckers were also very active, and we got 5 species. My alarm clock in the morning was a loud Pileated Woodpecker, and Downy Woodpecker could be heard all down the trail. I never saw a Hairy, but they do get frequently reported there. We got a view of a Pine Warbler and a few vocalized which got us pretty excited, and an elusive Brown Creeper was climbing a tall Pine. 

I kept watching the trees for signs of Brown-headed Nuthatch, and I finally saw some movement! It was absolutely a nuthatch, and when I finally IDed it was...a White-breasted Nuthatch. We saw tons of them, but never their Brown-headed brethern. We would not see Purple Finch or Brown-headed Nuthatch, but there's no such thing as a bad day in the woods so it wasn't a big deal!

Our last trail was took us all around the lakeshore at around 2 miles. Due to the time and increased activity the birds were scarce in general, although along the dam there looks to be excellent vantage points to look for birds higher up in the trees. We did have Pied-billed Grebes and Ruddy Ducks on the lake, although there was not much else. Tyler State Park is an excellent blend of birding and hiking, and I will for sure be making a return visit.

Pied-billed Grebe

There was also major excitement surrounding local rarities. For those unaware by now I am fascinated by animal populations and what causes them to move around, whether that is wandering temporarily or range expansion and contraction. Jaguars in northern Mexico/southern Arizona and Ocelots in south Texas are especially interesting, but it spills over to birds as well (I highly recommend Rare Birds of North America by Steve Howell, it will fascinate even the most uninterested birder).

Anyways, a rare bird palooza has unfolded in the DFW area. I was really pumped to chase a Surf Scoter in Irving until I got a notification that a White-winged Scoter was present in Frisco. White-winged Scoter is a little rarer than Surf Scoter, and with a small amount of time to bird I had to prioritize WWSC. And then another notification, Great-blacked Gull was seen in Denton, and someone later found 2 Iceland Gulls. You can't turn that down, but I was really going to be cutting it close with the A&M game starting at 11.

The birding 2 minute drill began. 1st and 10 on the 20. Christian's Subaru ran an out route along 635 to the tollway with minimal traffic, solid 10 yard gain. The defense showed blitz and we got risky calling a draw play, but it resulted in a hasty gain, gashing the defense for a long run to Frisco. 

Things started looking a little dicey. I showed up to Phillips North Lake in a subdivision, expecting to see it on the small pond. After a quick scan, nothing but Lesser Scaup. Incomplete pass, second down. I hustled down to the main pond and looked across. Bufflehead and Greater Yellowlegs were cool finds, but not much. 3rd and 5. I rounded the smaller pond to see a larger duck in the flock of scaup. Somebody studied their birding film and knew this had potential. White wing patches were visible, WHITE-WINGED SCOTER! FIRST DOWN!

White-winged Scoter

Time was running out, and I called a comeback route as I headed southwest to Trinity Fork Park, where the Great Black-backed Gull had been spotted. I raced into the parking lot to find the gull had departed, but the two Iceland Gulls were there, as were a few Lesser Black-backed Gulls! I had potentially seen one at White Rock a few weeks prior, but I didn't count it because I wasn't certain. Now there was no doubt, the birds were massive but had dark shading around the eyes that separated them from the Herring Gulls around them. My last hope was the Railroad Street pond a half mile away.

4th and goal at the 5, make or break. GBBG is a TBRC review species, and this is the 63rd record in Texas, but it is almost exclusively found on the coast. This is the first DFW record, and only the fourth record of it not being found on the Texas coast, with 2 coming from Lake Meredith and one from Lake O' The Pines. You don't want to miss this one, and they are very hard to miss.

I pulled up to pond to find a few cars and scopes out. They told me it was on the pond, and it stuck out like a sore thumb. This gull is massive compared to other gulls, and it looked like a B-52 soaring over the water. We got it! Touchdown! After admiring for it a few minutes I had no time to spare, and I raced home to shower before making it to the game on time. 3 state birds and an Aggie win, it doesn't get any better than that!