The Houston Audubon Members Field Trip for the month of October was birding at Brazos Bend State Park on Saturday, October 19, 2019. You can never have a bad day at Brazos Bend but the last few attempts to visit with a group had led to cancellations due to flooding. Happily, the October field trip was not at risk for any sudden changes in location.
The group arrived to discover about 70 plus Wood Storks just around the corner from the gift shop and registration building. This was an exciting start to the day. At the end of our trip about 4 hours later we would tally over 1000 Wood Storks. It was an amazing experience to be there as kettle after kettle of storks took to the sky and started streaming south. When we first arrived the storks were very content to just preen, stretch and yawn occasionally as they waited for the thermals to rise. They gave us all great opportunities for photographs.
In addition to the storks there were numerous songbirds to seek out, Barred Owls calling, a White-tailed Hawk kiting over open fields and more!
Brazos Bend State Park, Needville US-TX (29.3714,-95.6351), Fort Bend, Texas, US
50 species
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck (Dendrocygna autumnalis) 26
Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors) 17
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) 2
Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata) 25
American Coot (Fulica americana) 8
Wood Stork (Mycteria americana) 650 Probably over 1000
Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga) 1
Neotropic Cormorant (Phalacrocorax brasilianus) 1
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) 1
Great Egret (Ardea alba) 2
Snowy Egret (Egretta thula) 6
Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea) 1
Tricolored Heron (Egretta tricolor) 1
White Ibis (Eudocimus albus) 1
Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus) 7
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) 2
Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius) 1
White-tailed Hawk (Geranoaetus albicaudatus) 1
Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) 1
Barred Owl (Strix varia) 2
Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) 3
Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens) 1
Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) 1
Crested Caracara (Caracara cheriway) 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens) 1
Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) 4
Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus) 1
White-eyed Vireo (Vireo griseus) 2
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) 1
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) 4
Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis) 2
Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) 4
Northern Rough-winged Swallow (Stelgidopteryx serripennis) 3
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula) 2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea) 2
House Wren (Troglodytes aedon) 1
Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris) 2
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) 4
Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) 2
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 45
Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) 25
Boat-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus major) 1
Great-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus) 1
Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia) 1
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) 2
Wilson's Warbler (Cardellina pusilla) 2
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) 2
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S60744489
