Dallas had a few rounds of ice and, well, ice.

I found a Merlin at Cedar Ridge Preserve in southern Dallas. They are rare here in winter.

The first Saturday of February, I twitched a Red-necked Grebe, very rare in Texas and a lifer for me, and saw several other western birds in the counties west of Fort Worth: Western Grebes, a Clark’s Grebe, a Prairie Falcon, Sandhill Cranes, and a Golden-fronted Woodpecker.

Despite freezing temperatures, spring came in mid-February with the blooming of the beautiful white trout lilies.

Other birds I found during the count were Monk Parakeets and White-winged Doves in downtown Duncanville.

cardinal arias
ground-starlet choirs
have vanished winter-gray wrinkles

wildblue burns–

now, clouds burst from resurrected limbs
     stark, pure, live!

Brian Hodgkin and I made a trip to Big Bend National Park over the second weekend of March. The desert plants, like this purple prickly pear (Opuntia violacea) were spectacular. We were a bit early for peak birding, but Black-throated Sparrows were singing all over the desert.

I spotted the nest of a Cactus Wren just where it was supposed to be — in a cholla cactus. Cactus Wrens are big, boldly marked wrens with a song that sounds as if it springs from the desert sand and stones.

We camped in The Basin and hiked up into the Chisos for an afternoon. I saw Bushtits collecting nesting materials. Mexican Jays were noisy in the trees, and Acorn Woodpeckers were silent, inconspicuous. White-throated Swifts performed spectacular aerobatics over rugged peaks and canyons.

I couldn’t resist las hermanas — these Big Bend bluebonnets (Lupinus harvardii) mirroring the Mexico and Texas sides of Santa Elena Canyon. Along the Rio Grande were Vermilion Flycatchers, Black Phoebes, and “Mexican” Mallards roosting on a sandbar in the river.

One warbler was making the rounds of his territory, singing. He would come into the trees right above our heads, but we never could see him. We later saw another individual in a different part of the park. There were also parulas, Black-and-white Warblers, and intergrade titmice with dusky crests and buffy foreheads. We did well with sparrows too, but we didn’t find any Black-capped Vireos.

Late in March, on the Flint Hills prairies in eastern Kansas, I saw Vesper Sparrows, Loggerhead Shrikes, and Red-tailed Hawks.

When birding was slow, there were always flowers.

Chihuahuan Ravens sat atop telephone poles, the strong wind ruffling their feathers and exposing diagnostic white feather bases. The bird’s scientific name is Corvus cryptoleucus — the hidden-white raven.

We reached the Hill Country and birded some of the places Jason Pike and I had done in college back in 2002. I had always remembered longingly the clear rivers, rocky bluffs, and flower-dusted grasslands. It’s a beautiful, beautiful place. Park Chalk Bluff (at left) yielded a singing Yellow-throated Warbler. Neal’s Lodge in Concan came through with Hooded Orioles, Common Ground Doves, Black-throated Sparrows, Olive Sparrows, and bucket loads of Clay-colored Sparrows.

Lost Maples State Park held several singing Golden-cheeked Warblers. I was confused at first because they sang a different song than the territorial song Mike and I had heard in March. They change their tune when the ladies arrive. We finally got a good look at a male after intense effort. Here Charley celebrates the event. Lost Maples also provided great looks at Black-chinned and Ruby-throated hummingbirds.

We finished up our trip on the savannas of Kerr Wildlife Management Area, where Black-capped Vireos were easy to hear but hard to see. The gorgeous black-and-green bird that we finally did see wasn’t vocalizing at all — we just happened to see it after stopping to hear a song that turned out to be a Painted Bunting. Ash-throated Flycatchers were also present on the savannas.

Spoonbills and other waders nesting at Smith Oaks are always a highlight of a spring coast trip.

We enjoyed watching a very cooperative Clapper Rail at James H. Robbins Memorial Park, Smith Point. The park is quite small and isn’t much to look at, but with a Seaside Sparrow singing on a fence and a Clapper Rail running around in front of us, I was impressed.