GREENE CO., MO — Thanks for your well wishes in response to my Gulf Coast target list last weekend. Unfortunately, they weren’t enough to bring success in the venture.

It’s not really fair to complain about a trip that included Long-billed Curlews, Marbled Godwits, avocets, Snowy Plovers, and Roseate Spoonbills, but the fact is, Saturday just wasn’t one of those lucky days. I stared into cattails until I started hallucinating, but we couldn’t even find a Sora, let alone a Virginia Rail. And anis remain a jinx bird for another year.

Thousands of Snow Geese fed in the fields at Anahuac, and we picked out a few Greater White-fronteds too. The tide was way out at Bolivar Flats, so shorebirds were dispersed over vast expanses of sand. The saltmarsh, which should have been crawling with Seaside and sharp-tailed sparrows, was very quiet. Ah well.

The two most interesting sightings, for me, were the Neotropic Cormorants in breeding plumage and three Horned Grebes in flight over the Gulf.

I don’t recall ever seeing a grebe (of any sort) in flight before, but as I scanned the water from Bolivar Flats, I picked up three birds moving low over the water, flashing white secondaries. They didn’t seem right for loons or ducks. They finally landed, and I was able (barely) to get them in the scope. They bobbed in and out of sight on the waves, but as far as I could tell, they showed the black-and-white faces of Horned Grebes. Cool!

So, all of my target birds will have to wait for another day.

I have seen 386 bird species in Texas. Depending on your frame of reference, this may sound pretty good, until I tell you that the current Texas big year record is 522 species. Yeah, 522 species in one year.

Now, if you know me at all, you probably realize that accumulating a huge state list is not of particular interest to me. I am more interested in habitats, biomes, and ecoregions than in arbitrary political borders, but the fact remains that arbitrary political borders do sometimes slice up the world into convenient little chunks. So, it makes sense to look for gaps in my life list, identify species that I should be able to find in my current little chunk of the world, and concentrate on finding those species.

So I’ve made a list of birds I’d like to find in Texas between now and the time I leave the country again in late winter:

• Greater Scaup
• King Rail
• Virginia Rail
• Groove-billed Ani
• Sprague’s Pipit
• Smith’s Longspur
• Chestnut-collared Longspur

You’ve already seen most of those names. I didn’t include species that occur in distant corners of the state (for example, Steller’s Jay and Spotted Owl), because I doubt I’ll be able to travel that far in the next couple of months.

So that was my list as of last week, and of course, the very first new bird I got was one I’d chosen not to put on the list. Sunday, a Long-tailed Duck was reported from Village Creek in Fort Worth. Monday morning, I stopped by on my way up to Missouri, and I found a crowd of other birders already there.

Scanning hundreds of Buffleheads, pintails, and shovelers, I finally found the female Oldsquaw (Can I just say it, please? There, I said it. Oldsquaw.), who was diving frequently and staying under for long periods. Eventually she came up and stayed for awhile, preening and offering nice, if distant looks. Her stubby, “rubber ducky” shape and white face with a dark cap and cheek patch were very striking. Long-tailed Ducks are reported a few times a year across Texas, and I didn’t expect to be in the right place at the right time to see one. But this little gal was sitting pretty. Score!

I didn’t get any pictures because of the distance, but here’s one from another Metroplex birder: female Long-tailed Duck.

So, hurrah for Long-tailed Ducks! I’m a fan. Now, let’s get busy on those other species. Anybody want to join my team? A-pipiting we’ll go!

DUNCANVILLE, TEXAS — Thursday morning, Hurricane Humberto crashed into the Texas Gulf Coast with a totally unexpected ferocity. High Island, a small town on the Bolivar Peninsula, was directly in the path of the storm. The name High Island is uttered with hushed voices and bright eyes in birding circles; it is one of the best-known sites on the continent for observing Neotropical migrants in spring.

High Island’s famous Boy Scout Woods and Smith Oaks sustained severe damage during the storm. Scott Newsom reported to Texbirds:

The damage is extensive and widespread there [Boy Scout Woods] and in Smith Oaks. It took us several hours to cut through the downed trees to get to the bleachers ay BSWs. The Cathedral is gone. The huge Oak by the check-in building is down as are most of the other really big trees. There is one genuinely old Oak that came through O.K. The mulberries had to be severely cut back, though they should eventually recover. There won’t be much shade on the bleachers this coming year though. The sanctuaries, especially BSW will not be as you remembered them. Despite the fact that we got the main trail opened up today, there is so much work left to do that it will likely take months to finish the clean-up and repair. Despite the initial despair we all felt at seeing the extent of the destruction, it felt good to start working toward recovery of this very special place in the hearts of birders. I hope many more of you take advantage of the opportunity to give back to this wellspring of nature’s abundence in the coming weeks and months.

Just to read those words hurts a little. Houston Audubon has posted pictures of the devastation, as well as information about volunteering and donating for those who would like to help recovery efforts at the sanctuaries.

High Island is special because it is a patch of trees amid the salt marshes and grasslands of the coast. The trees provide food and shelter for countless migrants that can be quite literally near death after a grueling, non-stop flight across the Gulf. How the loss of so many trees will impact migrants remains to be seen.

There are people at High Island, too, and some of them lost homes in the storm. Power was just restored today. The high school football stadium was also damaged in the storm. The High Island team is called — what else? — the fighting cardinals, and the mascot adorns the town water tower.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the state, the Fan-tailed Warbler is still being seen in Big Bend National Park, a month after its discovery. During the period of scrutiny by birders, it has grown a new set of tail feathers. Mark Lockwood’s photo from late August shows the bird with a stubby tail; Tony Frank’s photos show a longer tail.

DUNCANVILLE, TEXAS — I birded this morning, and when I got home, there was news. Sabine’s Gull and immature jaeger at Lake Tawakoni State Park. I gulped lunch and hopped back in the car.

It was very uncharacteristic, but it felt so good.

It would have felt even better if I had actually SEEN the birds in question, but neither one made an appearance for me.

Nonetheless, I saw several good birds today. I’ll report on them tomorrow.

DUNCANVILLE, TEXAS — People continue reporting wonderful things from Big Bend. To wit:

• Fan-tailed Warbler (first documented Texas record and one of only very few for the USA)
• Red-faced Warbler
• a pygmy owl
• Lucifer Hummingbirds
• etc.

I’m practically drooling on my keyboard, and I’ve started contemplating a crazy-insane Labor Day trip to the park. But I’d need a companion (or two), and preferably a high-clearance (maybe 4WD?) vehicle. It will probably be hot, and there will be a LOT of hiking. Do any of my readers care to join me in the expedition? If so, I need to know fast. Like by Friday.

Let’s go!

DALLAS, TEXAS — For the first time ever, a Fan-tailed Warbler has been photographed in Texas. Carolyn Ohl-Johnson snapped the image: Fan-tailed Warbler.