Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Seminole Canyon

Chuck, Helga, Al, & Henry
  

We spent the night at Marathon, and did some windy birding in an oasis south of town, where we encountered a flock of Turkeys.

Turkey, Marathon

The next day morning we drove into Big Bend National Park.  The weather was perfect, and we flushed our only Scaled Quail of the trip in the deserts leading up to the Chisos.

Summer Tanager, Big Bend NP

  
We had two days to explore the park--not nearly enough, but we got to see an awful lot in the short time we were there.  Normally the haunt of Hepatic Tanagers (which we also saw), this Summer Tanager came up from the hot riparian areas to sing in the cool pines.

The first afternoon we explored some of the riparian areas along the Rio Grande.  Our first nice bird was a Black Hawk, followed shortly by this calling Gray Hawk.

Gray Hawk, Big Bend NP

Vermilion Flycatcher, Big Bend NP

The cottonwoods were alive with red birds--both Summer Tanagers and Vermilion Flycatchers.  Another very common bird on the lawns and in the brush were Greater Roadrunners.  Less commonly observed birds were Painted Bunting and Phainopepla.

As we were spreading out our picnic under a Cottonwood Tree, we noticed some Turkey Vultures circling lower and lower.  Maybe they thought we were going to eat road kill for lunch?  When they landed and started hopping up to us, we realized that these vultures were opportunists of the first class.
 

Turkey Vultures looking for scraps, Big Bend NP

Hutton's Vireo

We only found this one Hutton's Vireo, but where ever you looked around the village, there were birds to be seen: Mexican Jay, Hermit Thrush, Hepatic Tanager, and Rufous-crowned Sparrows.

One of the most common birds in the Chisos was the Canyon Towhee.
   


Canyon Towhee, Big Bend NP
 

The Laguna Meadow Trail took us a couple of miles uphill to the Colima Warbers.  Chuck got to see and hear eight of these little beauties found nowhere else in the United States.  Other attractions along the trail were some odd-looking insects, Broad-billed Hummingbird, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Scott's Oriole, Crissal Thrasher, and Spotted Towhee.

Insects along the Laguna Meadows trail

Red-tailed Hawk, Big Bend NP

The first night we stepped out of our cabins, we were greeted with the sounds of Elf Owl and Poorwill, and a sky full of twinkling stars.  The next night we went out looking for owls and nightjars, but a fierce wind but a damper on our efforts.

Not all the attractions at Big Bend were birds.  We saw some fine lizards and several packs of Javalina.  On Friday we made the long drive back to San Antonio, and caught our flights early on Saturday morning.  It had been an awesome trip!