Golden Triangle Audubon Bird Alert -- February 21, 2010

Birding in the immediate local area has been rather routine for February.  Wintering hummingbirds are still with us, and spring has yet to be felt.  Most areas are unusually wet and this tends to spread birds out.  At Sabine Woods, Swamp Sparrows are all over the woods, and there are other sparrows around, including a good number of Lincoln's Sparrows.  One of the most noteworthy sightings was an adult Bald Eagle seen by Christine Sliva on her way to last Thursday's meeting (Feb 18) over Highway 124 at Tyrrell Park Road.

This winter, it has again been difficult to find congregations of waterfowl that can be reasonably easily observed by birders.  Therefore, since this may be close to the last chance to see many waterfowl species until next winter, we are reporting on an area a little outside our normal coverage area.  A chance observation of a lot of waterfowl taking to the air while we were returning from the field trip on Saturday (Feb 20) and a brief detour to view them prompted a more thorough exploration of the area on Sunday (Feb 21).

The area in question is in northern Chambers County, either side of the north part of Jenkins Road that runs from IH-10 to FM1663 (1 2/3 miles).  This was an excellent birding area about a decade ago, but then some of the ponds/rice fields were kept drained and there was less waterfowl habitat.  Most of the areas have very short stubble, and have water standing in them at present, unlike west Jefferson County, which has few wet fields with short stubble.

The area can be accessed from IH-10 – the Jenkins Road exit is well signed and is about 10 miles west of the Texas 124 exit in Winnie.  Alternatively, it can be accessed using FM1663.  FM1663 intersects FM1406 about 2 miles north of IH-10 Winnie  Jenkins Road is 8.5 miles west of that intersection.  The last 2.0 miles as you approach Jenkins Road has a number of wet fields that also held waterfowl.  Hamilton Lateral Road, which goes north (to a dead end) from FM1663 one mile east of Jenkins Road through a number of flooded fields, had some waterfowl, and looked as if it should be checked regularly when birding the area.

There were two to three thousand white geese (Snow Geese with a number of Ross's Geese) mostly favoring an area a good distance west of Jenkins Road, just a little north of the canal (called the "Hankamer-Stowell Canal") that runs east-west across Jenkins Road about half way between IH-10 and FM1663, just a little north of the Power Line.  There was a small group of Greater White-fronted Geese associated with them.  They were very skittish and frequently took flight when a raptor or vulture flew over, whether it was an eagle or something less formidable.

There were two areas on Jenkins Road holding ducks.  The pond on the west side of Jenkins Road immediately north of IH-10 – which is a permanent feature of the area, and obviously quite deep – contained a large number (1,500+) of Green-winged Teal, with a smaller, but quite significant, number of Blue-winged Teal mixed in.  There were also Canvasback (about 50), Ring-necked Ducks (about 100), Ruddy Ducks (about 100), a few Gadwall, a couple of Northern Pintail, a few Northern Shoveler, both species of scaup (looked like four Lesser and five Greater Scaup) as well as the inevitable American Coots.  The levee-banks of the Hankamer-Stowell Canal are not fenced, posted, nor painted with purple paint (although the owner or lessor of the property was antagonistic towards access in times past), and the northern part of the pond can be scoped by going a very short distance in from the road.  The vegetation along Jenkins Road makes viewing the pond from further south difficult unless you have the bed of a pickup to stand in.

The other area was on the east side of Jenkins Road about 3/10 mile south of FM1663, and also, unfortunately, some distance from the road.  A scope is essential to survey the area adequately. However, there is no levee or vegetation to block the view.  This area is shallow water.  It contained Gadwall and Northern Shoveler, plus a few Blue-winged Teal, and half a dozen American Wigeon.  There were also shorebirds in the back of this area, Long-billed Dowitchers (probably 750), Black-necked Stilt (about 50), some Dunlin, some Black-bellied Plover and possibly some peeps.  We heard Greater Yellowlegs also, and there were, inevitably, Killdeer everywhere.

There were three or four Mallards in a field south of FM1633 just west of Jenkins Road, and the ponds north of FM1663 from Jenkins Road east for about two miles had a few Northern Pintail. There were American Coots everywhere and White Ibis in many places.  A few White-faced Ibis were also seen.  Many American Pipits were heard and seen.

There were a few Red-tailed Hawks around, and numerous Northern Harriers.  On Saturday evening, there was a Crested Caracara along FM1663.  On Sunday, we made two passes along Jenkins Road, and on both occasions an adult Bald Eagle flew across the area, alighting briefly on a low rice field levee once.  On Saturday evening, there were a number (10-15) of larger terns, almost certainly Gull-billed Terns.  On Sunday there was a Caspian Tern and a number of Ring-billed Gulls.

John A. Whittle