Friday, August 1, 2008

Wild Duck Chase

At sunrise, I was hitting the various parks and waterways in the region. No luck. I even put a call in to Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge. Apparently, they can be found there, too, but I had to leave a message on the machine. It was 50 miles away on the wrong side of Houston and I was simply not ready to drive that far (Ha!) for a “maybe”. So, I opted to make my way to Dallas (I had made prior arrangements to spend a day with a friend).

On my way to Dallas, I found an antique mall. While buying a glass jar from the Duncan Coffee Company (still sealed with the original coffee which is likely still more fresh than Folgers!), I got the call frmo Anuhauc. I explained I was an out-of-state birder and that I was hoping to see a Fulvous Whistling-Duck. She was pretty sure they were
around, but she volunteered to head out and double check for me. 10 minutes laters, she called again. Anahuac had the birds! The now 100 miles did not seem so far. By the time I got there (through thunderstorms that were really somethings else, a slow drizzle was falling. But, there they were. Dozens of them. FULVOUS WHISTLING-DUCK (life bird #620) Well, I am there now, right? Might as well drive a bit in the rain and see what happens. The bird of the afternoon? Rail royalty: the King Rail. It was right in front of my car. Watching scores of White-faced Ibis move through the scores was pretty cool, too.

With that, I plotted a course to Neal’s place.
I was there in 5 hours. Along the way, I spotted some Mississippi Kites.

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