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12/16/11
Birding Palo Duro Canyon, a “Grand Canyon” in the Texas Panhandle
Filed under: General, Birding & Outdoors, NM & SW US, Grandchildren
Posted by: Ken @ 8:02 am

During our recent visit with our son and his wife and five children in Canyon, Texas, we got in some very good birding. Our three older grandchildren guided us on local walks in their neighborhood, and we visited a local park as well as Buffalo Lake National Wildlife Refuge in nearby Umbarger.

Canyon’s Southeast Park had a pond that contained lots of waterfowl, among them two species that are quite similar, the Canada and Cackling Geese. The latter are smaller than Canada Geese, and have disproportionately shorter necks and bills. The Cackling Geese tended to stay together in a single flock and I had a difficult time trying to get the two species to pose together to allow a comparison of their identifying features.  Formerly considered as a single species (along with other variations among Canada Goose populations), these two species were officially split when the American Ornithologists Union published the 45th AOU Checklist in 2004. Of the eleven subspecies that made up the Canada Goose complex, seven were allocated to the “large-bodied” Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) species and the other four to the Cackling Goose (Branta hutchinsii) species. Read more in David Sibley’s analysis at this link

In this photo, three of the larger Canada Geese are in the foreground, and those behind them are mostly Cackling Geese.

Cackling Geese20111110

In flight, these Canada Geese (or, as their shorter bills and necks may suggest, the nearer two are Cackling Geese) lined up  precisely.

Canada Geese 20111110

Knowing that the following photo was taken in northern Texas makes it easy for me to point out that the big blackbird is not a Boat-tailed Grackle, so common around my Florida home, but rather a Great-tailed Grackle. The former is found along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, and is strongly associated with water, while the Great-tailed Grackle ranges in the interior southwestern US. Their voices are distinctively different– the Great-tail makes very weird noises– grating, rattling and even some calls that sound exactly as if the bird is rubbing its wing feathers together.

Great-tailed Grackle 2-20111110

For comparison, here is a recent photo of Boat-tailed Grackles in their typical habitat, near our Florida home.

Boat-tailed Grackles 20111129

The Texas Panhandle is experiencing its worst drought in over 50 years. Lakes are drying up and the water table has fallen severely. Buffalo Lake was quite large, and attracted huge flocks of ducks and wading birds when I first visited there in the early 1990s. Now it is almost completely dry. Even without the water, the Refuge has extensive grasslands and wooded areas.

White-tailed Deer abounded. This doe bounded across a field in front of us.

White-tailed Doe 20111110

Although the grandchildren each tried to be the first to spot a deer or Wild Turkey, they were quite good at pointing out the raptors. We saw a Peregrine Falcon, American Kestrels and several Red-tailed hawks. Northern Harriers were abundant, but all were either brown females or immature cinnamon-colored birds. A with owls, their facial disks help them locate prey by amplifying sound. Hearing the faintest of squeaks, harriers have been know to plunge blindly into dense grass and come up with an entire nest of baby mice.

Northern Harrier 20111110

In this species, the smaller gray-colored adult males are less commonly seen, and are said to make up only about one in seven to twenty individuals sighted in the field. They occasionally mate with multiple females, but most are monogamous. Because of the relatively large number of immature birds, in which the sexes are quite similar, adult males are greatly outnumbered. Indeed, mis-identification of immature Northern Harriers as females probably accounts for the widespread belief that their sex ratio is heavily skewed toward females. Between 1971 and 1980, at four hawk watch banding stations in north-central and northeastern states, 90% of 1256  harriers  captured during migration were juveniles, but among adults the sex ratio of males to females was close to 1:1 (Reference). A large California study found that, over a 24 year period (1960 - 1983) , the female to male ratio averaged 1.1 : 1 (with an annual variation of 0.8 to 1.6 : 1) (Reference). This is so interesting, as I used to think that there had to be a lot of unattached non-breeding females left over, which would confer no evolutionary advantage for the species.

Our eldest grandson sighted this beautiful male Northern Harrier when it was some distance away,  giving me plenty of time to get my camera into action.

Northern Harrier male 20111110

Both Eastern and Western Meadowlarks are present at Buffalo Lake, but this one’s gurgling song (which I interpret as saying “Look at me, I’m a meadowlark!”) was very different from the sweet whistles of the Eastern species.

Western Meadowlark 2-20111110

On the second full day of our stay, we drove south several miles to Palo Duro Canyon.  Palo Duro Canyon State Park occupies 29,182 acres of the northern portion of the Palo Duro Canyon, which is 120 miles long and as much as 20 miles wide, with a maximum depth of more than 800 feet. Palo Duro Canyon has been described as the second largest canyon in the United States, after the Grand Canyon, which is 277 miles long, up to 18 miles wide, and 6,000 ft. deep. A fork of the Red River carved the canyon through multicolored layers of sandstone, shale and stiltstone. The oldest, deepest layers are bright red. They were deposited during the Permian Period, some 248-290 million years ago, and show up very well in the deeper valleys.
     
Palo Duro Canyon 20111112

Behind the Palo Duro Trading Post, a wildlife viewing blind provides an excellent view of a water feature and feeders. Moments after we entered the blind, we were delighted by the arrival of a Golden-fronted Woodpecker.

Golden-fronted Woodpecker 2-20111112

We had a close-up look at his reddish-brown eyes.

Golden-fronted Woodpecker close 20111112

Soon, several Dark-eyed (Slate-colored) Juncos flew in.

Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco 20111112

A White-throated Sparrow and a male Northern Cardinal shared space on the waterfall…

White-throat and cardinal 20111112

…while a female cardinal watched from her perch in a juniper.

Northern Cardinal female  2-20111112

A Spotted Towhee was quite timid and refused to come down to the feeder.

Spotted Towhee 20111112

A Fox Sparrow was a nice find for us.

Fox Sparrow 2-20111112

This Sage Thrasher looked down from a treetop.

Sage Thrasher 2-20111112

We then hiked down into a beautiful side canyon.

Palo Duro Canyon 3-20111112

Here, we found several Black-crested Titmice.

Black-crested Titmouse 20111112

Most of the titmice wore leg bands.

Black-crested Titmouse with band 20111112

Some were color-banded, indicating that they were subjects of some kind of behavioral research.

Black-crested Titmouse with color band 20111112

Previously regarded as two races of the same species, the Black-crested Titmouse (Baeolophus atricristatus) and eastern Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) were officially split into separate species. Palo Duro Canyon is in the line of demarkation between these two forms, and perhaps the researchers are studying the degree of hybridization.

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19 Responses to “Birding Palo Duro Canyon, a “Grand Canyon” in the Texas Panhandle”

  1. Laurence Butler Says:
    December 16th, 2011 at 11:53 am Wow! Fantastic photos. Titmice are beautiful birds and you really have to get those close-ups to show their subtle coloration. The Spotted Towhee is a great shot, and I think my favorite is the white-throated sparrow with the cardinal–what a great pose. It’s unusual to get two birds of such different size and coloration like that, and you got them in focus, in a lovely setting. Great stuff, thanks for sharing.
  2. Bob Zeller Says:
    December 17th, 2011 at 5:47 am Great post, and awesome photos. Very enjoyable reading. Bob
  3. Vickie Henderson Says:
    December 17th, 2011 at 2:16 pm Loved seeing the black-crested titmouse and the colorful golden-fronted woodpecker. All awesome photos. What a great trip!
  4. TexWisGirl Says:
    December 20th, 2011 at 12:32 pm nice to see such different varieties of birds from the western side of the state than what we see here in NE Tx. beautiful titmouse and woodpecker shots!
  5. Boom & Gary Says:
    December 20th, 2011 at 12:48 pm Stunning series!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.
  6. heyBJK Says:
    December 20th, 2011 at 12:49 pm Awesome shots, Ken! I really like the Golden-fronted Woodpecker and the Black-crested Titmice. Your photos are great!
  7. Mick Says:
    December 20th, 2011 at 2:08 pm All great photos and the canyon scenery is really fantastic. It looks like a wonderful place to visit.
  8. Andrew Says:
    December 20th, 2011 at 3:57 pm You really do have some wonderful wildlife to watch… Beautiful images.
  9. Andrew Says:
    December 20th, 2011 at 3:57 pm You really do have some wonderful wildlife to watch… Beautiful images.
  10. eileeninmd Says:
    December 20th, 2011 at 4:43 pm Ken, awesome series of birds and photos. My favorite is the Golden Front Woodpecker. What a gorgeous bird.
  11. Pat Says:
    December 20th, 2011 at 6:15 pm What a beautiful area to visit! You got wonderful shots of quite a variety of birds.
  12. Carole M. Says:
    December 20th, 2011 at 7:45 pm wow … such fabulous photos. I love the scenery, alongwith the beautiful birds. Thanks for sharing your adventures with a camera
  13. holdingmoments Says:
    December 21st, 2011 at 5:56 am Wow, what an amazing selection of birds Ken. I love that Harrier, but the star for me, is the shots of the Golden-fronted Woodpecker. What a beautiful bird. Never seen or heard of one before.
  14. Aria Says:
    December 21st, 2011 at 6:41 am So many wonderful birds and photos. What a great place for birding it must be. Have a wonderful Christmas!
  15. Hilke Breder Says:
    December 21st, 2011 at 11:47 am Great post, Ken, with amazing photos! After reading your description of songs of the grackle and the meadow lark I had to look them it up on the BirdTunes on my iPhone, one of my favorite birding apps. You are so right in your descriptions. What a wonderful place to visit! Happy Holidays to you and your family!
  16. Michelle Says:
    December 21st, 2011 at 1:04 pm wow..lots to learn and enjoy here..this landscape is so unlike my western NY area and I love to learn about it..thank you..
  17. Ken Says:
    December 22nd, 2011 at 2:07 pm Thanks to all of you for your comments, and Happy Holidays!
  18. Larry Jordan Says:
    December 25th, 2011 at 9:19 pm Another excellent post Ken! All of your bird shots are great but I must say the Black-crested Titmouse (we only have the rather plain Oak Titmouse here) and the Gold-fronted Woodpecker are just gorgeous!! What a great trip! Have a very Merry Christmas and a healthy and prosperous New Year!
  19. Ken Says:
    December 26th, 2011 at 8:56 am Thanks, Larry. Although I had seen both these species in the past, this was the first time since I took up photography. Getting a shot adds to the excitement of the sighting.

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