2019 Resolution: 100 Species or Bust!
After catching the birding bug a few years ago, and recently creating an account here on Inaturalist, the pursuit of biodiversity has become a bit of an obsession for me. I think it’s a healthy one though, as it invariably leads me outdoors to new and strange places where I meet new animals and new people. Before I’d even heard of Inat I was sitting inside on a -25 degree January day wishing I was out exploring the world. On that thought, I decided to start 2019 with a resolution/goal of seeing as many new species of animal as possible. I decided to set a target of 100 species of vertebrates, assuming insects and other inverts would likely push me past 100 in no time at all. Since wildlife photography was already a hobby of mine, I figured this was destined to be a resolution I might actually stick to!
My year of exploration started slowly in the grip of an especially cold Iowa winter, and my first new species didn’t come along until February 1st, when on the way to work I was surprised to spot a Gyrfalcon munching on a ground squirrel in a snowy farm field. Another month passed with no new species, and I began to realize my eyes may have been bigger than my stomach. I’d already recorded the majority of the common vertebrate species in my area, and there weren’t many easy additions to make. I would have certainly failed my mission if it were not for a fortuitous road trip with a close friend to the Rio Grande valley of Texas, a mecca for wildlife enthusiasts and especially bird watchers. We had planned our trip over 8 days in early April, the peak of migration in south Texas, and had a target list of over 50 species of birds neither of us had seen before.
The trip began on a cold morning in Iowa City, headed south for the next 22 hours we couldn’t resist an early stop at a Prairie chicken lek in southern Iowa which earned us the state endangered Greater Prairie Chicken, our first lifer of the trip! We pushed south through the rest of day and night to our fist Texas location, the Hill Country, which divides fauna of the southeast from the southwest. Here we encountered endemic species such as the Golden-cheeked Warbler, https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/27545173Ladder-backed woodpecker, White-tipped dove, and Rufous-crowned sparrow.https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/27543393 It was after this that we received word through the birding grapevine that an extremely rare Mexican species, the Yellow Grosbeak had been appearing at a backyard bird feeder in the tiny town of Concan. We took a chance and diverted the couple hours to the little resort town. After getting to know the homeowner we were sitting in their beautiful backyard, and within minutes the star of the entire trip was busily feeding just feet away! https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/27545186This was one of only a dozen or so records of this species in the United States. Spirits up, we drove on the remaining 4 hours to Kingsville, TX to get our first real sleep in the last 36 hours and to prepare for an all-day guided tour of King Ranch the next morning.
King Ranch is legendary amongst birders, and it was a smorgasbord of new southern species. Crested Caracara, Greater roadrunner, Harris’s hawk,https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/27530072 and Olive Sparrow abounded. On our tour, we also managed to see and photograph all of the King ranch “Big 5”, the five most desired species in the area. Ferruginous pygmy Owl, Audubon’s Oriole, Northern Beardless tyrannulet, Sprague’s Pipit, and Tropical Parula all made prolonged appearances! On the tour, I divided my attention between the sky for birds and the sandy scrub for reptiles, I was rewarded with Texas horned lizard https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/27511713and keeled earless lizard, two target species for the trip. In true mad-birder style we decided to forego dinner after departing king ranch and check just one more spot. The grounds of Quinta Mazatlán, in the border city of Brownsville TX, rewarded us with Broad-billed hummingbird, Plain Chachalaca, and Common Paraque as the sun set on our second day in Texas. Day two closed with 29 birds, 2 reptiles and 1 mammal, a heard of feral nilgai, (an Indian antelope species) adding to the tally. Day three in TX was nothing short of spectacular, and after a short morning trip to Estero Llano Grande, 10 more bird species were added to the list. Alligators and Rose-bellied lizards, Common Spotted Whiptails, a 6 and-a-half foot Bullsnakehttps://www.inaturalist.org/observations/22969314, and Western Ribbon Snake were all seen in the space of an hour. Four more lifer reptiles made the list. The biggest surprise of the day was a low-flying Swallow-tailed Kite,https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/27545189 a rarity in the valley, and one of my favorite birds. Green Jays, a jewel of the valley were also a treat! https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/27540146That night a side trip to Bentsen Rio Grande State Park had us (and about 30 other eager bird watchers) looking up at a small hole in a telephone pole as the last rays of light faded, hoping to catch a glimpse of another south Texas specialty, an Elf Owl.https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/27543388 After an hour of staring the tiny head popped out and everyone got great looks at the bird. Cave swallows migrating up the Rio Grande, and a family of Collared peccaries rounded out the night. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/30640592
Over the next couple days, we returned to Estero llano Grande to see more incredible birds like White-tailed Kite, Gray Hawk, and Great Kiskadee, https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/27540166we stood in a Red Lobster parking lot to witness the mass roosting of Green parakeets and Red-lored parrots on the power lines of Brownsville, we saw White Ibis and Roseate Spoonbillhttps://www.inaturalist.org/observations/27524387 in wetlands and Green and Ringed Kingfishers at local parks. At Quinta Mazatlán, we got special access and a brief glimpse of a Crimson-collared grosbeak, another rarity that had shown up recently. By the end of day six we had tallied 51 new species of birds, half a dozen reptiles, 3 more mammals, (Nutria, Rio Grande Ground Squirrel, and Hispid Cotton rat). We had already exceeded our expectations for the whole trip! With two days to go we headed for the coast, to the legendary South Padre Island.
Here the shorebirds and seabirds abounded, and Black skimmers, another favorite of mine were seemingly everywhere. By wonderful coincidence a Varied Bunting appeared at the visitor’s center, a beautiful rarity we had searched fruitlessly for earlier in the trip. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/27516128On our way up the coast to Houston we stopped by a nesting platform for the endangered Aplomado Falcon. Luckily for us, there was a female resting on the nest, after this we continued north to Bolivar flats to catch a glimpse of Snowy and Wilson’s plovers, and a surprise Clapper Rail in the intertidal marshes. Finally, a stop outside Houston at WG Jones State forest to see the western-most population of Red-cockaded Woodpecker and Brown-capped Nuthatches.https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/27516118 As we left southern Texas we knew the trip had exceeded our wildest expectations. I had recorded 65 life birds, 9 reptiles, 1 amphibian, 4 mammals, and 7 fish.
Whew, suddenly 100 species didn’t seem too far out of reach! With the Texas trip included, I was at 88 new species, and it was only mid-April! Eight months and 12 species to go!
