Greetings All:
With a couple of lessons learned from my efforts along the Canyon Lakes of
Lubbock this past year, I have decided to chase and photograph critters in
Hockley County (the county just west of Lubbock County) this year. Again,
I am setting ambitious goals: 50 species of butterfly, 5 species of
amphibian, 10 species of reptile, 200 species of bird, and 10 species of
mammal with 90% of the species identifiably photographed.
Hockley County is roughly 100% agriculture or oilfield but there are some
very interesting hotspots, generally near the few towns and one city in the
county. Sundown has a park/golf course/water treatment facility complex
and an incredibly well-planted school/cemetery complex - both warrant eBird
hotspot status, in my opinion. Smyer has a well publicized feedlot playa
just west of town. Levelland has a tree-rich city park, a tree-rich
college campus with decent butterfly gardens, and at least two good
playa-centered parks. Road birding can also be surprisingly good in the
county with abandoned homesteads, woodlots, and a plethora of playas
readily viewed and photographed from roadside. There is a particularly
good stretch of brushland and woodlots available along FM 597 in the
northwest corner of the county - with any luck and any weather this should
be a real hotspot.
Though rainfall amounts have become disappointing and I am starting to fear
a return of drought, March was pretty good for me. I made three fairly
lengthy visits to the county and racked up 7 species of butterfly, 0
species of amphibian, 1 species of reptile, 88 species of bird, and 7
species of mammal, bringing me up to 9 species of butterfly, 0 species of
amphibian, 1 species of reptile, 90 species of bird, and 9 species of
mammal in the county for 2016. This brings me 18%, 0%, 10%, 45%, and 90%
of the way towards my goals. Of the 109 species seen so far, I have
identifiable photographs of 106, putting me at 97% for species photographed
- closer than I ever got to the 90% goal during my 2015 game. Taking shots,
however long range, of every critter seen, however common, seems to be a
good strategy - and my efforts to date have given me a pad for the
difficult to photograph swallows and migrant songbirds to come.
Without further ado, the list with *s for species that are new for the year
and (y)s for species photographed.
Juvenal's Duskywings*(y)
Black Swallowtail*(y)
Checkered White
Orange Sulphur
Dainty Sulphur
Variegated Fritillary
American Lady
Red-eared Slider
Greater White-fronted Goose*(y)
Snow Goose
Ross's Goose
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal*(y)
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead*(y)
Ruddy Duck
Scaled Quail*(y)
Northern Bobwhite
Ring-necked Pheasant
Pied-billed Grebe
Great Blue Heron
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Ferruginous Hawk
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Black-necked Stilt*(y)
American Avocet*(y)
Snowy Plover*(y)
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs*(y)
Short-billed Dowitcher*(y)
Long-billed Dowitcher*(y)
Wilson's Snipe*(y)
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared Dove
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
Greater Roadrunner
Barn Owl
Burrowing Owl
Red-naped Sapsucker*(y)
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
American Kestrel
Merlin
Say's Phoebe*(y)
Loggerhead Shrike
Blue Jay
American Crow
Chihuahuan Raven
Horned Lark
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Mountain Bluebird*(y)
American Robin
Curve-billed Thrasher
Sage Thrasher*(y)
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
American Pipit
Chestnut-collared Longspur
McCown's Longspur
Green-tailed Towhee*
Vesper Sparrow
Lark Bunting
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Western Meadowlark
Brewer's Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch*(y)
House Sparrow
Desert Cottontail
Black-tailed Prairie Dog
Southern Plains Woodrat
Hispid Cotton Rat
North American Deermouse (prairie form)
White-footed Deermouse (prairie form)*(y)
White-tailed Deer
Anthony 'Fat Tony' Hewetson; Lubbock