April 8th: The group met in the lobby at 6 am and the van was quickly loaded. Everyone had a chance to grab something from the continental breakfast that opened up at 6am. We then drove directly to Utopia as the world began to awaken. On the roadside wires we were soon spotting SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHERS or as Marilyn dubbed them SCIFLIES. Other notables spotted en route to Utopia were a CRESTED CARACARA and SWAINSON’S HAWK. We arrive at the Lost Maples Café shortly after 7:30 am. Here we had a fine breakfast with most of the group enjoying variations on the breakfast taco theme. These proved to be a hit.

From here we drove north to Lost Maples Natural Area about 15 miles to the north. Our first stop here was the entrance area where a SCOTT’S ORIOLE was singing overhead from the tree tops. Marilyn soon spotted it and we all got scope views of this sharp bird. Around the feeders were many BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRDS, CHIPPING SPARROWS and HOUSE FINCHES.

We then drove to the end of the road stopping at the washrooms near the East Trail head. It was a gorgeous sunny morning with mild temperatures. We walked this trail for about two hours. The setting was spectacular and the birding equal to the setting. Here we had superb looks at four male and one female GOLDEN-CHEEKED WARBLERS (hearing at least seven more), YELLOW-THROATED VIREO, ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER and surprisingly a HUTTON’S VIREO - the first Tom had seen here. On our return hike a few got a glimpse of a ZONE-TAILED HAWK before it disappeared quickly over the ridge never to appear again. We also added an adult RED-SHOULDERED HAWK. Back at the parking lot we added our first WESTERN SCRUB JAY stealing food from some picnickers.

photo - Marilyn Buhler

From Lost Maples we drove north to Kerr Wildlife Management area arriving here around 12:45 pm. By the time we got to this site the song activity had dropped to near zero and it was hot and the wind was threatening to pick up. We did track down several FIELD and LARK SPARROWS but no sign or sound of our main target - black-capped vireo. Eventually a male BLACK-CAPPED VIREO began to sing and then another and another. It took quite a bit of effort but most of the group soon got good views of BLACK-CAPPED VIREO. While Tom was pishing we added several new birds including a HERMIT THRUSH spotted by Bill. After our success with the vireo we headed back directly to Leakey along Hwy 83 for a late lunch arriving around 2:30 pm. Here at Frio Canyon lodge restaurant we had a great lunch on the shaded outdoor patio. From Leakey we drove south to Concan and Neals lodge where we checked into out accommodations. Tom had rented a large house that Neals Cabins handles for a private owner. We took a break for just over an hour with Bill and Barbara walking down by the river to scout our their Geo cache. Around 5:15pm we drove down to the Rio Frio searching without luck for the black phoebe or green kingfisher. Because the weather was good tonight we decided to take an early dinner at the lodge restaurant and then head to the bat cave. At dinner we met June Osborne, resident birder for the lodge and author of the local birders guide. Dinner tonight was either catfish or chicken fried steak.

After dinner we drove directly to the bat cave arriving there around 7 pm. Along the entrance road we tallied our first ARMADILLO which provided photo opps. At the cave we got good views of CANYON WREN and heard ROCK WREN. There were at least fifteen other people waiting for the bats to depart the cave. As we waited researchers from a Texas university were setting up special video cameras which would videotape the bats departure from the two cave entrances in order to monitor the bat numbers in this cave, currently estimated in excess of ten million!! As we waited for the bats we enjoyed a large swirling flock of CAVE SWALLOWS flying overhead. Soon they were diving into the cave to roost - descending at remarkable speed. Also seen were several MERLINS including one that perched for scope views. It wasn’t long before the MEXICAN FREE-TAILED BATS were emerging from the cave in a long stream. Then the action really started. RED-TAILED HAWKS, MERLINS and a COOPER’S HAWK suddenly appeared in the early evening light and dove into the stream of bats grabbing talons full of dinner. In some cases these birds made repeated trips to catch more bats. It was a true spectacle. Also seen around the cave mouth briefly were STRIPED SKUNK and MEXICAN RINGTAIL. Once it was quite dark we headed back to the house to enjoy a glass of wine and relax after a long day. Our list tally for the day was 63 species with GOLDEN-CHEEKED WARBLER, BLACK-CAPPED VIREO and HUTTON’S VIREO and the BATS being the main highlights.