Joann Merritt's Essays
Joe Chandler Ranch
April, 1983
Chandler Ranch on Independence Creek off Texas 349 south of Sheffield is open to the public again after four years, and the birds are still there in abundance. The campgrounds are clean, price $5.00 per day per person, and if you need hook-ups for a trailer that is $7.00 per day extra. Several cabins are available, price unknown. For more information call 915-753-2345 or 915-753-2262.
Late Monday evening a Great Horned Owl sat atop an oak tree and hooted as we arrived. Later that night another owl joined it in a duet. Early Tuesday morning the birds heard were Cardinal, Black-crested Titmouse and Bewick’s Wren - the same birds I hear at home! But that was the only ho-hum part of our birding. A pair of Green Kingfishers flew up and down the river. Two pairs of Black-chinned Hummingbirds were busily building nests, one nest could be seen as we sat by our trailer. They were feeding on the blooms of the Agarita bushes and Scrambled Eggs. We mixed honey and water in a red plastic cup which Don hung in a tree, but the hummers ignored it. A Black-crested Titmouse was building a nest in a pipe at the cattle guard.
The male Vermilion Flycatcher performed his courtship flight, hovering with his feathers puffed out and glistening in the sun. It was easy to see why the Spaniards call him Brasita de fuego - Little Coal of Fire.
The Gray Vireo was a lifer for Don and me. We were on the edge of a small gully watching Black-throated and Rufous-crowned Sparrows when I heard a vireo singing. Up popped a bird like a very large gnatcatcher, complete with large white eye ring and twitching tail. Another lifer was the Zone-tailed Hawk. Don was watching the Turkey Vultures circle when he noticed one of them was different. We consulted our field guide and decided it was a Zone-tailed Hawk, trying to confuse his prey by looking like a Turkey Vulture. He flew over twice more during the day so we could verify our identification.
There were a few early spring arrivals. On Thursday the Cliff Swallows arrived. A bell’s Vireo sang in the willows by the Golf Course Pond. As we were leaving Friday a Western Kingbird flew from his perch. Just before sundown on Thursday an estimated 200 (Don) to 300 (Joann) Turkey Vultures circled over a spot where the remains of 80 deer and 50 skunks had been dumped. The vultures looked like a swarm of bees. The caretaker said that meant no more freezing weather when the vultures fly in like that.
The biggest surprise was the Turkeys roosting in the trees next to us. We had stayed at the golf course until well after sundown to see if the turkeys were roosting there, but no luck. Early next morning we were awakened by a loud gobble-gobble-gobble. We watched through a window as they flew out of the trees directly over our trailer and slowly started up the hill. We quietly dressed and made our way around the hill so the sun would be at our back. We were rewarded by seeing four gobblers with tails fanned and wings spread. We counted thirteen hens as they all walked slowly over the hill.
Don spotted a Ring-tailed Cat walking along a high rocky ridge. A Nutria sat by a pond at the golf course. A Porcupine made his way down a tree as dusk fell. We found the shell of two armadillos, but no live ones.
About twenty feet above the river in the cliff was a bee hive which Joe Chandler said he had robbed when he was very young. Another hive was found at a campsite on Independence Creek only two feet from the ground in a huge oak tree. The bee hive in the cliff is just across the river east from the parking place that fishermen use when they come down the south side of Independence Creek.
Other birds seen were a pair of Say’s Phoebes, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Canyon Wren, Cedar Waxwings, American Goldfinches and Rufous-sided Towhees. The spring migration had not really started yet so we missed seeing a lot of birds that will arrive later, but people have not started migrating to Chandler’s either, so we had the whole campground to ourselves. We saw 46 species and enjoyed every one.