Quick Trip to Northeast Texas

March 24^th, 2024 ~ We joined a family gathering at the end of March during Spring Break, and had fun watching some birds near Tyler, in northeastern Texas. Texas Parks and Wildlife identifies six geographic regions of Texas; the northeast portion is called “the Pineywoods”. It consists of mixed evergreen and hardwood forests, and deep red sandy clay soil.

Greater Roadrunner low in the trees
1/2500 sec. f/8 ISO 500
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 600mm f/4 + 1.4x TC (850mm total)

A Greater Roadrunner, Geococcyx californianus, had been spotted several days before in the tall grass along a hedgerow. It was a natural place for him (or her, they look the same), since a broad rolling pasture opens out beyond the fence providing plenty of running-around-and-hunting space. On this day, I was surprised to see him leap up into the trees. They tend to nest three to ten feet off the ground among thick branches, so maybe this Hackberry tree was concealing a family!

Greater Roadrunner showing off his catch
1/2500 sec. f/8 ISO 500
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 600mm f/4 + 1.4x TC (850mm total)

We don’t know for sure, because he disappeared with his prize, into the leafy shade. But I was tickled to get this image of him, with what I think is a skink, a small salamander-like lizard. Aren’t the roadrunner’s colors amazing? Those are the colors of an un-feathered portion of facial skin, normally hidden by feathers, but revealed here, as part of their breeding display.

Female Red-bellied Woodpecker
1/2500 sec. f/5.6 ISO 1250
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 600mm f/4 + 1.4x TC (850mm total)

The late afternoon sunlight was slanting through trees on the shore of Lake Palestine (locals say “Pal-ess-teen”), and caught the bright shining feathers of this female Red-bellied Woodpecker, Melanerpes carolinus. She had stopped mid-swallow to check out my camera, so you can still just barely see her barbed tongue, used to fish bugs out from under bark, or from the large holes she excavates in trees.

Wary female Red-bellied Woodpecker
1/2500 sec. f/5.6 ISO 1600
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 600mm f/4 + 1.4x TC (850mm total)

She worked diligently all along the craggy bark of both the living and dead trees. Here, you can almost get a glimpse of the indistinct red smudge low on her belly between her feet, which gives her species its name. Males look the same except that their red cap extends all the way from the nape of their neck to their bill. Her drumming on the trees was very audible.

Carolina Chickadee knows I’m no risk
1/2500 sec. f/5.6 ISO 1250
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 600mm f/4 + 1.4x TC (850mm total)

A Carolina Chickadee, Poecile carolinensis, danced along the oak limb high overhead, hunting for bugs right-side up and upside-down, taking maximum advantage of the last direct rays of the sun.

House Sparrow female, in late afternoon sun
1/2500 sec. f/5.6 ISO 1600
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 600mm f/4 + 1.4x TC (850mm total)

A female House Sparrow, Passer domesticus, flitted between the younger trees closer to the road. Her tawny belly, wing bar, and eye stripe are very different from the rich russet and gray of the male House Sparrow, with his black bib and white wing bar. Her occasional song got mixed up with the more vocal Robins and Mockingbirds that were hunting in the same space, so it wasn’t till I was home and could look her up that I got a good identification.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker female, showing just a hint of yellow
1/2500 sec. f/5.6 ISO 1250
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 600mm f/4 + 1.4x TC (850mm total)

There were several Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Sphyrapicus varius, among the trees. I kept losing track of which ones I was following, and which I’d seen before, as the muted sound of their drilling echoed unidirectionally between the trees. All are females, as the males have a bright red chin to match their crown. The row of holes (sapwells) drilled by this bird is evident; she is ringing her tree, literally drilling for sap; she will use her brush-tipped tongue to lap up the fresh sap and any bugs caught in it.

The Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers migrate from their winter grounds in Central America and the southern US, to their breeding grounds spread across the middle of Canada (see map, below). All About Birds adds an interesting note: Hummingbirds also visit the sapwells, and in some areas of Canada, the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds time their arrival in their nesting grounds to coincide with the arrival of the sapsuckers. The sapsuckers vigorously defend their trees, against hummers, bats, warblers and squirrels, as well as other sapsuckers.

Another reference notes that the holes drilled by the sapsucker are deep but narrow and heal quickly, so they are not a serious threat to the trees.

Female Yellow-bellied Sapsucker on the lookout
1/2500 sec. f/5.6 ISO 1600
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 600mm f/4 + 1.4x TC (850mm total)

On a different branch, another sapsucker was starting a new hole. The pattern of white rows across her wings is actually an array of white dots, visible when she spreads her wings. Her tail has white dots to match.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker with protective eyelid half-closed
1/2500 sec. f/5.6 ISO 1600
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 600mm f/4 + 1.4x TC (850mm total)

I spotted an intriguing detail when I got the photos onto the big screen in my digital darkroom. Note that this bird has her eye half-closed. Her eyelid closes front-to-back, rather than the more common top-to-bottom or bottom-to-top of most birds. When the chips fly, her eyes are well-protected. Her eyeballs are also protected from deformation during her drilling activities, by the strong lid which is aligned across the direction of her hammering force.

Range maps for the birds in this post, courtesy of All About Birds, and Cornell’s Birds of the World

I thoroughly enjoyed my quick visit to northeast Texas. The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was a plus-one bird for me, and I learned new things about the birds I’d seen before. Family and birds – I couldn’t ask for a better vacation!