Greater Prairie Chicken is bird 982

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     I checked the winds at the upper coast to be from the south, and so my hopes were low for migrants. Greater Prairie Chicken festival was on Apr 13 and 14. I wanted to go to the coast on Saturday and see the Chicken Sunday morning on the way back to ATX. The festival week is the only time when a reservation is not needed and multiple shuttles are done to view the lek  during the first hour or so after sunrise.
   
     I got up around 7:30 am Saturday morning, packed quickly, had breakfast and coffee, took tea in a flask and started before 9:30 am. I reached Attwater Prairie Chicken NWR at 11:30 am. I birded the auto tour which had little activity - https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S54905452. I drove towards the coast, stopping briefly for lunch which were to-go items from the previous night. I did a brief drive around Justin Hurst Wildlife Management Area (like most WMA, no public access) and did not find anything. Since I went to Sabine Woods last weekend, I wanted to try a different area south of Galveston. Quintana Neotropical Bird Sanctuary is small and could be productive, and San Bernard NWR is close by, where I've never been to. I spent more than an hour at Quintana Neotropical Bird Sanctuary which was uninteresting except for a few Orioles - https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S54914472. A quick walk at Quintana Xeriscape Park was unproductive too - https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S54915339. I learnt that wind direction was shifting Sunday early morning, but my plan was to see the Prairie Chicken next day! I spent a few hours at San Bernard NWR - https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S54925218. I drove on all the roads across the Refuge, walked the boardwalk at Bobcat Trail. It was windy and unbirdy, but I enjoyed the quiet time! I saw a few usual birds and a couple of co-operative snakes on the road - Diamondback Watersnake and Graham's Crayfish Snake. Towards sunset, the animal activity increased. A bulky Racoon ran past me and hid itself. Slowly it peeped and was looking at me constantly. I did not bother to check out the Alligators. I saw a Swamp Rabbit, Coomon Slider on the road (a Turtle species), and a Bobcat which stayed about half a minute on the roadside. White-tailed Deer started becoming active at dusk and first of the year Common Nighthawks started flying when I exited the park.

Lek at sunrise
     I had poor Mexican food at a place in Wharton,TX and headed to Attwater Prairie Chicken NWR. I brushed my teeth in the restroom which was fortunately open. I slept in my car at the refuge, and woke up early for the van tours to see the Prairie Chickens. Towards the morning the temperature dipped to lower 40s! People started arriving by 6:15 am. There were a good number of birders being shuttled to the lek viewing area. To learn what a lek is and in what circumstances the birds are living now, visit https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Attwater_Prairie_Chicken/wildlife/APC.html. The bird is ABA countable at this refugee. As soon as we arrived at the Lek viewing area, we saw a few of the Attwater's subspecies of Greater Prairie-Chicken for bird 982. The birds were far away, and required a scope. We could hear the calls, and I could see the yellow sacs from my binoculars. I had a good scope view of one of the males. Checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S54935554. I took the van back, had some fruits and coffee at the refuge and started my drive back to ATX. To learn more about the Attwater's sub-species, refer to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attwater%27s_prairie_chicken. 

     I wanted to check out Webberville Park closer to Austin. I have never been there and wanted to see what the place is like. I spent some time in both the parks. 
Webberville Park (Little) - https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S54944288

     GPS routed me through FM 973, and I checked Hornsby Bend to see the Purple Martin colony and did a short drive around the ponds - https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S54946184. 

     I was home a little after noon. So far, there has not been any spectacular fallout of birds this year, but it is good for birds when they don't encounter storms with winds from the north.




APCs - yellow sacks visible on the one in the right
Digi-scoped





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