Birding with Bruce Bodson:
A Chilly Christmas Bird Count on the Trinity River
Dec. 28, 2017
by Natalie Wiest

The opportunity to go birding and boating with Bruce Bodson was irresistible for a year-ending paddle trip on December 28. The added bonus was a stretch of the Trinity River I hadn’t paddled before. The forecast too, seemed to be in our favor, although I personally overestimated the prevailing temperatures for the day and under-dressed for what turned out to be a mid-40 degree trip. No worry, I’d packed extra clothes and after pulling an extra blanket out of my dry bag at lunch, and adding a second jacket layer, all was well.

Put-ins for the Trinity can be rather tricky and this one was no exception, starting at the Highway 787 crossing south of Romayor. From there, paddling commenced for 19.5 miles downriver to the Highway 105 crossing some miles east of Cleveland. (Map Link)

Our hardy group was Duane Heckelsberg paddling tandem canoe with Christy Long, David Portz and Bruce and I in our kayaks. The 20’ sandbank freefall to the river bank was no problem for Duane and rope lowering boats to David, and the rest of us scrambling down with our gear.

Before we even got underway we spotted both an immature and a mature bald eagle. This was a good omen for a record spotting of 10 bald eagles on this stretch of the river.

Always love the big sandbars on the Trinity.

The river had a very respectable flow and I was pleased to find the 19.5 miles was not overtaxing at all for a relatively short-time one day paddle.

Any birding trip with Bruce is sure to be enlightening. He is amazing at bird spotting and identifying and for our paddle effort, 47 different species were spotted, which are listed at the end of this report. How many of those birds could you identify? Maybe you will want to study the list and join us next year?

We lunched at a mega sandbar about 11 miles into the trip. In the kayak with spray skirt on my legs and lower body were nice and warm, but out of the boat at lunch it was a lot cooler. The lap blanket I had with me made a nice head and neck covering for extra warming, and adding a second jacket worked well too. Photo by David Portz of the happy lunchers.

One of the curious features of the paddle was big drifts of foam – apparently whipped up from the wind, and for more details ask Bruce. Here are David and Bruce paddling by a big raft of foam.

The takeout was a big sandbar under the 105 bridge downstream. The deep sand was a bit treacherous for our vehicles, so there was somewhat of a hike and carry to the cars, but no steep bank this time. It was a marvelous day on the water.

Christy and Duane:

David:

Our fearless leader with his tally sheet:

Your faithful correspondent:

Meteorological data:

Low temp: 42  High temp: 46
River flow: 10,000 cfs, 17 feet (up 5’ over previous 24 hours)  (USGS Water Gauge link)
Wind: northerly, 14 mph
Overcast

Bird count:

American White Pelican	6		Northern (yellow-shafted) flicker	4
Neotropical cormorant	4		Pileated woodpecker	2
Double crested cormorant	62		Eastern phoebe	11
Anhinga	19		Blue jay	2
Great blue heron	19		American crow	34
Great egret	16		Carolina chickadee	6
Black vulture	64		Tufted titmouse	3
Turkey vulture	26		Carolina wren	3
Osprey	5		House wren	1
Bald eagle	10		Winter wren	1
Red shouldered hawk	3		Ruby-crowned kinglet	2
Red tailed hawk	1		American robin	2
American kestrel	2		Northern mockingbird	2
Sandhill crane	4		American pipit	11
Killdee	112		Yellow-rumped warbler	14
Spotted sandpiper	17		Eastern towhee	1
Least sandpiper	14		Chipping sparrow	2
Ring billed gull	6		Savannah sparrow	4
Forsters tern	38		Song sparrow	2
Rock pigeon	26		White-throated sparrow	4
Belted kingfisher	28		Northern cardinal	6
Red-bellied woodpecker	3		House finch	2
Yellow-bellied sapsucker	2		American goldfinch	2
Downy woodpecker	2

 

The author, Natalie Wiest