Road Trip Reports

The 700 Bird
By Jimmy Woodard

Max Fuller, Garey Harritt and I left Oklahoma City at 10 p.m. on Sunday, August 19, 2007 and headed for Big Bend, Texas. We were going in search of a Fan-tailed Warbler that had been reported in Pine Canyon in the park.

We arrived at the park about 8:30 a.m. on Monday. The drive into the canyon was six miles long over a rough and uneven road. It took us almost an hour to make it to the trailhead.

We hiked for over an hour up into the canyon to a 200-foot waterfall at the end of the trail. I made it to the waterfall ahead of the boys since most of the hike was uphill.

Within 30 seconds of my arrival, I noticed several birds moving in the brush on the slope below me. The first bird was a Spotted Towhee but the second bird, which I could barely make out in the shaded cover, was the Fan-tailed Warbler. I could make out the eye crescents, white loral spot, golden crown, and the spread of the fan-shaped tail.

The bird flew onto a rock out in the open so I got a great look for several seconds. Then the towhee chased the warbler across the creek onto a rock in the open in full sun for several more seconds for another great look!  The bird even did a complete 360-degree turn while fanning its tail.

By the time Max and Garey made it up the trail, the bird had disappeared. We spent the next two hours searching and waiting for the bird to show again. We did get a few sporadic looks at the bird in the underbrush, but never in the open. Max got a decent look but Garey was unable to get an identifiable look.

We came back out of the canyon in mid-afternoon and the hike was sweltering hot. We took our time coming out but eventually made it down okay. We left the park by late afternoon and spent the night in Fort Stockton. We returned to Oklahoma City on Tuesday afternoon. After 21 years and 125 days, I had found my 700^th bird!

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