Howard Lane to Utley (969) Bridge, Bastrop, Texas, US
July 2, 2016 9:30 AM – 1:30 PM
Protocol: Traveling
5.0 mile(s)
Comments: EPISODE 122: Tribal River Customs

Our newest Tribal River Custom is the application of Ochre from a clam shell. Everyone was
anointed and the survey continued downstream.

A brief report of the recent flooding. The understory has been thoroughly thrashed. Trees
have been bent and knocked over. Sandy, gravelly, muddy bank stretch the entire length of
the river. There is no Water Hyacinth, yellow stars or duckweed anywhere. The only flowers
I could find were Trumpet Vine that was higher in the trees.

We were able to find one juvenile and one adult Bald Eagle. Luckily we managed a Pileated
Woodpecker too. The rest of the list was very typical summer birds. I was surprised at the
number of Red-Eyed Vireos we got and we found a few Prothonotary Warblers to get our daily
count to 35 species.

Cicadas were so noisy at times it was difficult to hear the birds. Dragonflies and
Butterflies were plentiful. As the day warmed up we saw more and more Texas Cooters coming
out to sun. Jannell got a nice photo of a Cottonmouth.
This day we thank Sharon Richardson, Wendy Harte, Karen Pernell, Zoe Watts, Lauren Millican,
Janell Arms, Bobby Hughes, CR Smith, John Barr, Brad Pierson, Jason, Cory Hartwick, Bob West,
Denis Brening. Thanks everyone for a fun day.

Don’t forget to like the Austin Bastrop River Corridor Partnership Facebook page. Here you will find more information about the river and water issues in central Texas. Learn more about the Austin-Bastrop River Corridor Partnership at the CER website.

 
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33 species (+2 other taxa)

Great Blue Heron 4
Snowy Egret 7
Cattle Egret 15
Green Heron 4
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 1
Black Vulture 24
Turkey Vulture 32
Bald Eagle 2
Red-shouldered Hawk 4
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Killdeer 7
Mourning Dove 5
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 3
Belted Kingfisher 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 8
Downy Woodpecker 2
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Eastern Phoebe 5
Eastern Kingbird 2
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 2
White-eyed Vireo 25
Red-eyed Vireo 8
American Crow 9
Cliff Swallow 21
Cliff/Cave Swallow 500
Carolina Chickadee 11
Tufted x Black-crested Titmouse (hybrid) 5
Carolina Wren 18
Bewick’s Wren 1
Eastern Bluebird 5
Prothonotary Warbler 5
Summer Tanager 2
Northern Cardinal 43
Painted Bunting 5
Brown-headed Cowbird 7