Utley Bridge (Hwy 969) to Tarcoola, Bastrop, Texas, US
October 3, 2015 9:00 AM – 12:45 PM
Protocol: Traveling
9.0 mile(s)
Comments: EPISODE 113: Cotton Mouth River

In Southeast Travis County there is a small creek called Cotton Mouth Creek. We may have to change the name of this river to Cotton Mouth River. The last hard count I heard was 11Cotton Mouth Moccasins today. We saw several others that are not counted here. CR Smith was along with us today which helped the count but we were seeing them two and three at a time. CR said that October is a very active time of year for these critters — something to do with the air and water tempratures.

We had an active day chasing birds too. We made a list of 39 species that include Green Kingfisher, Pileated Woodpeckers, Bald Eagles, Osprey, and Tricolored Heron. The Osprey put on a show by catching breakfast and instantly became friends with all the local Crows. We listed a few migrants like American Goldfinch, Pied-billed Grebe and Merlin. Sadly we found no migrating raptors.

In the other critter department we found several kinds of turtles (Mapp, Red-eared Sliders) to go with all the snakes and several butterflies.

We found so many snakes today that everyone on the crew could have taken one home as a pet. Ruth Janza, Sharon Richardson, Lee Charlton, Wilda Campbell, Debbie Sharp, Janell Arms, Duncan Charlton, Bobby Hughes, Steve Mackay, Jason Evans, CR Smith, Tam Tran, Will Thompson, John Barr, Denis Breining, and Bob West all get a new pet. Congratulations.

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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38 species (+1 other taxa)

Wood Duck 14
Pied-billed Grebe 1
Great Blue Heron 5
Great Egret 4
Snowy Egret 1
Little Blue Heron 1
Tricolored Heron 2
Cattle Egret 12
Green Heron 1
Black-crowned Night-Heron 3
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 1
Black Vulture 43
Turkey Vulture 15
Osprey 2
Cooper’s Hawk 1
Bald Eagle 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 7
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Killdeer 14
Spotted Sandpiper 21
Mourning Dove 18
Belted Kingfisher 8
Green Kingfisher 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 7
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 1
Pileated Woodpecker 3
Crested Caracara 2
Merlin 1
Eastern Phoebe 15
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 2
Blue Jay 1
American Crow 24
Carolina Chickadee 18
Tufted x Black-crested Titmouse (hybrid) 4
Carolina Wren 9
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2
Northern Cardinal 33
American Goldfinch 1