Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Rare, rare robin has birders flockin'

Marketplace \| Services \| Contact Us \| Community \| Arts & Entertainment \| Local Guides

Saturday, February 5, 2000

Rare, rare robin has birders flockin'
Rufous-backed visits Sarita after long journey over mountain and desert
By Guy H. Lawrence
Caller-Times

Robert Benson/Special to the Caller-Times

A rufous-backed robin made a rare appearance outside the Kenedy County Courthouse in Sarita.

Between 60 and 100 birdwatchers made their way to the Kenedy County Courthouse lawn in Sarita to catch a glimpse of what some said was a rare sighting of a rufous-backed robin.
   The bird has been seen in Texas only nine times before.
   The robin's natural stomping grounds are in western Mexico, said Robert Benson, president of the Professional Birding Association in Corpus Christi, who was in Sarita on Friday. To get to Sarita, the bird had to cross mountains and the desert, he said.
   "This is a real rare occurrence," Benson said.
   Benson, a professor of physics at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, and two birdwatchers looking for other species saw the robin on Monday. On Tuesday, Benson took pictures of the bird, which he then posted on the Professional Birding Association Web site.
   Avid bird watchers from San Antonio and Houston made the trip to Sarita to catch a glimpse of the robin, which is distinguished by a swath of rust color around the body.
   This is the kind of sighting that will drive bird watchers to take a day off work or to fly in from out of state, Benson said.
   And it's not uncommon for rare birds to make a pit stop in Sarita, Benson said. Sarita provides a good resting place among the South Texas brush, he said. The green lawns are inviting for birds on long treks. Other birds seen in Sarita include a Baltimore oriole, Cape May warbler and a woodpecker with a gold front.
   But Sarita hasn't gained this much attention by birdwatchers in a long time, said Barbara Turcotte, county-district clerk, whose office overlooks the lawn where birdwatchers fixed their gaze.
   "We have people every once in a while, but not in this quantity," Turcotte said.

To learn more
To learn more about birdwatching, log on to the Professional Birding Association Web site at www.probirding.com, or call the Audubom Outdoor Club of Corpus Christi's rare bird alert hotline at 883-7410.

   Turcotte said that two women came into the courthouse on Monday talking about spotting the bird. Word then spread along the Internet and other birdwatching hotlines.
   Birdwatchers keep lists of their sightings based on states, cities and backyards. Some even keep lists of birds they see or hear on television, Benson said. Birdwatchers get the same pleasure from sighting a bird that fishermen or hunters get from their endeavors, he said.
   "This is a big game," Benson said. "It is competitive in a way."
   Cecilia Riley, the executive director for the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory in Lake Jackson, made the four-hour trip Friday to catch site of the bird. Riley came with Mike Gray, who was armed with a camera. Riley said the sighting sent a buzz among the bird watching community and will make for a good rivalry with birdwatchers in other states like California.
   "They are on the heels of us on this," Riley said. "This is a special sighting."
   Gary Balkwill, a Canadian who was vacationing with his wife in Mississippi, made the trip to Sarita when he heard of the sighting, but on Friday there was no sight of the bird. "It took us two days to get here," Balkwill said. "I guess we are a day late."
   Staff writer Guy H. Lawrence can be reached at 886-3792 or by e-mail at lawrenceg@caller.com

| Talk about this story | Next Story | Home |

[ Printer-friendly version ]
[ Subscribe to newspaper ]

SEND THIS PAGE TO A FRIEND

[an error occurred while processing this directive]