March 13, 2025.
Only four percent of land in Texas is public. We were determined to visit as many of these rare and special places as possible on our trip. Northwest of Austin, we spent a day at Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge. This land was protected in order to protect two species: black-capped vireo and golden-cheeked warbler. Both types of birds breed in the very specific habitat found here. My goal was to observe at least one of these unique species!
To help us filter through the confusing network of trails and units, we began at the Visitor Center (always my recommended second step…after researching online). The employee there did a great job of getting us oriented and making recommendations. Since there was a short trail accessible straight from the parking area, we did that one first. It was a short and lovely walk with plenty of birds to see and hear. We read some signage about purple martens and saw yet another purple marten house on a pole in the field (we have not yet seen a single marten). But we did see a golden-fronted woodpecker, a lifer, and recorded it in the Merlin app.
To the uninitiated, a “lifer” is a bird you’ve just seen for the first time, so you can add it to your “life list.” I’ve learned that absolutely every hobby and area of expertise has its own lingo and it’s worth learning a bit of it so you can communicate with people about it. I don’t really consider myself a birder but I’m learning the language!
Riding high from our first new bird sighting, we ventured off to the Warbler Vista Trail to try and find another. I listened to recordings of both rare bird species in advance to try and prime my brain for those sounds. I also looked at several photos and tried to learn a bit about what type of habitat they prefer. My hope was to find at least one of the two species that should be present in the area during this period of time.
The melodic song of the Bewick’s wren filled the air. I hadn’t heard that one in a bit, so I had to re-familiarize myself with that particular sound. Soon, it became background noise and I focused on hearing something different. Along the trail we saw few green plants and even fewer birds. The sun seemed to get hotter with each passing minute. As we dropped into the oak forest on the second half of our loop, I heard something different. We paused and stood quietly so I could record it on Merlin.
A golden-cheeked warbler. “Wait!” I yelled in a whisper. “It’s here, let’s look around!” We listened closely and strained to see any movement among the twisted oak branches. You could hide an elephant in here. I began to give up hope. But there, a flash of wings and a smear of yellow. I stared at the branch they seemed to keep coming back to. And at last, I saw one, long enough to take a photo: a golden-cheeked warbler. It was just as cute as advertised. It flew off before Aaron could get a look, but we found another one just up the trail. Hooray! Second lifer of the day.
Despite the heat, we soldiered on to the next trailhead at Doeskin Ranch. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea, but we packed a lot of water and a sun umbrella before hitting the trail. We chose a slow, short loop that took us an hour to complete. We didn’t see much for birds, but we did get to see a frog and two weird white moths mating. I guess it wasn’t a total loss. We were pretty exhausted by this point, but made a final stop at the Shin Oak Observation Deck just up the road. It was our last chance to glimpse the black-capped vireo.
But all we saw across the sea of scrappy oak brush was the hot blue sky. We called it a win with two lifers for the day. It felt greedy to seek a third.
I think this place would be great to visit at different times of year and different times of day. Based on the reviews online, and the fact that this land is designated a wildlife refuge, there’s lots more to see here. But, we take the opportunities we had. I’m glad we stopped here.