Davis Mountains State Park

We left Seminole Canyon State Park and spent the next three days at Davis Mountains State Park.

We have camped in this park many times.  They have a wonderful bird blind with an indoor seating area in the interpretative center.  The interpretative center is now open 8:15 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. every day.  In the past it had been hard to find it open at any certain time.

The interpretative center has some very nice displays with skulls and furs.

There is a seating area where a very well-made movie about the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) is continuously shown.

There is a comfortable seating area in front of a large window that overlooks the bird feeding station.

There is also a second, stand-alone birding blind that is as nice as any in the state parks. 

The volunteers were doing a great job keeping the bird feeders and peanut butter logs well-stocked!

A Ruby-crowned Kinglet decided to show up it's namesake crown. They usually keep it under wraps. This one was enjoying the peanut butter log.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Acorn Woodpecker

You may recall that we had Acorn Woodpeckers in the high elevations of Costa Rica. This species likes the mountains of West Texas as well. 

This is a western sub-species of Yellow-rumped Warbler, also known as an Audubon's Warbler. They have a yellow throat. The eastern birds (Myrtle's Warbler) have white throats. At one time they were considered two different species, but now they are not. Who knows???

Yellow-rumped Warbler

It seems like when you have permanent bird feeders, you'll have squirrels in those feeders. Davis Mountains State Park was no exception. 

Nuthatches like to walk down tree trucks head-first, and they often feed the same way. This White-breasted Nuthatch was demonstrating. 

White-breasted Nuthatch

Bushtits are small, chickadee sized birds that seem to always feed in groups. A band of about six seemed to be constantly moving around the feeding area. In Southwest Texas and down into Mexico males get a black mask while some females show a brown mask. Elsewhere they are entirely gray. 

Bushtits (Black-masked male top-right)

Bushtits (Brown-masked female on right)

We did see a few birds away from the feeding stations, including this Western Bluebird.

Western Bluebird

We enjoyed visiting West Texas and look forward to returning.