Coming in for a Landing Near You

By Sue Schwaller

Grab your binoculars and stake out a nearby tree, pond, coastal wetland or prairie field. Spring migration has begun.

Scissor-tailed flycatchers are gracing fields in North Texas, Cliff Swallows are building nests under Houston bridges, White-eyed and Yellow-throated vireos and Yellow-rumped and Hooded warblers are being seen and heard in woodlands.

This is your chance to see everything from the spectacular streaming of thousands of Tree Swallows skimming over coastal sand dunes to a single Vermillion Flycatcher perched on a tree snag near a pond. Either sight can stay etched in your memory.

One of the top world wide birding spots for spring migration is High Island, Texas. Positioned on an uplift of the coast, High Island is a beacon for migrating birds and the home of several sanctuaries providing protection and stopover sites.

Spring migration can be extremely difficult for birds. Variable weather along the Texas coast creates a condition called fallout or grounding. During fallout, cold fronts with fierce winds, rain and fog can force birds by the hundreds of thousands into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico or into oak mottes along the Texas coast.

Weary, hungry Gulf migrants fallout into High Island sanctuary trees, festooning them with splendid colors. So many people come to see this amazing site that bleacher seating is available.

You can find other wonderful birding spots throughout Texas. Here are some websites to help you get started.

Houston Audubon Click on High Island Link for sanctuaries and directions

Audubon Outdoor Club of Corpus Christi

World Birding Center

Waves Across the Sky

By Sue Schwaller

The waiting is over for Purple Martin enthusiasts. Beginning in January the first Purple Martin sightings were reported to Texbirds and now a reports from Port O’Connor note “hundreds if not thousands” of Purple Martins dropped in with a mild front signifying the martins have returned to Texas. From Purple Martin landlords preparing housing in anticipation of the martins’ return to birders in search of primavera, the cheery, chortling voice of the Purple Martin is greeted with great excitement.

These are birds beloved by people and the environment. Originally many thought Purple Martins only ate mosquitoes, but these birds are insect eaters extraordinaire, winged eating machines that devour flying insects. Flies, dragonflies, bees, cicadas, skink bugs, grasshoppers, wasps, butterflies and flying ants are not safe when martins are airborne.

Generally known to be the earliest north bound, migrating neo tropical, the first martin arrivals are sturdy and stout. Their return in January sometimes finds them facing late winter storms, but they are anxious to reach nesting sites they left last summer. First arrivals are called “scouts”, a romantic name for older birds wise enough to arrive early on breeding grounds. Within a few weeks subadult martins will follow.

Purple Martins are the largest of the eight swallow species that migrate into Texas. Martins gracing our Texas skies are the eastern subspecies. Their northbound trip begins in South America; they travel up the isthmus of Panama before taking the Caribbean / Gulf of Mexico coastal route. According to the Purple Martin Conservation Association upon reaching the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, the eastern subspecies “splits up and goes in three different directions. Some stay over land, hugging the coast, and go westward around the Gulf of Mexico into Texas. The rest strike out over the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico, aiming either for the west coast of Florida (500 miles away), or the Mississippi Delta of Louisiana (600 miles away). It’s not uncommon for Purple Martins to land on ships, oil drilling platforms, or even floating debris to rest if they run into bad weather while making this potentially perilous crossing of the Gulf.”

Some of the most dramatic swallow migration occurs along the Lower Texas Coast in late April and early May, but March is the major migration month for Purple Martins. Watch Purple Martin Migration on the Continental Scale Waves of martins wing into Texas, head for their roosting sites, drooping the perches of their waiting martin houses.

Purple Martins are supreme fliers yet migration can be daunting. Fog, clouds, wind, rain and human made obstacles are hazards that impact their journey. Currently two companies are planning wind industrial sites along the coast in Kenedy County. Bird collisions at these ill sited industrial wind projects could be severe. Swallows in particular tend to fly at rotor height and will be at great risk.

Fragile Success

By Sue Schwaller

He was tall and stepping gracefully through the coastal marsh. He didn't look like a grandpa. But Tommy Moore, Captain of the Skimmer, pointed him out as the patriarch of the Lobstick Family and the oldest Whooping crane on the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. At age 29, "Hoss" had been safely making the 2,500 mile trek from Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas for over a quarter of a century. There he was with his mate and twins striding through the marsh with a boatload of people intently watching him. A Canadian on the boat leaned over to Captain Tommy and said, "This is the dream of my life to see these magnificent birds".

Whooping cranes are one of the most beautiful species of birds in North America and one of the most endangered. Each fall they migrate from Canada to their wintering grounds on the Texas Coast. They are gorgeous birds. Whoopers, as they are known in the birding world, stand 5 feet tall with snowy white feathers and black wing tips. They have a red and black head with a long pointed beak. Whoopers fly with slow, steady wing beats and their long neck and black legs fully extended. The Wood Buffalo / Aransas flock is the only remaining naturally migrating flock of Whooping cranes in the world.

We had traveled to the Texas coast to see the Whooping cranes up close. There is always a chance you can see them from the observation tower at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge and we had a lead on a private boat that could take us to see them near Welder Flats, but the surest way for a close up visit is from one of the Whooping Crane Tour Boats out of Rockport. There are several options and we had boarded the Skimmer, billed as "The Serious Birders' Tour". The boat was great and the weather was better. Even the captain bragged on the day. The sun had broken through low hanging clouds and blue sky covered the bay. The boat sliced calm, glassy water on our way to see the cranes.

Our first stop found us looking over a narrow peninsula close to the Intracoastal Waterway. Whooping cranes, while social, are very territorial. The Lobstick family had basically put out a no trespassing sign on a square mile area and was protecting it from other Whooping cranes and predators. Camera's clicked and binoculars stayed glued to eyes as our group watched the Lobsticks go about their day's work, foraging for crabs, clams and other marsh creatures. These were the first 4 of the 20 whoopers we would see on our tour.

Our best close up of the day was of a Whooping crane I had read about in the monthly Whooping crane report. Captain Tommy expanded on the report with a first hand version of the whooper he calls Scarbaby. A member of the Lobstick family, Scarbaby, had hatched in Canada in 2004 and migrated with his family to the Aransas NWR. The group spent the winter in the coastal marshes. In April as the family was preparing for their northward journey Scarbaby was injured. His head was swollen like a basketball leading Captain Tommy to believe a snake bit Scarbaby. The Lobsticks put their departure on hold and spent the next two days feeding crabs to the injured Whooper. On the third day Scarbaby began catching his own. According to Tommy the very next day the senior Lobsticks migrated north and Scarbaby stayed behind on the refuge. For the next two years Scarbaby was a yearlong Aransas resident. Finally in the spring of 2006 he found his way back to Canada and has since returned with another adolescent whooper in tow.

For Scarbaby his near brush with death came while he was on a protected national wildlife refuge and it came from the natural world, a world Whooping cranes have been dealing with since the Ice Age. But the greatest danger to the survival of Whooping cranes is the human impact on the natural world.

Development is occurring throughout the Whooping crane migration corridor. Power lines, wind farms and cell towers are being built. According to Tom Stehn the national Whooping crane coordinator for U.S. Fish and Wildlife the number one cause of death in adult Whoopers is collisions with power lines during migration. "The cranes simply do not see the lines", states Stehn. Even if cranes knew to avoid power lines the sun's glare, dim evening light, rain, and blizzards make avoidance virtually impossible.

Another threat to Whooping cranes is loss of wetland habitat from development and the reduction of fresh water inflows. Whooping cranes share wetlands with ducks, geese, shorebirds and other wading birds. The loss of wetland habitat means birds are finding themselves in highly concentrated numbers, which can lead to the spread of diseases.

Loss of habitat also limits the area whoopers need to establish territory making it difficult for them to expand beyond current boundaries. The majority of the whoopers still winter on Aransas Wildlife Refuge, but they are expanding their territory to Matagorda Island, Lamar Peninsula and Welder Flats. With the high rate of development along the Texas coast, habitat loss and the cumulative impacts that come with it are a great concern to many people who love the spirit of our coast and the creatures who are a part of it.

We understand that love of the coast and nature, yet we began our drive home encouraged that Whooping cranes were doing well on the Texas coast. This has been another record-breaking year with 257 counted in aerial surveys. But within a few miles of leaving the boundaries of Aransas NWR we were confronted with the exact dangers that stand in the way of the survival of these magnificent cranes. Advertisements for upcoming coastal communities filled billboards along the roads, signs for the loss of habitat. Then the final display of danger was waiting for us on the highway bridge over Lake Texana. Hanging by its neck was a Great Egret that had flown into the power line spanning the lake. Yes, the threats are real and they are now.

The same humans that have the ability to harm Whooping cranes have the ability to help them. The Whooping crane success story on the Texas coast is still fragile. The human voice must speak up for protecting Whoopers and their environment and minimizing the impacts that development has on these magnificent birds living on our coast.

Celebrate and learn more about our Wood Buffalo / Aransas Whooping Cranes:
http://www.portaransas.org/cranes.html
http://www.rockport-fulton.org/frames/BirdingTours.htm
http://www.rockport-fulton.org/frames/anwr.htm
http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/aransas/
http://www.birdrockport.com/tom_stehn_whooping_crane_report.htm
http://www.whoopingcrane.com/index.html
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/newsmedia/releases/?nrspan=2007&nrtype=all&nrsearch=whooping%20cranes

While not our Wood Buffalo / Aransas flock of Whooping Cranes, these links represent human efforts in helping sustain another flock of Whoopers: http://www.learner.org/jnorth/crane/index.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGX52B9iXXU
http://www.savingcranes.org/
http://www.operationmigration.org/

Goose Sunset

By Sue Schwaller

From a distance they looked rather strange standing on the Katy rice field dike. One figure hunched over what appeared to be a cart and the other training a large object on the flooded fields. Not wanting to disturb them we stayed in our more distant spot.

We'd timed our trip to the Katy Prairie to view one of nature's most amazing spectacles, flocks of geese streaming into their evening roost. A low hanging gray cloud in a clear afternoon sky caught our attention. We had driven in its direction, parked the car and walked onto the dike.

The cloud turned out to be our goal, a dense movement of geese. An enormous black and white scarf seemed to be twirling above our heads. The air was alive with wing beats. The geese were coming into roost and we could see, hear and feel them above and around us. Geese landing...tumble, glide, back stroke ending a graceful drop into their roost. We watched for a long time. Smiles passed between us, but few words were spoken. This was the reason we had come to the Katy Prairie...to witness a Goose Sunset.

As the sun dipped below the horizon the figures on the dike began moving toward us. Carefully, she navigated the dike with her walker. He followed behind carrying binoculars rigged for low vision. She was 87 and he was a loving son. They had come for the same reason and were happy to find others "crazy enough to seek out the sounds of the geese".

One of nature's simplest pleasures is the fall migration of geese. With cold weather pushing at their backs and winter fields of rice and corn stubble ahead, geese wing their way south to feed and rest. Like other travelers they prefer clear skies and good tail winds. Cruising at speeds up to 55 miles per hour their strong wings allow them to cover up to 600 miles a day. Millions end their southern flight in the coastal areas of Texas while others continue their migration into Mexico.

Winter is the best time to drive Texas roads watching for flocks of White-fronted, Snow, Ross's, and Canada geese. From the upper to the lower Texas coast large flocks of geese are feeding, loafing and roosting. In coastal Texas, winter doesn't usually bring snow, but we can find a blizzard of white on an outing to see geese.

Explore the Texas coastal prairie roads for goose watching opportunities. Good birding spots are the Katy rice fields west of Houston and fields around the towns of Eagle Lake, El Campo and Wharton. East of Houston, the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge often holds large flocks of geese. Further south, fields around College Port, Rock Port, Corpus Christi and south Texas refuges have reports ranging from geese pouring overhead by the thousands to flyovers of smaller flocks of geese. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department link has good maps of birding trails.

Just as geese return each winter to their familiar fields so do those of us who have their majesty etched in our senses. We can't let a winter pass without experiencing flocks swirling down to their evening roost against a pink and orange streaked sky. They call as they land as if to make sure we don't miss one of the best shows in nature, a goose sunset. It is one of the best parts of being a winter Texan.

Every Bird Counts

By Sue Schwaller

It's December and birds are continuing to wing their way south. Although some are simply passing through the state, many thrive in the Texas climate and settle into their favorite winter habitats along the Texas coast and in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Now with December's arrival, it's time to count and tally the birds that winter throughout the state.

I love the thought that every bird counts. It's the driving force behind the popular North American event Christmas Bird Count (CBC). Whether spotting an ordinary House Sparrow or noting the call of a rarely seen Black Rail, it's tallied up for the all-day census of early winter bird populations.

Christmas Bird Counts have been held since December 1900 when ornithologist Frank Chapman proposed an alternative to the annual winter contest called Side Shoot. During Side Shoot, hunters picked sides and vied to bring in the most dead birds. Alarmed by the decline in bird populations Chapman and his friends at the fledgling Audubon Society created an event to celebrate birds by counting instead of hunting. Between mid December and early January throughout North America, Christmas Bird Count participants record all the birds they see or hear in 24 hours within a 15 mile diameter circle.

For some birders the Christmas Bird Count means sitting by their window with binoculars, tallying birds coming to back yard feeders. For others, Christmas Bird Count means waking in the early hours of the morning to count owls before dawn. Many bird watchers will join fellow birders afoot, kayaking, rail buggy riding and driving country roads seeking birds to count.

If you live in Texas and want to participate in the Christmas Bird Count, there are ways to do so at every level of birder knowledge. Houston Audubon Society has a terrific link for CBC in Texas and Mexico. http://www.houstonaudubon.org/index.cfm/MenuItemID/619.htm#Buffalo.

Many of the count coordinators ask for all types of expertise and some especially want beginners. You don't even have to be a birder; you could help spot birds, keep track of bird numbers and enjoy nature at the same time. For some counts you contact the organizer in advance and for others you just show up at a designated area and a leader will tell you what to do. I can pretty much guarantee there is a date that works and a Christmas Bird Count for anyone who wants the experience. Just check it out at the above link.

After participating in a Christmas Bird Count, you'll have the opportunity at the day's end to gather for the Count Down or grand tally of the day's bird census. There's anticipation that records could be broken or the chance that weather may not have cooperated and numbers will be low. Texas typically competes with California for the honor of highest species count, with Texas' highest tallies trending along the central coast and in the Rio Grande Valley. The chance for bragging rights over California motivates birders to keep on trucking, no matter how tired, knowing that every bird counts toward a Texas win.

Whatever the outcome, the most important aspect of the Christmas Bird Count is that birds and nature are being celebrated in this holiday tradition as they have been for over a century. And just as every birder made an impact on the results, every bird counts.

Birding Spectacles Fill the Sky

By Sue Schwaller

The Fall migration is in full swing on the Texas coast. Our coast – our place – is about birding spectacles filling the sky rather than leaves turning colors in the fall. The key is you have to get outside and look up at the places where birds gather. If you do so, you will be rewarded.

The entire coast of Texas is a major migration corridor for birds. Throughout this vital area birders spread out in anticipation of the spectacle of fall migration and take various approaches to their bird observation. For some the spectacle is a Sabine’s Gull flying up from a shoreline; for others it’s an evening flight of 60,000 Barn Swallows passing overhead. The sight of While Pelicans is a sign to many birders that a significant migration of this communal-fishing bird is occurring, and many of them will stop to spend the winter in our bays.

Along the Texas Gulf Coast there are daily reports of recent arrivals. Red Knots, Snowy Plovers, Lesser Black-back Gulls and Ring-billed Gulls are some of the birds spotted along the Blue Water Highway, a 40 mile stretch of coastal road between Surfside and Galveston. A bit further north Greater Yellow Legs, Marbled Godwits, Herring Gulls and Forster’s Terns have been found among the 37 species at R.A. Apffel Park in Galveston.

These two birding sites can be found:
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/wildlife_trails/coastal/upper/bluewater/
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/wildlife_trails/coastal/upper/galveston/

Hawk watchers can spend months counting raptors, often sitting in lawn chairs or perched on observation platforms. The Smith Point Hawk Watch crew witnessed their first recorded sighting of a Prairie Falcon; Sharp-shinned Hawks and American Kestrels have streamed over the point in numbers reaching the mid hundreds. Sightings of a Bald Eagle and increasing numbers of Peregrine Falcons make even slow days enjoyable.

Broad-winged Hawk numbers continue into the thousands at Corpus Christi Hawk Watch. Known as mega kettles these flights of hawks contain thousands of raptors. One day’s count of Broad-wings in early October totaled 37,802. Bald Eagles and the Alpomado Falcon have been observed in the skies and volunteers look out for more of these exceptional birds to add to the count list. Further south at Bentsen State Park Hawk Watch raptor migration is picking up with large numbers of Swainson’s Hawks and increased reports of Broad-winged and Cooper’s Hawks. Texas Hawk watches stay open until November 15 and guests are always welcome.

While hawk watchers are focused on the skies many other birders are visiting ponds, fields, wetlands, sand flats and parks on a daily route where they look and count newly arrived southbound migrants. Others who cannot get out in the field can bird by the internet, checking on the counts that other submit to birding lists.

My favorite story of fall migration occurred recently at Quinta Mazatlan in McAllen, Texas. While visiting the center sixty 3rd graders watched a kettle of forty Broad-winged Hawks lift skyward for their morning flight. With up-turned eyes these children were able to capture a spectacular moment in nature, when birds on the wing find thermal air currents to lift them up and thrust them south for the winter. What an impressive sight!

We all have an amazing experience awaiting us on the Texas coast. All we have to do is look for it.

Directions to The Smith Point Hawk Watch Tower at Candy Abshier WMA: To reach Smith Point from Houston take I-10 east to Texas Hwy 61exit. Turn south on Hwy 61. In a few miles it changes number to FM 562 and continues south to Smith Point. FM 1985, which continues past Anahuac NWR, branches left off FM 562 just past the small community of Double Bayou. Stay right to continue to Smith Point. Once in Smith Point continue on 562 past a small store/gas station. The Spoonbill is to the right at the end of Hawkins Camp Road and the hawk tower is just past the intersection of 562 and Hawkins Camp where a sign directs you to the left and into the large parking area. Directions to Hazel Bazemore County Park: The park is located in the northwest corner of Corpus Christi in the community of Calallen. Highways 37 and 77 intersect and run together for a short distance, the first exit on Hwy 77, less than one half mile south of this intersection, is FM 624 (Upriver Road). Go west on 624 for 0.7 mile to the entrance of the park on the right (at the third traffic light, County Road 69). Turn right at CR69 and proceed down the road into the park. Bear left when you enter the park (you'll see a sign pointing the way to the hawk watch), and follow the road downhill past the park office and public restrooms, around the bend past the pavilion to the bluff. You'll see the back of the 17th tee box to your left as you round the final bend that puts you right on top of the fall watch site.

Rewards of Fall Migration

All over Texas, especially along the Gulf Coast, birders are reporting daily sightings of fall migrants. Those who love fall migration are eagerly anticipating the cold fronts that bring even more birds in their wake.

Although not as popular as spring migration, fall migration provides weeks of opportunities to watch the incredible spectacle of nature when juvenile birds born on northern breeding grounds, and adults, wind their way south to feeding grounds.

It’s a vicarious pleasure to read the postings on TXBIRD http://moonmountaingroup.com/texbirds/

“Best show on earth; you can’t beat the price” regarding the hawk watch at Hazel Bazemore http://www.ccbirding.com/thw/ “Heads up Mississippi Kites are streaming southward” from Brazos county birders Baltimore Orioles “poured down on us in the hundreds”, Ft. Hood, Texas

The Texas Gulf Coast is a major migratory pathway for millions of birds. Amazing numbers of migrants are moving south bound, some bound for as far away as Argentina. 7000 Wilson’s Phalaropes were spotted in the Sal del Rey unit of Lower Rio Grande. Clouds of swallows passed over Smith Point, and Broad-winged Hawk numbers will soon trend into the thousands.

Migration is a rigorous event for birds. On-the-fly decisions are made on where to rest and feed; raptors must find usable thermals on which to soar. This year things in Texas may be easier on the southward bound birds. The rain over the last several months has improved the landscape. Hummingbirds are fatter due to greater natural food supply and Blue Wing-Teal have arrived on time and are finding abundant water and food in lakes and pot holes (shallow water holes).

Birder or not, watch and listen during this peak migration time. It might be the sound of different chipping in your yard, wild geese cackling from above, a flock of wood storks viewed at a local reservoir or kettles of Broad-wing hawks soaring overhead that alert you to the changing of seasons and the joy of birds in migration.

Directions to The Smith Point Hawk Watch Tower at Candy Abshier WMA: To reach Smith Point from Houston take I-10 east to Texas Hwy 61exit. Turn south on Hwy 61. In a few miles it changes number to FM 562 and continues south to Smith Point. FM 1985, which continues past Anahuac NWR, branches left off FM 562 just past the small community of Double Bayou. Stay right to continue to Smith Point. Once in Smith Point continue on 562 past a small store/gas station. The Spoonbill is to the right at the end of Hawkins Camp Road and the hawk tower is just past the intersection of 562 and Hawkins Camp where a sign directs you to the left and into the large parking area.

Directions to Hazel Bazemore County Park: The park is located in the northwest corner of Corpus Christi in the community of Calallen. Highways 37 and 77 intersect and run together for a short distance, the first exit on Hwy 77, less than one half mile south of this intersection, is FM 624 (Upriver Road). Go west on 624 for 0.7 mile to the entrance of the park on the right (at the third traffic light, County Road 69). Turn right at CR69 and proceed down the road into the park. Bear left when you enter the park (you'll see a sign pointing the way to the hawk watch), and follow the road downhill past the park office and public restrooms, around the bend past the pavilion to the bluff. You'll see the back of the 17th tee box to your left as you round the final bend that puts you right on top of the fall watch site.

The Fall River of Birds

Sue Schwaller

There's a celebration of flight along the Texas Coast and a river of birds is moving south. The fall migration is in full swing. From experienced observers and counters at Texas Hawk Watch in Corpus Christi to Houston Audubon Society's family program, A Swift Night Out - an evening of estimating the number of Chimney Swifts returning to their evening roost [http://www.houstonaudubon.org/] - people are recognizing and celebrating the spectacular event of fall bird migration.

By checking the Texas Hawk Watch [http://www.ccbirding.com/thw/] you can begin to realize the magnitude of fall migration. There are days when watch counts can be staggering, in the range of 100,000 hawks in a day. Early migrants on their southern journey begin to appear during late July and peak late September. It takes skilled team work to spot, count and report raptors traveling through Texas skies. Other hawk watch programs are also geared up at Smith Point Hawk Watch Tower in the Candy Abshier Wildlife Management Area [http://www.gcbo.org] and Bentsen State Park Hawk Tower in Mission, Texas [http://www.worldbirdingcenter.org/sites/mission/].

Landbird migration along the coast is beginning as well. The arrival of Black-and-white Warblers and the Glue-gray Gnatcatchers put birders on notice that it's time to watch for southward bound birds. The coastal towns of Rockport and Fulton host the annual September HUMMER/BIRD Celebration which spotlights the spectacular migration of the Ruby-throated hummingbird [http://www.rockporthummingbird.com].

By paying attention to the signs around us we can begin to sense some aspect of what drives the fall migrants to leave their nesting and breeding grounds and head south. Evening light is changing, the sun is setting earlier and there is a quality to the air that hints that cooler days may be ahead. Whether it's a sky filled with amazing hawks soaring and gliding their way south, a black-and-white warbler creeping about an oak, or a Ruby-throated Hummingbird buzzing the feeder, it's time to celebrate these birds for their incredible abilities to sense the changing season and move south for the winter.

Directions to The Smith Point Hawk Watch Tower at Candy Abshier WMA: To reach Smith Point from Houston take I-10 east to Texas Hwy 61exit. Turn south on Hwy 61. In a few miles it changes number to FM 562 and continues south to Smith Point. FM 1985, which continues past Anahuac NWR, branches left off FM 562 just past the small community of Double Bayou. Stay right to continue to Smith Point. Once in Smith Point continue on 562 past a small store/gas station. The Spoonbill is to the right at the end of Hawkins Camp Road and the hawk tower is just past the intersection of 562 and Hawkins Camp where a sign directs you to the left and into the large parking area.

Directions to Hazel Bazemore County Park:

The park is located in the northwest corner of Corpus Christi in the community of Calallen. Highways 37 and 77 intersect and run together for a short distance, the first exit on Hwy 77, less than one half mile south of this intersection, is FM 624 (Upriver Road). Go west on 624 for 0.7 mile to the entrance of the park on the right (at the third traffic light, County Road 69). Turn right at CR69 and proceed down the road into the park. Bear left when you enter the park (you'll see a sign pointing the way to the hawk watch), and follow the road downhill past the park office and public restrooms, around the bend past the pavilion to the bluff. You'll see the back of the 17th tee box to your left as you round the final bend that puts you right on top of the fall watch site.