I have seen Golden-cheeked Warblers both north and south of spine of the ridge where you start to drop down into Ferndell. Look and listen both directions.

The less stenuous route that our San Antonio Audubon Society field trips usually takes gets you to Golden-cheeked Warblerss more quickly than going directly to Ferndell. You do not see them as concentrated as in Fendell, though. The field trips go the main trail system from the parking lot. We head towards the south end of the park, looking and listening for Golden-cheeked Warblerss. I have seen Golden-cheeked Warblerss between the along the front part of the park and the hikers' shelter at the end of the ridge that points east from the main ridge.

When you get to the hikers' shelter toward the south end of the park, make a right, east, and follow the trail uphill. You should be able to find Golden-cheeked Warblers between this shelter and the shelter just before the crest of the ridge. I have heard three males countersinging at the upper hikers's shelter. The birds between the upper hikers' shelter and where the trail gets to the top of the ridge have been quite cooperative..

From there you can follow the trail along the front of the ridge northward to the Ferndell trail junction. I have seen Golden-cheeked Warblers along the front of the ridge. You pass a major trail juction, one arm of which goes to the west side of the ridge. I have seen Golden-cheeked Warblers near a 3rd hikers' shelter on the west side of the ridge. Another alternative is a marked shortcut from the front side of the ridge to the west side of the ridge. This shortcut heads westward about half way to the north end of the park.

Black-capped Vireo: Two locations: Lost Maples State Natural Area, and Kickapoo Caverns State Natural Area. Kickapoo further away and is harder to get into, but it has had more Black-capped Vireos than Lost Maples. In good years Kickapoo has the highest concentration of Black-capped Vireos in the United States. I would go to http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/ to get information about these and other Texas state parks. Lost Maples is open all the time. I have heard that there is a Black-capped Vireo territory near the entrance that has had a cooperative male. The TPW site has pages for each of the given parks.

Cave Swallow: Faily easy. These things are expanding their range steadily. We expect to see CASWs on our San Antonio Christmas Bird Count every year. Look especially on the south side of the county. Cliff Swallows and Barn Swallows used to nest under the expressway bridges. I have seen CASWs at the Moursund Rd overpass, exit 46, as we were leaving Mitchell Lake. I would not be surprised to find CASWs taking over the old CLSW colony sites under the expressway overpasses. I do know that I have seen tan-butted swallows at expressway intersections within the last two weeks on the north side of San Antonio.

Failing expressway overpasses, especially out of downtown San Antonio, I would head to the south part of Bexar County. Check square corned concrete culverts that are 6 feet tall or less that go under lesser travelled highways. Those were the criteria that Sumern Dana and I used to use when I helped him band CASWs several years ago.

Texas is a big state. Corpus Christi, on the Gulf Coast, is 150 miles SE of San Antonio. The glamour areas in the Rio Grande Valley, such as MacAllen and Brownsville, are 250 and 300 miles south of San Antonio respectively. I will give you a few locations that will start from in town to further away from San Antonio.

1. The River Walk itself has some decent widespread birds. That assumes that you need Inca Dove, Great-tailed Grackle, House Finch, and probably Golden-fronted Woodpecker. The area down near the King William Area, that has the old historical houses, will have the best birding on the River Walk.

2. Brackenridge Park: Brackenridge has decent birding. I have led a field trip at Avenue A on the so the south end of Brackenridge Park that has been quite birdy. It parallels River Road. Both of them dead end in Mulberry Ave. from the south. Avenue A is good because the south end dead ends in an old low water crossing that is now closed. The street goes along the west side of the Brackenridge Golf Course. If you work that and the logical northern extension of that goes up towards the San Antonio Zoo you should be able to find Red-shouldered Hawk, G-f Woodpecker, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, White-winged Dove, the River Walk stuff, Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, Yellow-crowned Night-Herons, late migrant warblers, Carolina Wren, Green Heron, Tufted (Black-crested form) Titmouse, Carolina Chickadee, and a combination of riaprian and open field birds. American Robins have been nesting here in recent years.

   San Antonio Zoo: Located at the north end of Brackenridge Park. Has the same as above + some native species in some of their walk-through areas. Yellow-crowned Night-herons and Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks nest here.

3. San Antonio Botanical Center: Located at N. New Braunfels & Funston, it covers 35 acres. The front part of the "BC" is ornamental gardens. Those would be good for hummingbirds. The NE part is depicts some of the biotic regions of Texas. In addition to the above, you should be able to find Verdin and Bell's Vireos. The Bell's Vireos have nested near the pair of adobe houses. Locate both by call. Verdin has a single, sharp, high pitched chip. Bell's Vireo asks a question with its call. This is a good migrant trip. The hill top location gives a good view of the San Antonio River valley. Bewick's Wren is probable. Brown-crested Flycatchers are reasonably probable.

4. Olmos Park-Alamo Heights Nature Trails: This is about 1/2 mile north of the San Antonio Zoo. Olmos has good birding. There is a field trip to the Alamo Heights [Judson] Nature Trails that covers this area every weekend, located at the interesection of Viesca and Greely. San Antonio Audubon Society has their Beginners' Bird Walk here the 2nd Saturday of each month. Phil Beckhelm does a walk every Saturday here for his Wild Bird Center franchise. The back side of the Alamo Heights High School basball field quite often gets us Verdin and Long-billed Thrasher. Barred Owls nest from just above the Olmos Dam to the north end of the park at Tuxedo Avenue. The fields west of US 281 opposite Olmos Park & south of the Olmos Golf Course have been good for Painted Buntings, Western Kingbird, Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, and other birds typical of grassy, weedy fields.

5. Friedrich Wilderness Park: This is where you go to get Golden-cheeked Warblers. It is located in NW Bexar County. Golden-cheeked Warblers will be there, but they will be pretty quiet. The young will look like scruffy adults because they will be molting into adult plumage. Friedrich is about 15 airline miles from downtown, making it closer to 20 miles from downtown. Blue-gray Gnatcathers have bred there. Rufous-crowned Sparrow and Scrub Jay are resident here. In many ways the parking lot is the most birdy because it has the most diversity of habitat. At present Black-capped Vireos do not nest here.

6. Mitchell Lake: The Mitchell Lake Wetlands is the most birded location in Bexar County. In mid June you should see the last of the northern migrants. The complex has a mixture of brushland, grassland, mud flats, shallow ponds, deep ponds, and a deep water lake. Expect to see: Crested Carcara, Harris's Hawk, Black-necked Stilt, all of the doves except Common Ground Dove, Cave, Cliff & Barn Swallows, one or more species of ducks, warblers, both night-herons, several species of herons and shore birds. Neotropic Cormorant will be here. Groove-billed Anis have nested here in recent years. They usually nest in July, though it seems like they nested earlier in 1996. Least Grebes nest here in wet years. It would not be surprising to see a Roseate Spoonbill here. A number of species have been seen here only after hurricanes. The advantage of birding Mitchell Lake is that you do it on about 600 acres behind a locked gate.

   San Antonio Audubon Society has a field trip here the 4th Saturday of each month. Otherwise you need to contact us to get the combination to the gate. Mitchell Lake is located on the south side of San Antonio. Take IH 37 south to IH 410. Go west on 410 to Exit 46, Moursund Blvd. Take Moursund south, away from the center of San Antonio 7/10 mile to the gate. The gate is immediately south of where Pleasanton Rd enters Moursund at a sharp angle from the left. There is a bar named "Beto's Chapparral" directly opposite the gate.

7. Calaveras Lake: The brushy areas on the south side of the lake are less disturbed than the upland areas of Mitchell. The disadvantages are: A. It costs money to get in; B. It is a public park. The eastern parts of the park get less public impact. Calaveras Lake is located in SE Bexar County, adjacent to US 181. Take 181 to Loop 1604, FM 1604. Go left, east, on 1604 to the 1st street that goes to the left. Take the to the 1st street that crosses it, making a left to enter the park.

8. Lake Choke Canyon has a lot of good South Texas specialties. It is about 75 miles south of San Antonio to the town of Three Rivers. You need to go about 10 miles to the west to get to the Callahan Unit of the Choke Canyon State Park. That has a nature trail that can have many of our glamour species. These include Curve-billed Thrasher, Long-billed Thrasher, and Cactus Wren. The Dam Unit has Green Jays, Audubon's Oriole, and Green Kingfisher.