The trip with fellow Californians “Betty
and Kathy” (names changed to protect identity) was one of those situations where you strike up a conversation with
a couple of guests, and the next thing you know, you’re taking them birding! J
They were also interested in trying for the Aplomado Falcons, and even
after briefing them on our lack of success the day before, they still wanted to
go for it (as indeed, we would see lots of other good stuff along the
way). So we headed down to the Boca
Chica tract of the LRGV NWR, but on the way I decided to swing in the south end
of Old Port Isabel Road, even though I knew we wouldn’t get any further than a
mile up the road. Turns out that was not
a wasted detour at all, as we got crippling views of a very cooperative
White-tailed Hawk on a pole, a Cassin’s Sparrow that hopped up on a fence wire,
and both King Rail and Sedge Wrens calling at the turnaround point! Once again we got Roseate Spoonbills and
White Pelicans on Loma Alta Lake, and some uncooperative Gull-billed Terns were
a life bird for Betty, so we were hoping for better views later.
White-tailed Hawk
As far as we got on Old Port Isabel Road
Scanning the flatlands for falcons
From there we headed down to Boca Chica as
planned, and this time I stopped several times along the entirety of the main road,
along with the dirt “back road” that can often have woodland species you might
not nab along the main drag. It was in
this area that we had a somewhat cooperative White-eyed Vireo (another lifer
for Betty), and back on the main road a Roadrunner made a brief
appearance. At another stop a flock of
swallows proved to be Cave, another potential lifer “in the bank” if they ever
decide to split off the Caribbean race (as Betty had that one in Cuba)! Harris’ Hawks and Caracaras were masquerading
as Chihuahuan Ravens the whole time, but we finally got a look at a real one! J
Boca Chica back road
The girls had state-of-the-art scopes, so
with every stop they were scanning hard for raptors; at one point a suspicious
bird got our juices going, but when it flew it proved itself to be a Peregrine
(still nothing to sniff at). Still no
Aplomado, but we had nice views of several Harris’ Hawks (Betty was finally
able to get a decent picture), both male and female Harriers, a pair of perched
White-tailed Kites, and in the various roadside wetlands had several waterbirds
along with a calling Swamp Sparrow. Down
on the flats we had some nice shorebird studies (including a couple of
ultra-cute Snowy Plovers), but the big show was over 250 Reddish Egrets of both
morphs all packed together like sardines (in two different groups)! Needless to say EBird “burped” on that one
(as Kathy was faithfully inputting everything we saw as we went)! Several Horned Larks bopped along the mud
close to the road, and thankfully several Gull-billed Terns paced us close in
the car and even landed, giving Betty knockout looks! I showed the girls the “hidden” access to the
Rio Grande where we had some Avocets and a head-on Black-crowned Night Heron
coming at us, then headed down the beach, having nice studies of Royal and
Forster’s Terns, a few Sanderlings and Willets, Laughing and Ring-billed Gulls
here and there, and several stages of Herring Gull, including a nice-looking 2nd-year
bird! We didn’t make it all the way to
the mouth as the tide was coming in, but it was a nice way to see close birds
from the car!
Betty stalks a Harris' Hawk
Gull-billed Tern
Betty and Kathy at the Rio Grande
Horned Lark
Mob of Reddish Egrets
White morph Reddish Egret doing its thing...
Group of Royal Terns
2nd-year Herring Gull
From there we headed up SR 48 to the
famous boat ramp, where this time the Oystercatcher was right there in front of
us! There were also lots of skimmers along
with a young Little Blue Heron. After
thoroughly scouring the area, we headed on up to SR 100 on the off chance an
Aplomado might be perched on one of the poles; no such luck, so we headed on in
to Weslaco, where the Birds-Eye app revealed a couple of parrot roosts. Starting at the Valley Nature Center’s
parking lot, we didn’t get far before we spotted a flock of parrots heading
south, so in true storm-chasing fashion we blasted south on Border and screamed
onto 10th Street, where we actually found a big flock of
Black-bellied Whistling Ducks in someone’s tree! Continuing to cruise the neighborhood we
finally heard the parrot cacophony just south of us and found their tree,
enjoying yet another life bird for the girls (and a roost closer to home to boot)!
Red-crowned Parrot roost (take with my IPhone, but you hopefully can hear the racket!)
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna autumnalis
Snow Goose Chen caerulescensGadwall Anas strepera
Mottled Duck Anas fulvigula
Blue-winged Teal Anas discors
Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata
Northern Bobwhite Colinus virginianus
Pied-billed Grebe Podilymbus podiceps
Neotropic Cormorant Phalacrocorax brasilianus
Double-crested Cormorant Phalacrocorax auritus
American White Pelican Pelecanus erythrorhynchos
Brown Pelican Pelecanus occidentalis
Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias
Great Egret Ardea alba
Snowy Egret Egretta thula
Little Blue Heron Egretta caerulea
Reddish Egret Egretta rufescens
Black-crowned Night-Heron Nycticorax nycticorax
White Ibis Eudocimus albus
White-faced Ibis Plegadis chihi
Roseate Spoonbill Platalea ajaja
Black Vulture Coragyps atratus
Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
Osprey Pandion haliaetus
White-tailed Kite Elanus leucurus
Northern Harrier Circus cyaneus
Cooper's Hawk Accipiter cooperii
Harris's Hawk Parabuteo unicinctus
White-tailed Hawk Geranoaetus albicaudatus
Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis
King Rail Rallus elegans
Sora Porzana carolina
American Coot Fulica americana
Sandhill Crane Grus canadensis
Black-necked Stilt Himantopus mexicanus
American Avocet Recurvirostra americana
American Oystercatcher Haematopus palliatus
Black-bellied Plover Pluvialis squatarola
Snowy Plover Charadrius nivosus
Killdeer Charadrius vociferus
Spotted Sandpiper Actitis macularius
Greater Yellowlegs Tringa melanoleuca
Willet Tringa semipalmata
Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes
Long-billed Curlew Numenius americanus
Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres
Sanderling Calidris alba
Least Sandpiper Calidris minutilla
Western Sandpiper Calidris mauri
Laughing Gull Leucophaeus atricilla
Ring-billed Gull Larus delawarensis
Herring Gull Larus argentatus
Gull-billed Tern Gelochelidon nilotica
Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia
Forster's Tern Sterna forsteri
Royal Tern Thalasseus maximus
Black Skimmer Rynchops niger
Rock Pigeon Columba livia
Eurasian Collared-Dove Streptopelia decaocto
Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura
Greater Roadrunner Geococcyx californianus
Belted Kingfisher Megaceryle alcyon
Golden-fronted Woodpecker Melanerpes aurifrons
Ladder-backed Woodpecker Picoides scalaris
Crested Caracara Caracara cheriway
American Kestrel Falco sparverius
Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus
Red-crowned Parrot Amazona viridigenalis
Great Kiskadee Pitangus sulphuratus
Loggerhead Shrike Lanius ludovicianus
White-eyed Vireo Vireo griseus
Green Jay Cyanocorax yncas
Chihuahuan Raven Corvus cryptoleucus
Horned Lark Eremophila alpestris
Cave Swallow Petrochelidon fulva
Verdin Auriparus flaviceps
House Wren Troglodytes aedon
Sedge Wren Cistothorus platensis
Curve-billed Thrasher Toxostoma curvirostre
Long-billed Thrasher Toxostoma longirostre
Northern Mockingbird Mimus polyglottos
European Starling Sturnus vulgaris
Orange-crowned Warbler Oreothlypis celata
Common Yellowthroat Geothlypis trichas
Yellow-rumped Warbler Setophaga coronata
Olive Sparrow Arremonops rufivirgatus
Cassin's Sparrow Peucaea cassinii
Savannah Sparrow Passerculus sandwichensis
Lincoln's Sparrow Melospiza lincolnii
Swamp Sparrow Melospiza georgiana
Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis
Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus
Eastern Meadowlark Sturnella magna
Western Meadowlark Sturnella neglecta
Great-tailed Grackle Quiscalus mexicanus
House Sparrow Passer domesticus
96
SPECIES
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