My
last day with Gary and Sons was spent trying to clean up on some missing
targets, so we started at Estero Llano Grande hoping to catch one of the
Screech Owls peeking out of their box.
It was a foggy morning, and the dew on all the spider webs looked like little pearls covering everything! The Bufflehead showed well on Dowitcher Pond on the way to the Alligator
Lake area, but the owls were not there (we DID manage to spot a White-tipped
Dove for the boys, and Gary found one of the Pauraques right next to the
trail!). We figured the reported Sage
Thrasher was a long shot, but we hiked up to the levee and then took the Camino
de Aves Trail back, and back at the headquarters ran into Park Hosts Doug and
Huck, who offered to take us back to the Tropical Zone to try for THAT
owl (after enjoying a point-blank Green Kingfisher from the deck)! He wasn't there, either, but we at
least got a glimpse of the Beardless Tyrannulet and a cracking view of the
Altamira Oriole for Gary!
Dew-covered spider webs
Bufflehead
Jesse tries shooting the nearly invisible Pauraque (below) with his IPhone!
Foggy view from the levee
Habitat along the Camino de Aves Trail
A visiting birder shows off his photos of the Laredo Amazon Kingfisher!
Cooperative Green Kingfisher
We run into Benton Basham back in the Tropical Zone!
Altamira Oriole
Giant Swallowtail
On
the way to Santa Ana we checked out Border Road and miraculously picked up the
Burrowing Owl AND a visual on the Sprague's Pipit, then headed over to Santa
Ana for a try at the Olive Sparrow, Cave Swallow, and a long shot at Fulvous
Whistling Duck. Dipped on two of the targets (although we heard the sparrow lisping), but another birder reported Cave
Swallows down the tour road, so the guys ended up climbing the Tree Tower and
getting a flyover Cave while I checked the butter action (which was nuts - best one was a Glazed Pellicia).
Burrowing Owl near Santa Ana
Texas Spiny Lizard
Female Common Green Darner
Zebra Heliconian
Glazed Pellicia (below also)
Mob of ducks on Willow Lake guarded by a Kiskadee...
Chachalacas
Fluffy Green Jays at the drip at Bentsen
Great-tailed Grackles making chests at each other
Bird List:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Greater White-fronted Goose
Gadwall
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Bufflehead
Ruddy Duck
Plain Chachalaca
Pied-billed Grebe
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
White-faced Ibis
Turkey Vulture
White-tailed Kite
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Harris's Hawk
White-tailed Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Coot
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Spotted Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Least Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Inca Dove
Common Ground-Dove
White-tipped Dove
Burrowing Owl
Common Pauraque
Buff-bellied Hummingbird
Ringed Kingfisher
Belted Kingfisher
Green Kingfisher
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
American Kestrel
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet
Black Phoebe
Eastern Phoebe
Vermilion Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Couch's Kingbird
Loggerhead Shrike
White-eyed Vireo
Green Jay
Horned Lark
Tree Swallow
Cave Swallow
Black-crested Titmouse
Verdin
House Wren
Carolina Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Clay-colored Thrush
Curve-billed Thrasher
Long-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
American Pipit
Sprague's Pipit
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Olive Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Altamira Oriole
Lesser Goldfinch
House Sparrow
82 SPECIES
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