Saturday’s
outing was definitely a family affair, with Fred’s sister Carolyn and her
husband Jim joining us, along with Steve, Denbi, Carrie, and Jim #2! J
Fred opted to drive, as they rented a vehicle that could carry five
people, while the second carload followed us, and since most everyone was a new
birder, we all headed to Bentsen State Park first to see what we could
see! (On the way everyone marveled at
the Hitchcockian mob of grackles and Bronzed Cowbirds at the intersection at
Business 83…) At Bentsen, their first
bird was a Kiskadee in the parking lot, and it was fun to see everyone get so
excited about a bird we tend to take for granted! Heading towards the gardens, what should pop
up but the wintering Hooded Oriole, which rightfully elicited many ooos and
ahhs! (I warned Suzanne, who was
inputting into EBird as we went, that that one was gonna get flagged… J)
The Buff-bellied Hummingbird chattered, but the only one to show himself
was a male Black-chinned Hummingbird that challenged another, seemingly doing a
little bit of a display flight!
Fuzzy Hooded Oriole in the morning sun
Black-chinned Hummingbird - in the shot above you can see the characteristic "blobby" outer primary
We
arrived at the Nature Center just as the feeders were being filled, and
everyone delighted in all the Chachalacas waiting to get at breakfast (and then
later chorusing to beat the band)! After
we all sat for awhile and let the birds get used to us, a Kiskadee came in, and
shortly after a male Golden-fronted Woodpecker gave everyone great looks at his
multi-colored crown! Green Jay was high
on the wish list of many, and before long one after another came in to the
feeder, to gasps of delight from the group!
Even the Red-winged Blackbirds were studied with relish as the female
looked so different!
Happy birders enjoying the morning show!
Chachalaca waiting for the feeders to be filled...
After
awhile we reluctantly headed back to the cars (I had heard a distant Altamira
Oriole, but none showed themselves this day), where a flock of Lark Sparrows
gave great looks. From there we headed over to Anzalduas, stopping for a very
distant White-tailed Hawk and a Crested Caracara along Old Military
Highway. A pair of White-tailed Kites
showed well along the entrance road, and a flock of Western Meadowlarks flew in
front of us. Everyone was willing to
take the Sprague’s Pipit Hike, and we ended up flushing several birds (none
landing, unfortunately), and everyone got to hear their distinctive flight call,
along with a couple of American Pipits.
A mystery hawk hiding in the trees turned out to be a Cooper’s once he
flew, and checking out the raft of Lesser Scaup singled out a male Ring-necked
Duck amongst them. Two Ospreys sat in
the trees across the way, and a very
distant hawk had me wondering if we had the Hook-billed Kite that had been
reported the day before (a big shadow across his back wasn’t helping), but
thankfully he shuffled his plumage enough to reveal that he was a
Red-shouldered Hawk…
Sleepy Lark Sparrow
Driving
slowly I heard a Tropical Kingbird, so we parked along with all the cop cars
and went after it, only to hear a Couch’s Kingbird as well, so that was neat to
have both of them together! A Vermilion
Flycatcher was a big hit, and a Black Phoebe tried to pull our attention away
from his brighter cousin. I did have a
single rose-rumped House Finch, and even a female House Sparrow caused some
excitement! A stop at the bathrooms
added some Eastern Bluebirds to the day list.
Couch's Kingbird
We
hadn’t even made it past the boat ramp when folks were starting to crave those
barbacoa tacos I had been bragging about at Stripes J so we headed up to Military
Highway and indulged (mentioning that it tasted like moist pot roast was enough
to convince one of our party to get one J),
then took the back way to Santa Ana, picking up three fly-by Monk Parakeets in
Hidalgo. I was hoping we might run into Clay-colored
Thrush and Beardless Tyrannulet at the refuge (to say nothing of the vagrant
Tropical Parula), but being “that time of the day” (and unseasonably warm to
boot), we didn’t see much of anything besides titmice, Orange-crowned Warblers,
and a variety of butterflies and waterfowl at Willow Lakes (including many
Least Grebes and some Black-necked Stilts), but a flyover Harris’ Hawk was
exciting. Several things sang but didn’t
want to show themselves (like Carolina and Bewick’s Wrens, along with the
ever-stubborn Verdins), but coming over the levee I heard the descending
whistle of a Gray Hawk, and going on faith that it wasn’t a Green Jay imitating
one, I went ahead and counted it! J
From there we headed on to Estero Llano Grande SP as our last stop of the day.
Car
#2 had originally planned to drop out around noon, but they ended up
persevering for the whole day (although mentioning that one could spend the
rest of the afternoon chilling on the covered deck watching the water birds
appealed to several folks)! After
getting checked in and enjoying the ducks (including the Cinnamon Teal and the
Green-winged Teal whose green mask actually looked purple at the angle we were
seeing them), we spent about 15 minutes at the hummingbird feeders, but only a
handful managed to get a glimpse of the Buff-bellied Hummer that came in and
perched briefly. Those who were up for
it made the trek out to Alligator Lake, where we paused briefly to enjoy
Avocets and dowitchers in Dowitcher Pond, and at Grebe Marsh the toothy
Alligator with gaping maw got all the attention! (One Least Grebe obligingly stretched his leg
so the folks could see one of the characteristics that differentiated them from
ducks…) Making the turn to Alligator
Lake we admired all the night herons of both flavors, and I enjoyed building
the suspense by having the group be very quiet (we were a boisterous bunch J) while I snuck up to find the
Pauraque, and thankfully there he was in plain sight (which is not always the
case)! So I motioned to them to slowly
come up, and it was a hoot to hear the gasps of discovery as each one in turn
suddenly picked up on this “log bird” only a few feet from them!
Group shot in the Estero parking lot
Chilling on the deck
Green-winged Teal showing purple on the head where it's normally green!
Northern Shoveler and Blue-winged Teals
Toothy Alligator
Gadwall
Least Grebe gives us the evil eye and then stretches his wing and foot!
The ever-present Pauraque
Unfortunately
the owl wasn’t in his hole, and what I suspected was a Long-billed Thrasher was
being most uncooperative (although a Curve-billed gave brief looks). But we had a couple more Alligators for our
troubles, along with a pair of Bobwhites calling to each other across the
Resaca. The overlook was rather quiet
except for a distant White-tipped Dove cooing and a flock of Yellow-rumped
Warblers (one of our group delighted in actually seeing the “butter butt”), and
we did manage to get brief looks at a Common Ground Dove in the brush, but Fred
spotted an Anhinga on the way back, which was nice!
We
were all pretty beat after that, but those who wanted to try for the becard
managed to drag ourselves into the Tropical Zone, where several other birders
were also waiting hopefully! It was
really quiet (and hot – about 95) by then, so we didn’t pick up much more than
a Turkey Vulture and some White Pelicans flying overhead. On the way out Park Host Rick tried to find
us a Malachite that had been coming in to the butterfly bait, but even he had
hidden himself away, so we headed home with what turned out to be 88 species
for the day!
Camouflaged Mexican Bluewing near a grapefruit
Bird List:
Gadwall
Mottled Duck Blue-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Plain Chachalaca
Northern Bobwhite
Least Grebe
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
American White Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Cattle Egret
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
White-faced Ibis
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
White-tailed Kite
Cooper's Hawk
Harris's Hawk
White-tailed Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Gray Hawk
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Killdeer
Long-billed Dowitcher
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Common Ground-Dove
White-tipped Dove
Common Pauraque
Black-chinned Hummingbird
Buff-bellied Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
American Kestrel
Monk Parakeet
Black Phoebe
Eastern Phoebe
Vermilion Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Tropical Kingbird
Couch's Kingbird
White-eyed Vireo
Green Jay
Black-crested Titmouse
Verdin
House Wren
Carolina Wren
Bewick's Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
Curve-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
American Pipit
Sprague's Pipit
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Olive Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Great-tailed Grackle
Bronzed Cowbird
Hooded Oriole
Altamira Oriole
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
House Sparrow
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