2/18/17
Things
worked so well Thursday by doing Estero first that I decided to do the same
thing this morning with Ken, a former Fish and Wildlife guy (and professional fisherman) from Alaska, as again, many of his target birds
could be gotten there, so we headed over through the fog first thing, and were
surprised to find that another group had just beaten us there! We let them get ahead of us a little, but we
hadn’t gotten far before we heard a Couch’s Kingbird doing his sneezy dawn
song! The other group had obviously
found him, as numerous camera lenses were pointed in that direction J, but we eventually got up to where
he was sitting on a wire, at which point he darted out and caught himself a
huge White-lined Sphinx moth for breakfast!
That was a hoot!
Foggy morning in the Tropical Zone
Couch's Kingbird with White-lined Sphinx for breakfast!
We
checked on the Screech Owl Stump with no Screech Owl, then settled on the
benches by the Pauraque Hall Drip for 15 minutes to see what would come
in. The Feeder Guy had just put out the
food, and the Chachalacas were all over the platform feeder like a bunch of
chickens! They eventually came over to
where we were, along with three White-tipped Doves. A pair of Clay-colored Thrushes were
overhead, but unfortunately the only look Ken got was as they took off! L Like on Thursday, the
Black-bellied Whistling Ducks only provided fly-over looks.
After
the group moved on we moved over to the picnic table to watch those feeders and drip, and enjoyed more
White-tipped Doves, Golden-fronted Woodpeckers, and Green Jays, but after a while
I heard a little squeal, and by golly if the becard hadn’t shown up his
tree! I got Ken on him and he got a
great look, and thankfully the other group heard the commotion and came back so
they could get a look as well (the
little guy was pretty active)! My
friends Alicia and Linda from Harlingen suddenly materialized (they were there
for a Master Naturalists class), and they eventually got looks, too!
Fuzzy-headed becard through the fog
Ken enjoying the atmosphere of the Tropical Zone
We
then decided to make the loop in hopes of refinding one of the thrushes or a
feeding flock with warblers; it was pretty quiet (although we did hear an invisible Buff-bellied
Hummer), so we headed on to the deck, where the morning bird walk was getting
ready to roll. After getting ourselves
checked in the group had moved on, so we checked out the ducks and the hummer
feeders, picking up an active titmouse, but that was about it. We overtook the group and hightailed it to
Alligator Lake, picking up some territorial Least Grebes in appropriately-named
Grebe Marsh, along with the Vermilion Flycatcher, and got Ken’s Yellow-crowned
Night Herons with no trouble. We could
see that another couple had already found the Pauraque, and this time he was in
a better viewing position (plus, the second bird was also visible)! The owl was another no-show, and we couldn’t
find any kingfishers at the overlook, but another couple had spotted a close
Curve-billed Thrasher that was feeding in a tree!
The famous Pauraque
Curve-billed Thrasher
Sleepy Yellow-crowned Night Heron
Least Grebe pair
Vermilion Flycatcher
We
took the long loop back in hopes of picking up some sparrows, but nada; the
pretty Cinnamon Teal was in with some Bluewings at Dowitcher Pond, and a
clean-breasted Eastern Phoebe showed off at Curlew Pond. Coming back by way of the boardwalk allowed
stunning looks at the ducks, including Ken’s life Mottled Duck! After a break on the deck where we enjoyed
some Roseate Spoonbills that had just arrived and schmoozed with the Master
Naturalists and Dr. Tim Brush’s ornithology class, we headed towards the
parking lot, but since Ken was definitely interested in butterflies and they
were starting to fly, I pointed out a White Peacock that was harassing us on
the boardwalk, plus all sorts of little guys near the brick walkway including a
Sachem, Brown Longwing, Funereal Duskywing, Vesta Crescent, and tons of
Queens! Mike had told me that Rick and
May had male Chestnut Crescents in
their garden, so we stopped by there, and sure enough, one finally showed up
amongst the similar Texan Crescents!
Someone told us about a Red Rim back at the VC, so we went running back,
but couldn’t find him. L A Northern Beardless Tyrannulet teased us,
however, but at least Ken’s lifer White-eyed Vireo decided to give us a look!
Ken's life Mottled Duck poses next to some Green-winged Teal
Northern Pintails
Backlit Roseate Spoonbill
Chestnut Crescent
After a quick search of the parking area for the reported Tropical Parula, we headed on to Santa Ana, but not before making a quick stop at the Progresso Silos for Bronzed Cowbird! We finally found a couple of “Darth Vaders” along a wire amongst the hundreds of Red-winged Blackbirds and Brown-headed Cowbirds, and we even picked up a handful of Yellow-headed Blackbirds, which is a good bird to see in the Valley. Continuing to Santa Ana, we planned just to eat lunch at the feeders, as it was getting rather warm to hike out to Pintail Lakes for the Virginia Rails. We made a side trip up Border Road in hopes of Sprague’s Pipits, but got Horned Larks and a Harrier instead, and a great show of Turkey Vultures, White-tailed Hawks, and a young Caracara that were cleaning up after a cane burn! Ken was gratified to see so many Kestrels, as their numbers have diminished in Alaska due to the use of pesticides.
Can you pick out the Yellow-headed Blackbirds?
We
were not prepared for what turned out to be Winter Texan Appreciation Day at
Santa Ana – the place was mobbed! But we
did manage to see a Buff-bellied
Hummer come in to the feeders while eating our sandwiches, after which we
decided to head on to Anzalduas. But
first we stopped at the Old Hidalgo Pumphouse, as Ken was also interested in
local history and enjoyed reading about the pumphouse’s past! We picked up a calling Tropical Kingbird in
the parking lot and a nice Black Phoebe at the overlook, then headed over to
the residential neighborhood to bag the Monk Parakeets.
Ken at the Old Hidalgo Pumphouse
Monk Parakeet
From
there we headed to Anzalduas, and hoping we wouldn’t have to hike too far into the field, we set out to
find the Sprague’s Pipit, and finally had one that popped up and called (but
wouldn’t sit for us of course)! It was
really way too hot to walk around, but we did
check out one of my favorite groves where Ken spotted a Green Kingfisher in a
tree! We cruised and listened for feeding
flocks after that, picking up Eastern Bluebird, House Finches, and some
Ruby-crowned Kinglets, but it was pretty quiet.
With
what time we had left we cruised the Old Military Highway and Levee and really
didn’t add anything new, but it was a road I sometimes got Ringed Kingfisher
and Gray Hawk on, both of which would have been life birds. It was almost 90 out, so we decided to call
it a day and head home, but not without having racked up 82 species for the
day!
Bird
List:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Gadwall Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Plain Chachalaca
Least Grebe
Pied-billed Grebe
Neotropic Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
White-faced Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Northern Harrier
White-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Common Gallinule
American Coot
American Avocet
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
White-tipped Dove
Common Pauraque
Buff-bellied Hummingbird
Green Kingfisher
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
American Kestrel
Monk Parakeet
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet
Black Phoebe
Eastern Phoebe
Vermilion Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Tropical Kingbird
Couch's Kingbird
Rose-throated Becard
White-eyed Vireo
Green Jay
Horned Lark
Black-crested Titmouse
House Wren
Carolina Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
Clay-colored Thrush
Curve-billed Thrasher
Long-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Sprague's Pipit
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Olive Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Bronzed Cowbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
House Sparrow
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