2/19/17
Ken
agreed to a good loop hike around Santa Ana (since we were gonna hoof it out to
Pintail Lakes anyway to try for the Virginia Rails), so we left just a tad
early (since we were both ready to go anyway) and had the whole place to
ourselves, unlike yesterday! The wind
was whipping up already, so that didn’t bode well, but we headed out, ignoring
the “Killdeers” that were really the Starlings that perpetually hung out on the
tower…
Once
into the woods and some relative shelter, things started waking up: Carolina Wrens, Kiskadees, White-eyed Vireos,
and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers were some of the regular culprits. Once we broke out into the open along the
Pintail Lakes Trail, Ken’s first lifer of the day sailed in: a lovely
White-tailed Kite who proceeded to land and give great views! Several White Pelicans also lifted off along
with a couple of Great Blue Herons. We
went around the corner and found the lake that housed the coveted Virginia
Rails, and we did indeed hear at least three birds (along with a couple of
Soras), but they refused to show themselves.
Marsh Wrens were also obstinate (the eastern form was one I encouraged
him to “put in the bank” in the event of a split), giving only glimpses as they
chased each other. But in the big lake
opposite, a more cooperative life bird flew in in the shape of four White
Ibis! We were also treated to many of
the usual ducks and herons, along with several Greater Yellowlegs. A second look at an egret revealed an
immature Little Blue Heron, and we heard a distant Red-shouldered Hawk (which
would have been another lifer), but alas, he was way too far away to even hope
to see…
Ken's life White-tailed Kite
We
finally gave up on the rails and headed to the far lake where I sometimes had
Ringed Kingfisher in the past, but we only heard a Green this time. A few Black-bellied Whistling Ducks gave
satisfactory views, and a single Neotropical Cormorant sat on a snag. A big mob of shorebirds was hanging out on
the south side, so we headed over there, confirming that we had several Stilt
Sandpipers (another lifer) in with the dowitchers and Black-necked Stilts, with
a female American Wigeon and a flyover immature White-tailed Hawk as an added
bonus!
Mob of mostly Black-necked Stilts along the Pintail Lakes Trail
Stilt Sandpipers (foreground) often feed with Long-billed Dowitchers (background)
Stilt Sandpipers
Continuing
on the Rio Grande portion of the Pintail Lakes Trail, it was a lovely walk, but
pretty quiet bird-wise. A Caracara wheeled by at one of the overlooks, and a
distant kingfisher had us accessing side trail after side trail until we got
close enough to determine that it was a Belted!
We wound our way past the towers and towards Willow Lakes, the first of
which had plenty of water but no birds.
The other lakes had the usual grebes and ducks, and along the Chachalaca
Trail Ken spotted a lovely Variegated Meadowhawk. I was hoping one of the Zebra Heliconians
would show, but all we had were a few Phaon Crescents. Miracle of miracles, another Olive Sparrow
hopped up just feet away from us!
Pintail Lakes Trail near the Rio Grande
Variegated Meadowhawk
We
were whittling down the lifers pretty well, so since some of his remaining
targets included “feeding flock” stuff like Blue-headed Vireo and
Black-throated Green Warbler (plus we were hoping for a better look at a
Clay-colored Thrush), we decided on going to Bentsen to check out the
headquarters area (where a vireo had
been seen recently), then check the feeders for thrushes. The most we could kick up around headquarters
were a pair of Curve-billed Thrashers and more Orange-crowned Warblers and
titmice, so we headed up to the Nature Center Feeders and settled in. We enjoyed the usual Kiskadees and Green
Jays, but it didn’t take too long for a fat Clay-colored Thrush to magically
appear on the tree behind the PB feeder, sitting there forever while we drank
him in! He finally went for a mouthful
of PB mixture and then took off, never to be seen again… Some funny gurgling overhead got us on some
Cave Swallows (another lifer), while Ranger Roy stopped by where my comment
about finding Black-throated Green Warblers led to a discussion about how hard
some things are to find lately! We
migrated over to the other feeders while waiting for the tram, enjoying a mob
of Chachalacas fanning their tails at each other, and had I been thinking, I
should have gotten a video of these two Green Jays displaying to each other and
giving each other little berries, but I was simply so entranced just watching
them! J
Kiskadee
Clay-colored Thrush
Chachalacas mobbing the joint...
Presently
the tram arrived and wheeled us down to the Resaca, which yielded no
kingfisher, so we moseyed down to the Green Jay Blind, hoping that maybe, just
maybe, one of the reported Indigo Buntings might come in. They didn’t, but we (along with a young
couple) were entertained by the Green Jays and Red-winged Blackbirds until a
hawk broke up the party! I noticed at
one point that all four of us were resting our chins on the pull-down boards
waiting for the birds to come back, so I couldn’t help but sneak a picture! J
Reading about the resaca
Waiting for some action at the Green Jay Blind...
We
couldn’t spend much time at Kiskadee Blind if we wanted to make sure we caught
the tram, so we enjoyed Mr. Cardinal coming in to his red feeder just like last
time, then headed back to the tram stop at the cross walk. There almost wasn’t enough room for four of
us, as another couple was already waiting, but some of the families with young
children piled into one row and we were on our way, enjoying the ride around
the park while the tram driver told us little anecdotal stories, many of which
involved the big flood of 2010 after Hurricane Alex dumped so much water in
Mexico, which resulted in both Amistad and Falcon having to open the floodgates
which in turned filled our floodway
(and the Rio Grande) which put parks like Bentsen and Santa Ana under water for
several months!
Cardinal with an attitude...
We
were pretty beat by the time we got back to the car, so we decided to bird
Wallace Road in hopes of kicking up some sparrows (although with the wind we
kinda knew it was a false hope…). We did see a couple of Lark Sparrows on the
wires, and one saving grace was the fact that Ken was very interested in
farms: he and his family in the Midwest
used to take “farm tours” to enjoy the countryside and identify the various
crops, so that’s what we did along Wallace Road, and found something neither of
us could figure out (so I took a picture in hopes that someone else might know
what it was)! The old Monte Cristo Tract
had indeed been cleared to make way for whatever the new owners were planning
on planting, but surprisingly there was still water in the wetlands after all
this dry weather! We scared up some
Cinnamon Teal and enjoyed some Killdeer and Least Sandpipers who seemed
oblivious to our presence, along with a group of Greater Yellowlegs down the
road. But the best bird in here popped
up when I tried to pish up some Yellowthroats:
a wintering Yellow Warbler!
Mystery crop that was ID'd as young sugarcane by my knowledgeable friends!
Least Sandpipers
It
was time to head home after that with 82 species for the day. Bird List:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Gadwall American Wigeon
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Green-winged Teal
Ruddy Duck
Plain Chachalaca
Least Grebe
Pied-billed Grebe
Neotropic Cormorant
American White Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
White Ibis
White-faced Ibis
Turkey Vulture
White-tailed Kite
Harris's Hawk
White-tailed Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Virginia Rail
Sora
American Coot
Black-necked Stilt
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Stilt Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
White-tipped Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Green Kingfisher
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
American Kestrel
Green Parakeet (heard between the car and home)
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet
Black Phoebe
Eastern Phoebe
Great Kiskadee
Couch's Kingbird
Loggerhead Shrike
White-eyed Vireo
Green Jay
Cave Swallow
Black-crested Titmouse
Verdin
House Wren
Marsh Wren
Carolina Wren
Bewick's Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Clay-colored Thrush
Curve-billed Thrasher
Long-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
American Pipit
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Olive Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Altamira Oriole
Lesser Goldfinch
House Sparrow
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