Ken’s final day was designated a
“clean-up” day, so we centered our adventure around what he still needed (and
was reasonable to nab). On a lark I
suggested that we leave early in order to get up to the FM 1015 Pond by
sunrise, as a couple of years ago, this was a good place to catch the goose
liftoff from Delta Lake, and hope that a flock would fly right over so you
could pick out a Ross’ from the Snows!
Unfortunately, the geese were apparently roosting elsewhere, as when we
got there pre-dawn, there wasn’t a cackle (or even a crane roll) to be heard
anywhere! There was some water in the pond (my friend Pat had reported that it was
bone dry the last time she was up there), so we enjoyed side-by-side Greater
and Lesser Yellowlegs, a mob of Least Sandpipers, a distant Osprey in a field,
and some Caracaras. We gave it until
7:30 before deciding to hit Delta Lake Park proper for a restroom break.
"FM 1015 Pond" (with the two yellowlegs)
What was going to be a quick stop turned
out to be pretty productive! On the way
in I thought I heard something suspicious in the reeds, so I decided to park by
the group picnic pavilion which gave us easy access to the bathrooms and the reeds! Some pishing on the bathroom walkway actually
brought in a Yellow Warbler instead of the hoped-for Swamp Sparrow! We kept trolling as we walked along the
perimeter of the reeds, and Ken was finally able to get a good look at a male
Yellowthroat! Before long I heard a
“machine gun”, and we turned around to see a big, beautiful Ringed Kingfisher
fly by in gorgeous light, fly off, and then circle around again to give us
another great show! We then got on the
little bridge that goes to the woodland I dubbed “Mosquito Manor” in the past,
and this time, a snappy little Swamp
Sparrow popped out (but not before getting a Sora upset…)!
From there we headed to Hargill Playa,
adding the reported Say’s Phoebe on the way in.
This was our best shot at Snowy Plover, and thankfully we were able to
find a couple fairly quickly! But
scanning the pond to pad the list, I noticed a couple of female Hooded
Mergansers diving for fish right along with the cormorants! A couple of spoonbills next to a Great Egret
added some color, and when a large raptor flew by that I initially thought was
a Redtail, I said, “Wait – he doesn’t have a face!!” Turned out to be a Great Horned Owl flying
around in broad daylight, who then landed on a distant post, only to be
harassed by a Harrier! (Maybe that’s why
he was flying in the first place…)
Distant Great Horned Owl (my cousin liked the "impressionistic" look... :-))
Last on the “reasonable list” was Vesper
Sparrow, so we headed over to Brushline, where we didn’t have to go far before
one posed in a tree. Ken didn’t get the
greatest of looks, though, before he flew, so we continued on, and thankfully
another one landed right next to the car, showing off every field mark (and
unfortunately not sticking around for the camera L)!
Since we had pretty much cleaned up his target list, Ken agreed to spend
the rest of the time surveying the La Sal Del Rey Route (although around noon
we abandoned the getting-out-and-listening-for-two bit, as it was creeping up
towards 80-something). We had some nice
things: a knockout White-tailed Hawk
overhead, several groups of Sandhill Cranes circling and bugling (I was still
wondering where all the geese went…), a singing Cassin’s Sparrow, and a Roadrunner
actually flying through the fence! The
pond at the end of Brushline had a Least Grebe along with some ducks, and we
also saw a giant Nilgai, which was a treat!
We were actually hoping to refind the Red-shouldered Hawk Barry and I
had scared up at the end of Jesus Maria Road, but it wasn’t meant to be…
Fuzzy White-tailed Hawk
With the heat now creeping up to 91, we
decided to hit the Stripes in Raymondville (we went via the back road through
La Sal Viejas so Ken could at least see it, even if it was bone dry) and call it a day.
Wasn’t bad with surprisingly more species than we racked up
yesterday! Bird List:
Gadwall
Mottled Duck
Northern Shoveler
Hooded Merganser
Northern Bobwhite
Least Grebe
Neotropic Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Roseate Spoonbill
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Harris's Hawk
White-tailed Hawk
Sandhill Crane
Sora
Black-necked Stilt
Snowy Plover
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Least Sandpiper
Caspian Tern
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
Greater Roadrunner
Great Horned Owl
Ringed Kingfisher
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
American Kestrel
Eastern Phoebe
Say's Phoebe
Great Kiskadee
Couch's Kingbird
Loggerhead Shrike
White-eyed Vireo
Green Jay
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-crested Titmouse
Verdin
House Wren
Marsh Wren
Bewick's Wren
Cactus Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Curve-billed Thrasher
Long-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
American Pipit
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Cassin's Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Pyrrhuloxia
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Great-tailed Grackle
House Sparrow
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