This day was a little more challenging,
only because I was feeling like it was becoming “one of those days…” L Derek and Helen wanted to go somewhere local,
and there was the potential of a handful of specialties they still needed, so
we headed to Estero Llano Grande bright and early. It was so early in fact, that we briefly
tossed around the option of cruising the neighborhood for early-rising parrots,
but then nixed that idea in favor of getting the early morning “bush birds” as
Derek called them, so we headed on in.
Couch’s Kingbirds greeted up first off, along with a cooperative
Ladder-backed Woodpecker on a dead tree.
An Inca Dove sang, and we finally got a look as he moved to a wire! We eventually made it down to the feeders
where Doug had just replenished them, so I had virtually guaranteed that they’d
get their White-tipped Dove there!
We flushed them when we
approached (Lesson #1: try to get that first look before approaching the feeder), but I wasn’t too worried because
they “always come back.” Well. After 15
minutes of waiting, they were cooing all around us but never came back to the feeders!
(The Chachalacas were pretty friendly, though…)
Okay.
The Beardless Tyrannulet was calling, so we decided to chase that. The memory of that thing leading David and
Chuck and I around and around and around the Tropical Zone by the nose was
still fresh in my mind, so I tackled this task with apprehension, but
thankfully the little guy actually showed himself! Unfortunately
Derek and Helen couldn’t get on him before he fled, but he gave us a second
chance down the road when he perched and called right out in the open near the top of a spindly tree! I was trying to point him out to the guys and
wasn’t succeeding, so trying to get the scope on ‘im, that’s when my tripod
decided to malfunction and I couldn’t get the thing to line up properly! Of course the bird flew, and I was ready to
cry! (Lesson #2 – sometimes you need to
forget the scope and just keep trying to get the people on the bird!) But we had a nice consolation prize in the
form of a pair of Red-crowned Parrots that sat nicely in the sun and then flew
off, giving their diagnostic Cleo-chop-chop
calls!
We finally gave up on that and headed out
to the deck, where we at least had some nice comparative studies of Stilt
Sandpipers and dowitchers! The dark ibis
hanging there was of the expected White-faced variety, and by getting on the
boardwalk we got marvelous looks at the pretty ducks and a Least Grebe. Heading out to the Pauraque spot, we enjoyed
the turtles at Dowitcher Pond and several more Least Grebes at Grebe Marsh,
along with a Belted Kingfisher that came rattling in and almost landed on a dead tree in the middle of the pond until he saw
us and veered off! (Boy, those things are skittish…)
At the turnoff, I was thankful I had learned my lesson about not
virtually guaranteeing anything, because the night heron mob had all but
disappeared! We were able to pull out an adult Black-crowned and a subadult
Yellow-crowned, but the rest were youngsters (although it was kinda cool to have three kinds of egrets in the same
tree)! One of the night herons actually
morphed into a pretty Green Heron!
Adult Roseate Spoonbill
A younger bird: notice the lack of red on the wings and the white head.
White-faced Ibis shows his pink face and red eye.
Thankfully the Pauraque was still in his
preferred spot (and he even rocked a little to prove he wasn’t stuffed J), but the Screech
Owl was a no-show, and the overlook was pretty empty except for Big Mama
Alligator. Derek was curious about the
shorebirds at the far end of Dowitcher Pond, so we headed over there and took
the boardwalk, picking up some pretty Avocets, a few Lesser Yellowlegs, and a
Sora by doing so. On the way through the
grasslands a Caracara flew overhead, and using the cutoff trail to the TZ
bagged us a Swainson’s Hawk!
Pauraque at his post
Big Mama Alligator
Avocet in breeding plumage
Both non-breeding (left) and breeding plumages
Non-breeding plumage in front
The White-tipped Doves never came back,
and the tyrannulet led us on another merry chase (along with the Green Jays
that again just gave fleeting views), so we were pretty shot by the time we
left Estero (we were even too tired to try and pin down the calling Summer
Tanager on the way out)! But I was
hopeful that the feeders at Frontera Audubon would have the doves, and
thankfully they came through for us in spades!
But that was the extent of the feeder birds (aside from Chachalacas and
a single White-winged Dove); a friendly Fox Squirrel came up to say hello, and
a White-eyed Vireo sang unseen. Another
couple wanted desperately to see a Clay-colored Thrush, and as providence would
have it, we happened to hear (but not see) one on the way out, and happened to
run into the same couple in time to tell them!
Derek was interested in checking out the
Progresso Sod Farms for shorebirds seeing as it was close, so we headed over,
and actually saw more American Golden Plovers there than we had seen Saturday
on the Birder Patrol trip! The
Long-billed Curlew was there, and further down a smaller shorebird was in with
the plovers, but it was too far away to ID.
Randy (a volunteer at Santa Ana) rolled up behind us (mainly to assuage
our fears that this big ol’ truck might be full of bad guys J) and reported
that he had had Pectoral and Baird’s Sandpipers there before, but just not
today…
Headed over to Santa Ana after that, where
after a picnic lunch at the Entrance Pond (and an outstanding look at an adult Yellow-crowned Night Heron), we
pulled up to find Randy back on the job with the tram just about to leave! Helen was very interested in that, so we
encouraged her to hop on (Randy’s wife Lorna was driving it) while Derek and I
made the trek out to Pintail Lake for shorebirds. Little did we know that the water level was
actually higher than it was the last
time he was there! We had nice looks at
the regular ducks and waders (especially spoonbills and ibis), and a pod of
Pied-billed Grebes was new for the day, but it was pretty daggum hot out there,
so we headed on back before too long (Lesson #3: hike in the morning, and road-bird in the
afternoon!) I heard a very distant Gray Hawk at the levee, and
we enjoyed the breeze at the canal, then ran into Huck at the VC guiding a
couple of folks; they had just gotten back from Starr County and did have the pigeons!! I was glad they were still around but bummed
that we missed them yesterday! (Derek
said he’d drive back out there for a Roadrunner, but not a pigeon… J)
Lunch break at the entrance pond
We talk Helen into taking the tram tour!
A panting Tricolored Heron hides in the deadwood
Helen and the gang arrived shortly after
that and raved about the tram tour, as they talk about the history of the place
as well, not just the wildlife, so I think she talked Derek into taking it on
one of their days (as they have three more to go – and the report of a Bobcat
on the early tram got his attention, I think J)! But we were really shot after that, so called it a day, logging ten more than
yesterday at 81! Bird List:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Mottled Duck Blue-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Green-winged Teal
Plain Chachalaca
Least Grebe
Pied-billed Grebe
Neotropic Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
White-faced Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
Turkey Vulture
Gray Hawk
Swainson's Hawk
Sora
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
American Golden-Plover
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Lesser Yellowlegs
Long-billed Curlew
Stilt Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
Inca Dove
White-tipped Dove
Common Pauraque
Buff-bellied Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
Red-crowned Parrot
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet
Great Kiskadee
Tropical Kingbird
Couch's Kingbird
Loggerhead Shrike
White-eyed Vireo
Green Jay
Purple Martin
Bank Swallow
Cave Swallow
Black-crested Titmouse
House Wren
Carolina Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Clay-colored Thrush
Curve-billed Thrasher
Long-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Olive Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Summer Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Great-tailed Grackle
Lesser Goldfinch
House Sparrow
81 SPECIES
Nice shots, Mary Beth!
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