Mike was a return Valley visitor and had
been birding quite a bit on his own, but wanted company heading up into Starr
County, so that’s where we headed this day!
Little did we know the temperature was gonna break 100, but it started
out decently enough!
We first arrived at the Salineño Boat Ramp
where Merle, Lois, Mary G., and several other birders were already there! Mary pointed out a Zone-tailed Hawk soaring
overhead, and one of the Ospreys posed nicely across the river. Red-billed Pigeons had been seen, but not at this moment, so we decided to head down
the trail. The seedeaters were a no-show,
but we got looks at Orange-crowned and Yellow-rumped Warblers, White-winged
Doves, and both Black and Turkey Vultures.
A Cave Swallow flew overhead, so at least Mike got to see one of our
specialties! Once at the cul-de-sac
another gentleman joined us and we waited awhile; a Ringed Kingfisher rattled
and was finally spotted as he made his getaway, and at one point a large
“columbid” flew by at an unidentifiable angle; the good news was that when the
bird wheeled around he revealed himself to be the coveted Red-billed Pigeon,
but the bad news was that Mike never got on the bird in the first place! L
Our unknown friend thought he saw him land in one of the trees, so I was
ecstatically getting the scope on him, only to find out that the perched bird
was a Chachalaca! Mike at least got to
see that one through the scope, but we all had a good laugh about it…
I had heard an Audubon’s Oriole singing,
so Mike opted to go to the feeders. We
spent about an hour up there, enjoying the usual visitors – tons of Altamira
Orioles, Green Jays, and Kiskadees; and lesser numbers of titmice, Cardinals,
and both woodpecker species. After a while
we got glimpses of a Long-billed Thrasher and an Olive Sparrow, and a
White-tipped Dove came out to join the Whitewings that were feeding in the
back!
Immature Altamira Oriole (note the green back)
Orange-crowned Warbler pondering the peanut butter...
Lady Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Green Jay
Great Kiskadee gobbling down the goods
Black-crested Titmouse doing the same...
Male Golden-fronted Woodpecker showing off his brilliant colors
Female lacks the red cap
One of the resident accipiters broke up
the party, so we decided to go down to the boat ramp and wait awhile, to see if
anything new would fly by. Added Great
Blue Heron, Spotted Sandpiper, and Double-crested Cormorant to the list, but
that was it (I had heard a Gray Hawk walking down, but never spotted him). So we decided to head up to Falcon SP via the
Dump Road.
Mike waits for a Muscovy Duck to fly by...
That turned out to be one of the most
productive roads of the day! A pair of
Verdins came right in (a miracle in itself), Pyrrhuloxias chattered, and a
Black-tailed Gnatcatcher hissed and batted by!
After getting some lunch we headed into the state park, where we
unfortunately didn’t see much of anything due to the heat, I’m sure; we crawled
around the whole park and even 4-wheeled down to the lake edge, picking up
nothing more than a couple of Great Egrets.
In the camping areas we observed some Western Meadowlarks and a pair of
Chihuahuan Ravens, even getting to see the white neck feathers! We decided to call it a day after that, but
even so managed 56 species for the day.
Bird List:
Plain Chachalaca
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Cattle Egret
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Harris's Hawk
Gray Hawk
Zone-tailed Hawk
Spotted Sandpiper
Rock Pigeon
Red-billed Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
Inca Dove
White-tipped Dove
Ringed Kingfisher
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
Eastern Phoebe
Great Kiskadee
Tropical Kingbird
White-eyed Vireo
Green Jay
Chihuahuan Raven
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Barn Swallow
Cave Swallow
Black-crested Titmouse
Verdin
House Wren
Bewick's Wren
Cactus Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Black-tailed Gnatcatcher
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Long-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Olive Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Pyrrhuloxia
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Great-tailed Grackle
Altamira Oriole
Audubon's Oriole
Lesser Goldfinch
House Sparrow
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