The hoped-for weather system petered out
on us, but we decided to go ahead with the plan to hit the Island, come what
may. With the construction on SR100 a
stop at the Blue Shack was impossible, but we were able to swing in the Observation Parking Lot, which was a good
thing, as Mike missed the Chihuahuan Raven pair on the wires going by but
thankfully another one popped up at the tower and even flew around a bit before
disappearing! A Bobwhite called once in
the distance which was good for the day, but alas, no Aplomado Falcon there. L
Continuing on, we went straight to the
Convention Centre, where the usual Greeting Committee of whistling ducks,
pigeons, and White Ibis met us, and even as we walked up to the water feature
there was a little flurry of activity with the continuing Catbirds, Blackpoll
Warbler, and Common Yellowthroat! When
that died down we decided to walk around back, where we once again ran into
Huck who had an Eastern Wood Pewee; I heard something that could have been the
Yellow Warbler that folks had seen earlier, but I just wasn’t sure (and it
never showed). Three Indigo Buntings
briefly perched in the tops of the trees, then moved on, and the Sedge Wren
gave its bright chink but never
showed. The row of Laughing Gulls on the
poles (along with their Reddish Egret) was gone, but there were several Dunlin
out there, and some Short-billed Dowitchers came screaming in making a very odd
vocalization before giving the familiar tu-tu-tu! A flock of Franklin’s Gulls wheeled overhead,
which was great, as those were the only ones we saw all day! I received a text from my friend Baceliza
about then informing us that a Rose-breasted Grosbeak was at the water feature,
so we went tearing back there and enjoyed this striking fellow, who was
undoubtedly the star of the whole day!
(Mike was especially happy as it was the bird on the cover of his
Sibley’s… J) A
Lincoln’s Sparrow also tried to draw attention to himself by hopping around out
in the open and bathing!
Blackpoll Warbler (also below)
Official Greeters (Black-bellied Whistling Ducks
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
A Lincoln's Sparrow comes in, ponders the water feature, then takes the plunge!
From there we hit the boardwalk and only
made a cursory scan of the east pond (seeing as it was directly in the sun)
picking up the normal suspects, but some Stilt Sandpipers were nice for the
day. Making our way to the end of the
“marsh” boardwalk, a couple of guys (one with a camera) put their hands up and
quietly informed us that they had a Least Bittern out in the open! I sent Mike and Sally ahead, and sure enough,
the female was just sitting there, looking around! She shortly crept back into the reeds, but
then the male crept out and allowed some views of his wonderful breeding
colors! But the icing on the cake was
when both of them hopped over to our side of the water, scaring out a Marsh
Wren in the process that practically sat on us!
A few poses of the female Least Bittern
Note the black cap and back and neon bill colors of the male in full breeding condition!
Marsh Wren that got scared out of hiding...
We got word that there was a “very
cooperative” Clapper Rail on the other boardwalk, so we scurried over there,
but not before discovering a subadult Yellow-crowned Night Heron (Sally
mentioned that he reminded her a little of their Stone Curlews, and in that
plumage, I could see the resemblance)!
The rail was still out, thankfully, so Mike was able to get some nice
pics; both the Brits were impressed with his size, as their Water Rail is a
little guy! Continuing into the
mangroves a chip revealed a surprise
Yellow-rumped Warbler still in winter plumage, and the pod of Pied-billed
Grebes at the end was a definite hit. We
didn’t stay long as a couple was having a picnic at the blind, complete with
complementary music… L
Subadult Yellow-crowned Night Heron
Close-up of the head
Sally on the boardwalk
From there we decided to hit the Flats,
and that was great fun as we were able to drive right up to gulls, terns, and
skimmers; species numbers were down (no Franklin’s Gull or Common Tern, for
one), so we quickly wrapped up there and headed to Subway for lunch and then
Sheepshead. Another young couple was
already there, so we set up watch, and didn’t have to wait too long before
there was a sudden flurry of activity:
both an Indigo and Painted Bunting came in, a female Kentucky Warbler
kept making return appearances, the Warbling Vireo that had been singing
finally showed, and a stunning male Baltimore Oriole finally came in (he had
been chattering, along with several Dickcissels that were singing away but
never did show themselves).
Unfortunately Mike missed the Summer Tanager, but since the Dickcissels
had “migrated” across the street, we decided to go over there for a while, and that drip started jumping with a Hooded
Warbler and a Northern Waterthrush (not to mention a big Blue Crab in the
back)! Something big and patterned
swooped in, and eventually came to the drip – a female Yellow-bellied
Sapsucker!
Snoozing Dunlin
Least Tern
Sandwich Terns
Black Skimmer
Taking up watch at Sheepshead...
Baltimore Oriole
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, a little on the late side...
Best guess is a Blue Crab
The Dickcissels never did cooperate, so we
decided to head on to Laguna Atascosa where we had a chance at photographing
some Green Jays (which was high on the list).
We stopped at Port Isabel Reservoir on the way, logging Wilson’s,
Semipalmated, and Snowy Plovers, plus a big flock of Whimbrel, but not the
hoped-for Wilson’s Phalaropes.
Continuing on, we went straight to the visitor’s center and the open
water feature, which was already hopping with activity: the Green Jays came right in, as did Bronzed
Cowbirds and the Chachalacas, plus the lone Cattle Egret that had been hanging
around! When things slowed down we went
to the blind, and while the light was a little harsher, there was constant
activity with more Green Jays and Chachalacas (watching them trying to get at
the suet feeder was entertaining), plus a Long-billed Thrasher, lots of
White-tipped Doves, and even a little Mexican Ground Squirrel! The parting shot was a Lark Sparrow that came
down for a drink!
Cattle Egret sneaking into the water feature
Bronzed Cowbird
Long-billed Thrasher, with a White-tipped Dove behind
"Whatcha got?"
Green Jay
Impersonating Groucho Marx...
Lark Sparrow
We really had to start heading back by
then, so I wrapped a chain around Mike and dragged him out of the blind J and headed back
to the car. But I did promise I’d stop for anything that was a life bird! Well. We
had made it past the General Brant turnoff when the first stop happened: a big,
beautiful White-tailed Hawk took off from the field and gave us a great view as
it turned circles! Then, as we were
nearing the end of the refuge area and yapping about who knows what, what
should fly right in front of us but the Aplomado Falcon!! It thankfully landed on a pole, and it’s a
good thing no traffic was coming either way as I swung around sideways so Mike
could get a picture! J
Then it took off and landed on the road for the briefest of moments
before taking off again and heading back into the refuge! What a way to end the day (not to mention the
tremendous rainstorm we drove through on the way back)!
Obliging Aplomado Falcon
We ended up with 98 species for the
day! Bird List:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Redhead
Plain Chachalaca
Northern Bobwhite
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Brown Pelican
Least Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Harris's Hawk
White-tailed Hawk
Clapper Rail
Common Gallinule
Black-necked Stilt
Black-bellied Plover
Snowy Plover
Wilson's Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Willet
Whimbrel
Ruddy Turnstone
Stilt Sandpiper
Sanderling
Dunlin
Least Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Laughing Gull
Franklin's Gull
Least Tern
Gull-billed Tern
Caspian Tern
Forster's Tern
Royal Tern
Sandwich Tern
Black Skimmer
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
White-tipped Dove
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Crested Caracara
Aplomado Falcon
Brown-crested Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Tropical Kingbird
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
White-eyed Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Green Jay
Chihuahuan Raven
Purple Martin
Barn Swallow
Cave Swallow
Sedge Wren
Marsh Wren
Gray Catbird
Long-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Northern Waterthrush
Nashville Warbler
Kentucky Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler
Northern Parula
Blackpoll Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Lark Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Summer Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Painted Bunting
Dickcissel
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Great-tailed Grackle
Bronzed Cowbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Baltimore Oriole
House Sparrow
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