The
plan was to get to Bentsen Rio Grande SP an hour before sunrise in order to bag
the night birds, but stepping out the apartment, bird #1 turned out to be a
Tropical Kingbird singing his dawn song!
This was followed closely by Purple Martins (2) and a Mockingbird (3),
and heading up to the freeway the Great-tailed Grackle (4) cacophony was added.
Once
at the park, a White-winged Dove (5) serenaded me, and Pauraques (6) were all
over the place! No one was home at the
Elf Owl nest hole, but I didn’t have to go far before I heard one chuckling
(7), and a little beyond him was a couple of “McCall’s” Screech Owls (8)
trilling! Further into the park a
Couch’s Kingbird (9) was tuning up, and a distant Great Horned Owl (10) came
through. By the time I got to Kingfisher Overlook, Mourning Dove (11), Cardinal (12), Brown-crested Flycatcher (13), and Olive
Sparrow (14) had all been added, and once settled at the resaca itself added
Yellowthroat (15), Kiskadee (16), a cackling Least Bittern (17), the
Coke-bottle White-tipped Dove (18), a whistling Gray Hawk (19), a White-eyed
Vireo (20), and a Beardless Tyrannulet (21) doing its dawn song! As it got lighter the Green Jays (22) woke up
along with the Golden-fronted Woodpeckers (23 – I fondly remember the Gambills
telling me that they always started calling precisely so many minutes after
sunrise), and a Clay-colored Thrush (24) started its mournful song. On the way back a Green Heron (25) called
unseen, and added flyover Chimney Swifts (26), a whistling Altamira Oriole
(27), a laughing Ladder-backed Woodpecker (28), flyover Red-winged Blackbirds
(29), and a burbling House Wren (30). A
Great Egret (31) also flew over, and a Long-billed Thrasher (32) started his
song unseen. A flatulent brat overhead signaled a flyover
Dickcissel (33), and a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (34) buzzed. A Common Gallinule (35) cackled from the
wetlands, titmice (36) started scolding and whistling, and of course the
experience wouldn’t be complete without the chorus of Chachalacas (37)! Back at the canal some Cave Swallows (38)
were flying around, and picked up Inca Dove (39) back in the parking lot. Not a bad start!
From
there I cruised Old Military Highway and the Levee Road to Anzalduas, picking
up a Black-bellied Whistling Duck (40) almost the minute I left the parking
lot! At a stop near the terminus of the
National Butterfly Center’s Walking Trail picked up singing Eastern Meadowlarks
(41), a Bronzed Cowbird (42), and the best surprise – a singing Blue Grosbeak
(43)! A Killdeer (44) yelled, and at the
next stop along the caliche portion of the levee, logged Bewick’s Wren (45),
Verdin (46), Barn (47) and Bank Swallows (48) overhead, and a young Swainson’s
Hawk (49) perched nicely. Crawling along
the rest of the levee added a banded Harris’ Hawk (50 – was wondering if it was
one of the birds Bill Clark had banded), and closer to the commercial area
added Loggerhead Shrike (51), House Sparrow (52), Starling (53), Double-crested
Cormorant (54) along the Rio Grande, Cattle Egret (55), and a Curve-billed
Thrasher (56).
Young Swainson's Hawk
Banded Harris' Hawk
Had
to “go around the block” seeing as you can no longer access that last stretch
of levee that goes straight to Anzalduas, but there were plenty of Cliff
Swallows (57) flying around on the way in, and a Black Phoebe (58) was on the
fence even before I got to the gate!
Both Least (59) and Pied-billed Grebes (60) were in that little wetland
along the spillway, and once in the park enjoyed an Osprey (61) who was
enjoying his breakfast! Along the river picked up Laughing Gull (62),
Great Blue Heron (63), and Coot (64) easily enough, and at the dam logged Rock
Pigeon (65), and a peek behind the dam added Neotropic Cormorant (66). It was sad to see all those beautiful trees
taken down, but it did allow access
to the muddy shore where I picked up Least (67) and Spotted Sandpipers (68),
and Rough-winged Swallows (69) around the dam.
On the way out the Turkey Vultures (70) were starting to rise, along
with a great liftoff of Broad-winged Hawks (71)!
Osprey with breakfast
Anzalduas Dam
Rio Grande with Mexico across the way
Spotted Sandpiper
Since
moving to Alamo, I decided to rearrange the route a little so that I would end
up closer to home by sunset, so decided to head north to the La Sal del Rey
area, planning on stopping at Quinta Mazatlan (QM) and Edinburg Scenic Wetlands
(ESW) on the way. Decided to skip QM as they had a huge event going on, but I did manage to add Scissor-tailed
Flycatcher (72) on the way. Continuing
to ESW, I immediately logged Buff-bellied Hummingbird (73) upon entering, but
it turned out to be a slow migrant day there, as I had none at all and only
added Forster’s Tern (74) and Anhinga (75) to the list at the north pond, and
Snowy Egret (76) and Blue-winged Teal (77) at the south pond. A Green Kingfisher (78) shooting past as I
cut over to the jogging trail saved the day!
Neotropic Cormorant
Front and back views of a Least Grebe
The
La Sal Loop wound up being very
productive (unlike past Big Years), and as I crawled along South Brushline
added Caracara (79), Lark (80) and Cassin’s Sparrows (81), and Horned Larks
(82). Crossing SR 186 and getting into
the good thornscrub of the NWR tracts, added calling Bobwhite (83), chattering
Pyrrhuloxias (84), a Roadrunner (85) along the roadside, and the real prize, a
stunning male Bullock’s Oriole (86)!
Towards the north end of the road were plenty of Common Ground Doves
(87), and at the farm pond a Brown-headed Cowbird (88) gurgled. At road’s end was a Collared Dove (89), and a
second pass at the pond added Greater Yellowlegs (90). I was sweating getting White-tailed Hawk for
the day as I crawled down Ken Baker Road, but after a group of Black Vultures
(91) showed up, a distant dot morphed into an adult White-tailed Hawk
(92)! Hallelujah!
Roadrunner
With an itch...
A
potty stop at Delta Lake Park was a necessity, but a swing around the park only
added Black-necked Stilt (93) and Lesser Yellowlegs (94), which I also picked
up elsewhere, so I made a mental note not to linger here in the future (unless
the lake level was low enough for shorebirds).
That took me down FM 88 to Frontera Audubon, where migration was also
slow, but of good quality: a Lesser
Goldfinch (95) greeted me at the entrance, and a Carolina Wren (96) sang from
the woods. A Myiarchus flycatcher turned out to be a Great Crested (97), and a
singing Philadelphia Vireo (98) was a great addition! A male Summer Tanager (99) rounded out the
migrants at that place.
Then
it was on to Estero Llano Grande SP, where I was able to make up some slack in
the waterbird department. Huck was there
to help me out, and in short order added Long-billed Dowitcher as Bird #100
(that’s always fun to see which bird will get that honor J), followed by
Avocet (101), Stilt Sandpiper (102), and Mottled Duck (103). I ran into Lissy (the female half of a
British couple that happened to be staying at the Inn), who informed me that a
Swainson’s Warbler was back at the drip in the Tropical Zone, where her hubby
Jason was now planted indefinitely (because she had seen it – and photographed it – and he hadn’t J), so I hightailed
it out there myself, and joined Jason, giving the bird 15 minutes to show up
(when doing a Big Day you can’t afford to spend too much time at one spot), but
only adding the reported Eastern Wood Pewee (104). Giving the deck one more shot added White
Pelican (105), Shoveler (106), Ruby-throated Hummer (107), and Cinnamon Teal
(108) to the list (and later at South Padre Island, I would hear from Jason
that five minutes after I left, the bird showed up… L).
Band-celled Sister (token butter)
Next
stop was the Progresso Sod Farms, where I really hit the Grasspiper
Jackpot: thanks to another birder who
was scanning one of the far fields, he pointed out some Upland Sandpipers (109)
that I never would have picked up on, as they were so far away! Down the road, however (and close enough to
pick up with the naked eye) was the mother lode: several American Golden Plovers (110),
Baird’s (111) and Pectoral Sandpipers (112), and the real prize, a couple of
Buff-breasted Sandpipers (113 – there’s just something about the “Buffies” that
are so endearing J)!
While I was studying them a Common Nighthawk (114) batted overhead, and
crawling further down the road bagged a Groove-billed Ani (115) that called and
flew off! Continuing up on the levee, I
discovered to my chagrin that they now have the FM 88 access gated off! So doing some white-knuckle maneuvering to
turn around on that thing (thank God for the backup camera), managed to head
back to the Sod Farm Road, adding White-tailed Kite (116) for my troubles!
The
last stop was Santa Ana NWR, which is only 15 minutes from home. I was scraping the bottom of the barrel by
now, and the only new birds were added right at Willow Lake: Marsh Wren (117), White Ibis (118), and a
Little Blue Heron (119) that had some whitish on the belly and could have been
mistaken for a Tricolored were it not for the obviously “Little Blue”
jizz! It wasn’t quite sunset by the time
I finished, but almost, and I was certainly ready to call it a day after
that!
Little Blue Heron
Bird List (in taxonomic order):
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Mottled Duck Blue-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Plain Chachalaca
Northern Bobwhite
Least Grebe
Pied-billed Grebe
Neotropic Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
American White Pelican
Least Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
White Ibis
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
White-tailed Kite
Harris's Hawk
White-tailed Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Gray Hawk
Swainson's Hawk
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
American Golden-Plover
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Upland Sandpiper
Stilt Sandpiper
Baird's Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Buff-breasted Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Laughing Gull
Forster's Tern
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
Inca Dove
Common Ground-Dove
White-tipped Dove
Greater Roadrunner
Groove-billed Ani
Eastern Screech-Owl
Great Horned Owl
Elf Owl
Common Nighthawk
Common Pauraque
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Buff-bellied Hummingbird
Green Kingfisher
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Black Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
Brown-crested Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Tropical Kingbird
Couch's Kingbird
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Loggerhead Shrike
White-eyed Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo
Green Jay
Horned Lark
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Purple Martin
Bank Swallow
Barn Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Cave Swallow
Black-crested Titmouse
Verdin
House Wren
Marsh Wren
Carolina Wren
Bewick's Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Clay-colored Thrush
Curve-billed Thrasher
Long-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Common Yellowthroat
Olive Sparrow
Cassin's Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
Summer Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Pyrrhuloxia
Blue Grosbeak
Dickcissel
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Great-tailed Grackle
Bronzed Cowbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Bullock's Oriole
Altamira Oriole
Lesser Goldfinch
House Sparrow
Wow! Awesome big day.
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