This
Big Day was planned months ago, but the week before it was to take place, the
suggestion came to use it as a fund raiser for Church Camp! Miraculously I got a handful of sponsors, and
some upped the ante if I hit over 150 (which I honestly didn’t think was possible,
at least the way I do Big Days), so
we were on our way! Walking out the door
at 3:50 am, a Mockingbird started the list, and when I got off the freeway at
SR 100, House Sparrows (2) were yelling up a storm under the overpass, even at
that hour!
One
of the tricks is to find a wooded area where you feel safe going an hour before
dawn, and in Cameron County’s case, that place was Resaca de la Palma State
Park. Just for kicks and grins I decided
to stop periodically along New Carmen Road, and that hit pay dirt, adding
Common Nighthawk (3), chattering Scissor-tailed Flycatchers (4), a flyover
Dickcissel (5), a Couch’s Kingbird sneezing his dawn song (6), and the best
catch, a singing Chuck-will’s-widow (7)!
Thankfully the first gate was open, so I parked in the relative
seclusion of the dirt lot, and I didn’t have to go very far into the park to
pick up “McCall’s” Screech Owl (8), along with Cardinals (9) and Brown-crested
Flycatchers (10) tuning up already! I
walked to a little picnic area in the main parking lot and was surrounded by
White-winged Doves (11) awakening the dawn, and was sweating the Pauraques
until finally a few started to give
their distinctive songs (12)! The sound
of another car pulling in sent me back to my own car, and not knowing who it
might be I chose to pull out and into the outside lot (my headlights, as I was
turning around, revealed what looked like a couple probably wanting to awaken
the dawn together…), but what that showed me was that all the night birds
(including the Chuck) were easily heard right there by the road, and in
addition added White-tipped Dove (13), Long-billed Thrasher (14), Red-winged
Blackbirds (15) in the fields across the street, Green Jays (16) back in the
woods, a Lark Sparrow (17) across the way, a distant Kiskadee (18), the
inevitable Great-tailed Grackle (19), Carolina Wren (20), and lastly, just
before leaving for Sabal Palm Sanctuary at around 6:30, an Olive Sparrow (21)
giving his bright bouncing ball song!
Mourning
Doves (22) were on the road going back up to the freeway, but I kept the window
down as I went, picking up Bobwhite (23), Eastern Meadowlark (24), a chattering
Baltimore Oriole (25 – there would be tons later), and a Laughing Gull (26)
overhead along FM 511. Pulling into the
entrance road, a Bronzed Cowbird (27) was on the wire, and the Chachalacas (28)
were starting the Morning News. A pair
of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks (29) were perched near the Wall, and in the
wooded area along the road added White-eyed Vireo (30), Ladder-backed
Woodpecker (31), Altamira Oriole (32), Starling (33 – he was actually a
flyover), Black-crested Titmouse (34), and Golden-fronted Woodpecker (35). On the way to check in a Buff-bellied
Hummingbird (36) chattered, and a Hooded Oriole (37) wheeped from the palms.
Starting on the trail, an Eastern Wood Pewee (38) plaintively called,
and a Rose-breasted Grosbeak (39) squeaked, but along the Resaca Trail I
flushed a young hawk that I initially thought was a Coop, but after I got my
bins on it I could see it was a Gray Hawk (40, and one whistled later for good
measure…). Along the Vireo Trail an
Orchard Oriole (41) sang and finally showed himself, and a Mottled Duck (42)
quacked unseen from the pond. At a rest
stop an empid flew in and flipped his tail very nicely, and the fine eyering,
pale underparts, and greenish complexion made me comfortable calling it an
Acadian Flycatcher (43). A female Indigo
Bunting (44) popped up, and a Lesser Goldfinch (45) gave a variety of
calls. Coming back along the back side
of the pond, a “Brownsville” Common Yellowthroat (46) sang its unique song, and
a Least Grebe (47) trumpeted from behind the foliage, as did a Coot (48). At an opening I could see a Neotropic
Cormorant (49) and a Common Gallinule (50), and a Green Kingfisher (51) gave
its typewriter-like rattling call. On
the way to the blind a Warbling Vireo (52) was singing tentatively, and from
the blind itself was able to add Pied-billed Grebe (53) and a hiding
Black-crowned Night Heron (54) to the list.
On the way out I was surprised to hear a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (55)
buzzing, although a few do hang around all summer.
Stopped
for gas on the way to Old Port Isabel Road, logging Chimney Swifts (56)
overhead, with the first bird of the road being a Killdeer (57). A Verdin (58) called from the thornscrub, and
at one stop had a Barn Swallow (59) shooting overhead. The next patch of thornscrub had a singing
Bewick’s Wren (60) while a Willet (61) flew by the car. At another stop some Gull-billed Terns (62)
were calling, and eventually a Cassin’s Sparrow (63) popped up and sang (no
Botteri’s yet L).
Was happy to bag a flyby Caracara (64) but even happier to spot two Aplomado Falcons (65), one which had
just snatched breakfast and was enjoying it on the wire (looked to be an adult
and juvenile). Neither bird was banded,
so there was no doubt that these were not
captive-bred birds! A stop at the canal
near the north end was very productive, adding Great Egret (66), Tricolored
Heron (67), a Spotted Sandpiper (68) with all his spots, a distant White-tailed
Hawk (69) that eventually flew right overhead, and surprisingly a Whimbrel
(70), which should be gone by now! Even
more unusual was a Long-billed Curlew (71) screeching its cur-LEEE! call! A Horned
Lark (72) up in the plowed fields near the shooting range was the last bird of
that leg.
Junior Aplomado Falcon chows down while Mom/Dad supervises...
Jackrabbit making his getaway...
Truly Spotted Sandpiper
Late Whimbrel
Heading
to the Island, added a Great Blue Heron (73) lumbering along SR 100, a Turkey
Vulture (74) amongst the recognizable raptors along this busy road, and once in
Port Isabel, Collared Dove (75) and Rock Pigeon (76) were easy additions, along
with a Cattle Egret (77) in the grass after coming off the causeway. The first stop was The Flats just north of
the Convention Centre, with Royal Tern (78) being the prominent larid. The water was way out there, so I could drive
practically up to the posts behind the Centre, adding a Wilson’s Plover (79)
close to the grass, and on the water’s edge a brilliant Black-bellied Plover
(80 – with its black belly), mating Black-necked Stilts (81), several Dunlin
(82) also in breeding plumage, a few Sanderlings (83 – some of which were in
their confusing breeding plumage), and incongruously a female Brown-headed
Cowbird (84) bopping around on the beach!
A Greater Yellowlegs (85) yelled from somewhere, and further out a few
Short-billed Dowitchers (86) fed, later giving their distinctive tu-tu-tu calls for good measure. A Least Tern (87) called scratchily as he
fed, and the Black Skimmer (88) flock hid a single Ring-billed Gull (89) in its
midst. Finally found a couple of
Sandwich Terns (90) in the mix, and down where the human revelers were enjoying
the morning a Reddish Egret (91) was dancing with the best of them!
Wilson's Plover
A few Dunlin shots from various angles...
Sanderling transitioning into breeding plumage
Short-billed Dowitcher
Black-bellied Plover
It
was then time to make the rounds at the Centre, and I was pleasantly surprised
that there were still a number of migrants around, as it was a beautiful day
with south winds, and I figured they’d be well on their way north! A lady American Redstart (92) was the first
warbler to greet me in the trees, and in addition to the hordes of ducks,
pigeons, and buntings feeding next to the wall, a Lincoln’s Sparrow (93) had
joined them! But the best bird was the
male Bay-breasted Warbler (94) that fed happily in front of me! Continuing to the water feature I ran into
Brad McKinney, who was waiting for a MacGilligray’s Warbler to show up, but in
the meantime I added a cooperative Red-eyed Vireo (95), Black-throated Green Warbler
(96), Black-and-white Warbler (97), Magnolia Warbler (98), Tennessee Warbler
(99), and Yellow Warbler getting the honor of being #100! A Catbird (101) peeked out, and when I
mentioned that I hadn’t seen a Wood Thrush this year yet, both Brad and Lizzy
mentioned that not only had it come in previously, but it was currently at the
end of the water feature (102)! A
Swainson’s Thrush (103) came in for a bath while an Ovenbird (104) strutted
around in the background. Not a new
bird, but another Acadian Flycatcher came in that everyone felt confident
calling it as such!
Official Greeter (Black-bellied Whistling Duck)
Bay-breasted Warbler
Red-eyed Vireo
Acadian Flycatcher
Cutie female Yellow Warbler that made Bird #100!
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
About
that time I decided to sit on one of the benches along the side, where a female
Scarlet Tanager (105) came in to share an orange with a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak, along with what I think was the
Baltimore Oriole the others had been talking about that acted like it wasn’t
quite up to snuff. I wasn’t there long
before Lizzy informed me that the female Lazuli Bunting they were mulling over
had reappeared, so I scrambled back over and documented the thing along with
everyone else (106)! Returning to my
seat, I was once again uprooted when the MacGillivray’s Warbler showed up, but
alas, he went into the brush before I could get on him… L
Back and front views of a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Female Scarlet Tanager
I was concerned that the thin streaking visible on this female bunting (especially in the below shot) might disqualify it from being a Lazuli...
...but in these shots of the same bird, the underparts clearly show a Lazuli pattern! (Apparently the wingbars are a mite too strong for Indigo as well...)
Baltimore Oriole
From
there I took up watch on a couple of benches along the back side, adding the
tame White Ibis family (107) while a Lesser Yellowlegs (108) called from the
wetlands. The first of many Eastern Kingbirds (109) showed up, and a
Gray-cheeked Thrush (110) caught bugs from the white rope barrier. An odd oriole showed up that I initially ID’d
as Bullock’s, but there was enough doubt on Mary G’s end to make me set it
aside for the time being (especially since it reminded me of a funky female
Baltimore we had several years ago that everyone was calling a Bullock’s)… I took a quick look at the Flats from the
back but didn’t add anything new, and on the way to the “corner seat” a Roseate
Spoonbill (111) flew over. Added
Nashville Warbler (112) and finally a female Ruby-throated Hummingbird (113)
came in for a sip before I headed for the “center bushes” to look for the
reported Western Wood Pewee and the Chestnut-sided Warbler Lizzy had seen. Brad was again back there, and we had at
least two pewees (that had a spat at one point), but neither spoke anything but
“Eastern Wood”. The warblers had left
the tepeguaje trees (except for a lady Redstart), but on the return leg I
thought I heard a Least Flycatcher giving its soft whit, then found the perp on the south side (114)! A Least Bittern (115) obligingly cackled
before I even made it onto the boardwalk!
Bay-breasted Warbler
Both Gray-cheeked (above) and Swainson's Thrushes (below) like to hunt bugs from the white barrier rope!
This female oriole showed up that screamed "Bullock's" to me, but the strong lower wingbar and prominent yellow chest had some people wondering...
She cooperatively came in and feasted on a grapefruit right in front of me! The facial pattern looks good for Bullock's, as does the grayish tone to the back and the "toothed" upper wingbar. After others weighed in, I ended up adding this bird to the end of the list.
Female Indigo Bunting, where the streaks are very apparent.
Male Baltimore Oriole (on the right) is apparently challenged by the Orchard Oriole pair (or at least the wife) on the left!
Escaping to dry out a little...
A Western Wood Pewee was confirmed earlier, and this guy raised suspicions due to his dusky bill tip, but he never said anything to clinch the ID...
This guy, on the other hand, definitely spoke "Eastern"!
Eastern Kingbirds came through by the dozens!
Back at the water feature, a Gray-cheeked Thrush comes in for a bath!
A Black-and-white Warbler joins him
On
said boardwalk, a Ruddy Turnstone (116) flew into the east pond, and there I
added Green Heron (117) and Stilt Sandpiper (118; the Redheads had apparently left). Over by the blind a trio of Blue-winged Teal
(119) flew past, and several Cave Swallows (120) swooped around. On the leg that heads out over the lagoon, a
Western Kingbird (121) flew around, and thankfully the Oystercatcher (122) made
a pass, but not calling this time! J On the way back a Least Sandpiper (123) shot
past and called, and a pair of Purple Martins (124) perched on a wire.
Dragged
myself away from there (was sorely tempted to spend another 15 minutes at least
at the water feature, but when doing a Big Day ya gotta keep moving) and headed
to Sheepshead, as Merle had reported that a Golden-winged Warbler had shown up
there! Hopeful for some new species, I
was mildly disappointed to arrive and find the main patrons to be doves and
buntings, and the only warbler to come in to the drip on the south side was a
Yellowthroat. After 15 minutes I
migrated to the north (“sunny”) side where things were seeping but just not showing themselves. Another young couple showed up, and
thankfully a female Painted Bunting (125) put in an appearance for them! Just as they were leaving a Blue Grosbeak
(126) showed up, so I called them back post haste!
I
made a quick stop at the Pearl Pond, but both the scoter and the Purple
Gallinules were apparently gone, so headed over the causeway and made a side
trip to Port Isabel Reservoir. Like at
Delta Lake, I picked up a couple new things, but nothing I didn’t get later on
(Avocet – 127, and Wilson’s Phalarope – 128), and was hoping to pick up some
additional small plovers. Am wishing now
that I had gone ahead and checked the rest of Holly Beach Road, because I
missed two birds that I assumed I would pick up along the Cannon Road Loop
(Curve-billed Thrasher and Harris’ Hawk), but didn’t… L On the way to the freeway I stopped at a resaca
near Bayview and picked up White-rumped Sandpiper (129), and heard a thrasher I
suspected was the Curve-billed, but just couldn’t find him. With the window down I picked up a tittering
Tropical Kingbird (130), and a Shrike (131) on the wire near the freeway was a
nice addition!
I
took FM 800 over to Weaver Road, a little concerned that the afternoon sun
would complicate things, but I needn’t have worried, as the north end of the
sod farms could be viewed in wonderful
light, and that’s where most of the birds were! J Right away another flock of Whiterumps
wheeled around, but in with them were several Buff-breasted Sandpipers
(132)! To the west were several
Long-billed Dowitchers (133), and a couple of Pectoral Sandpipers (134) joined
the Buffies. Out in the field were a
couple of American Golden Plovers (135), and as I took the southbound road, I
was surprised to kick up a Savannah Sparrow (136)! I had been pondering how difficult it can be
right now to pick out a Baird’s Sandpiper (as I’ve been fooled by dull
Whiterumps before), but thankfully a pair in classic breeding plumage posed
right by the ditch (137)! Already
counted, but still pretty was a Least Sandpiper also in breeding plumage – a
real sharp little bird! I looked hard
for the Hudsonian Godwits that had been reported earlier in the week, but
couldn’t find any – was to hear that Rex Stanford (Mr. Shorebird himself J) found them the
next day! L
White-rumped Sandpiper
American Golden Plover
Several views of a Buff-breasted Sandpiper hiding in the grass
Baird's Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
From
there crawled through the NWR tract hoping to nail the aforementioned Harris’
Hawk and had a flyover Common Ground Dove (138) instead, but I almost ignored a
bird on the wire that turned out to be an Olive-sided Flycatcher (139)! Since the light was good, I went up on the
dike to view Adams Garden Reservoir in hopes of bagging some swallows, but none
were found, although a flyby Yellow-crowned Night Heron (140) was nice! A ragamuffin Forster’s Tern (141) batted by,
but the only other birds there were Neotropic Cormorants. Descending to the “ground floor” some
swallows on the wire turned out to be Banks (142), and I was pondering the fact
that I hadn’t seen a Snowy Egret yet, when suddenly one popped up from the
marsh (143)!
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Neotropic Cormorant
I
had planned to hit Tiocano Lake as my last stop of the day, in hopes that the
King Rails would be calling closer to sunset.
They certainly were (144), but in addition to that bagged some nice
additions as a pair of Fulvous Whistling Ducks (145) flew in, a Little Blue
Heron (146) pumped past, and a line of White-faced Ibis (147) glided
along! In addition there were more lovely
spoonbills (the second camera battery died about then L), avocets, and
other shorebirds already logged, but nothing new, so with what time I had left
(and actually nearing the 150 mark, which I never dreamed I’d actually do) I
thought that maybe I could pick up
White-tailed Kite at least at La Feria Nature Park! It wasn’t to be; I waited till sunset then
headed to the Whataburger for a celebratory milk shake. But the final (at the time) bird was our
local Lesser Nighthawk (148) batting around the apartments when I got home!
But
that wasn’t the end of it: more expert
opinion confirmed that funky oriole as a Bullock’s, which brought me up to
149!! I thought maybe those who pledged higher
at 150 were off the hook, but when comparing the pre-numbered list with the
BirdBase list (which I input from a pre-printed checklist to remind me of what
I saw, as I sometimes forget to write stuff down at the time), BirdBase was
coming up with 150!! So after carefully
comparing my field list against the BirdBase list, I discovered my error: at Sheepshead we had a lovely female Northern
Parula come in to the “sunny side”, and I had forgotten to write it down! God has a sense of humor: all my fussing about missing “stupidly
common” species in order to go over the top was for naught, as a simple
clerical error closed the gap! J
Bird
list in taxonomic order:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Fulvous Whistling-Duck Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Plain Chachalaca
Northern Bobwhite
Least Grebe
Pied-billed Grebe
Neotropic Cormorant
Least Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Reddish Egret
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
White-faced Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
Turkey Vulture
White-tailed Hawk
Gray Hawk
King Rail
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
American Oystercatcher
Black-bellied Plover
American Golden-Plover
Wilson's Plover
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Willet
Lesser Yellowlegs
Whimbrel
Long-billed Curlew
Ruddy Turnstone
Stilt Sandpiper
Sanderling
Dunlin
Baird's Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
White-rumped Sandpiper
Buff-breasted Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Long-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Phalarope
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Least Tern
Gull-billed Tern
Forster's Tern
Royal Tern
Sandwich Tern
Black Skimmer
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
Common Ground-Dove
White-tipped Dove
Eastern Screech-Owl
Lesser Nighthawk
Common Nighthawk
Common Pauraque
Chuck-will's-widow
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Buff-bellied Hummingbird
Green Kingfisher
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
Aplomado Falcon
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Acadian Flycatcher
Least Flycatcher
Brown-crested Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Tropical Kingbird
Couch's Kingbird
Western Kingbird
Eastern Kingbird
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Loggerhead Shrike
White-eyed Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Green Jay
Horned Lark
Purple Martin
Bank Swallow
Barn Swallow
Cave Swallow
Black-crested Titmouse
Verdin
Carolina Wren
Bewick's Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Gray-cheeked Thrush
Swainson's Thrush
Wood Thrush
Gray Catbird
Long-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Ovenbird
Black-and-white Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
American Redstart
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Olive Sparrow
Cassin's Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Blue Grosbeak
Lazuli Bunting
Indigo Bunting
Painted Bunting
Dickcissel
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Great-tailed Grackle
Bronzed Cowbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Orchard Oriole
Hooded Oriole
Altamira Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
Bullock’s Oriole
Lesser Goldfinch
House Sparrow
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