After gathering at the La Feria
Whataburger (a popular place for some of the crew to have breakfast J), four cars full
of eager birders made their way over to Donna McCown’s place in Harlingen, known for her big
back yard and multiple feeders and water features! We had just pulled in when several orioles
attacked her jelly feeder in the front yard (I only got a look at a Hooded…)! We shortly migrated to her big back yard,
where a Long-billed Curlew sailed in and landed in her neighbor’s yard, and a Dickcissel
flew over, which was a yard bird for Donna!
A small flock of four Red-crowned Parrots flew over, and from the
comfort of her back porch we enjoyed Green Jays, Lesser Goldfinches, and
hummingbirds while the ladies talked feeder construction! J
We're not even out of the cars before birds start showing up!
White-winged Dove
Eastern Cottontail (token mammal)
The gang dutifully admiring the back yard...
...and the porch feeders!
Sue keeps track of the sightings via her eBird app while our hostess Donna looks on (with Pat and Alan in the background).
Green Jay grabs a prize!
Lesser Goldfinch at the drip
Donna told us about a road with some
cottonwoods and dead palm trees that often had parrots and Gray Hawks, so we
headed over there next; we at least heard the hawk, but the palms looked like
they had been taken over by woodpeckers.
From there we headed on up to Sugarhouse Pond, which was way down from the last time I was
there! Was still good shorebird habitat,
though, with several Avocets, peeps, and even some Wilson’s Phalaropes (couldn’t
find the Red-necked, though)! Black-bellied
and Semipalmated Plovers were nice surprises as well.
There's Gray Hawks in them thar trees!
Overlooking Sugarhouse Pond
Pat, Baceliza, Betty (in back), and Stephanie
Pat and Norma scan for goodies
...and the goodies are way out there!
Avocets plough through the water
From there we decided to see if Valley
Acres Reservoir was open; they welcome birders if you ask permission first, so
we called, the gate was open, and we headed on in! This is a huge reservoir with lots of
birds: first to greet us was a ballet of
White Pelicans! In the canal heading up
to the dike was a young Yellow-crowned Night Heron, and on the island across
the way were also tons of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, Blue-winged Teal, and
Neotropic Cormorants. Some beautiful
Roseate Spoonbills were sprinkled here and there, and we caught sight of a
couple of Wood Storks sailing in, but the best bird was a cute little Snowy
Plover on the sand! While most of the
crew threw in the towel about that time, four of us decided to pile in Alan and
Baceliza’s vehicle and take the drive all around the lake! That was great fun: we got a little closer to some of the
shorebirds, including one that looked suspiciously like a Baird’s
Sandpiper. A Cooper’s Hawk exploded from
the trees at one point, and three White-tailed Kites sailed overhead! Coming around to the back side of that island
revealed many more Wood Storks, and along the return leg we flushed several
Black-crowned Night Herons. We managed
to get closer to our Snowy Plover coming back, but we didn’t linger as it was
hot and getting late. It was about a
three-to-four mile loop on a good road (although grassy in spots; might be
dicey when wet).
Canal at Valley Acres
The Island, loaded with pelicans and ducks!
Roseate Spoonbills
White Pelicans
Wood Storks and whistling ducks
Cute little Snowy Plover, with only a few breeding areas known in Hidalgo County!
We all went our separate ways after that,
logging 60 species for the morning. Bird
List:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Wood Stork
Neotropic Cormorant
American White Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Cattle Egret
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Roseate Spoonbill
Turkey Vulture
White-tailed Kite
Cooper's Hawk
Gray Hawk
Swainson's Hawk
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Black-bellied Plover
Snowy Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Long-billed Curlew
Stilt Sandpiper
Baird's Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Phalarope
Laughing Gull
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Buff-bellied Hummingbird
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Red-crowned Parrot
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Loggerhead Shrike
Green Jay
Horned Lark
Barn Swallow
Curve-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Yellow Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Dickcissel
Red-winged Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Bronzed Cowbird
Hooded Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
Lesser Goldfinch
House Sparrow
60 SPECIES
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