11/22/2017
Keith was able to convince Mike, a Brit
who visited us last spring and had a whale of a time with migrants, to return
to the Valley for a late fall trip, so today we headed back out to South Padre
Island in the face of a cold front that we were hoping would push more
“northern” species into the neighborhood (an American Woodcock and Dark-eyed
Junco, normally nearly unheard of in the Valley, had already shown up at the
Convention Centre – heretofore CC – along with a handful of other
rarities)! We made a brief stop at the
“Blue Shack” and the official Aplomado Falcon parking lot along SR 100 on the
way there, but only picked up a couple of Turkey Vultures and Eastern
Meadowlarks (and the wind was near hurricane force to boot).
Once on the Island we headed straight to
the CC where it was still horribly windy and pretty quiet except for a flock of
Red-winged Blackbirds and pigeons feeding in the grass! It was apparent that it had rained pretty
good, as there were a lot of little flooded areas in the grass, but we trudged
around the “central bushes” first in hopes that the woodcock might still be
around. If he was, he was hiding, so we
headed to the water feature. Still
quiet, but in the relatively sheltered back area, things started hopping: the first to greet us was a brilliant male
American Redstart (a write-up bird for eBird), and while we were getting
documentation shots of him, a Hermit Thrush popped up right behind him! A couple of Gray Catbirds poked around, and a
Wilson’s Warbler “chepped” and occasionally showed himself. Shortly more birders showed up, and one gal,
Marie, got us on the reported Brown Thrasher, a rarity from the north! He proved difficult for photos, but I managed
a poor “proof shot” for the record, while an Eastern Phoebe finally settled
down enough for both of us to get pictures.
Another gentleman with Marie got us on both a Myrtle and Audubon’s
Warbler together (the eastern and western races of the Yellow-rumped Warbler),
and shortly an Orange-crowned Warbler came in to the puddle. House Wrens finally showed themselves as well,
and a White-eyed Vireo that had been singing gave a very brief view. Interestingly, the place was alive with
Monarchs, also blown down from up north, I’m presuming!
American Redstart (above and below)
Hermit Thrush
"Proof shot" of the vagrant Brown Thrasher
Eastern Phoebe
From there we hit the boardwalk, where the
wind made viewing difficult, but we did have great looks at Great and Little
Blue Herons, and a single Great Egret that got chased out of its corner. A Belted Kingfisher on the parallel boardwalk
was a hit, and a Cooper’s Hawk went tearing by and hid himself in the mangroves
across the way. American Wigeons were in
the little mudflat there, and we managed views of a handful of Pied-billed
Grebes out amongst the rafts of Redheads.
There was a Small Craft Advisory out, and the Laguna Madre certainly was
covered in whitecaps (or “white horses” as they call them in Britain), but that
certainly didn’t stop the wind-surfers and para-sailors!
Little Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron
American Wigeon
Redhead
"White horses" on the Laguna!
We hit the flats after that, and while it looked
scary, the substrate was solid enough that we could drive right up to the
birds: the usual suspects were about
(both flavors of pelicans, the expected larids, a token Reddish Egret, and
several Sanderlings), and away from the bird mob were several scattered
shorebirds, the best of which was a Red Knot!
We got brief looks at one Piping Plover, but better looks at
Semipalmated and Black-bellied. The Laughing
Gulls were well-trained to mob any stopped car, as the minute we stopped a group sailed in and planted
themselves right outside my window, looking up expectantly! J Got a surprise call from my friend Dan Jones,
who happened to be parked at the CC and could see us, asking what we were
seeing! He was also hoping that some
wintering birds had blown in, but was pondering whether the next day actually
might be better, which is often the case after a storm!
White and Brown Pelicans lounge with Laughing Gulls
A late Red Knot hangs around
Dunlin
This Short-billed Dowitcher nicely shows the illusion of a paler tail than its cousin the Long-billed Dowitcher
From there I gave Mike a choice: the returning Tamaulipas Crows at the
Brownsville Dump were being fairly reliable, so we could go for those, or we
could finish up the Island. Not being a
crow fan in general, he chose to finish the Island, so we headed over to the
Birding Center, where we arrived about the same time that several vacationing
families did, so it took us awhile to get our tickets out of the machine (the
line was literally out the door)! But
once in, the nice lady informed us that Javi, the resident naturalist, had also spotted a Tamaulipas Crow right
there on the grounds, so there was hope!
Mike had already spotted a small Alligator lazing on the bank, so after
shooting him we slowly made our way around the loop, fighting the wind, and
finally giving up towards the end and making a bee-line for the car, but not
before enjoying several Mottled and Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, crying
Common Gallinules, and a couple of young Roseate Spoonbills! Another huge
Alligator was barely visible on the opposite bank, and when we pointed him out
to several families, he was definitely a hit! J Once back at the car we put away the tripod
and checked out the butterfly garden, where we had another Hermit Thrush.
Young Alligator
Northern Pintail
Great Egret patiently waiting for lunch
Snoozing Great Blue Heron
Mottled Ducks
Black-bellied Whistling Duck
Young Roseate Spoonbill
With White Ibis on right
Close-up of the Spoonbill
Snowy Egret with a criss-cross crest!
From there we spent a few minutes at the
Sheepshead Lots, which were really
quiet except for more Monarchs feeding on the Butterfly Bush! On the way we had a nice Kestrel that posed
(which they don’t do very often)! At
that point we really didn’t have time to go to the Dump, so we headed south and
checked out the Hwy. 48 Boat Ramp, where the lighting was perfect in the
afternoon sun! There was a mob of
Laughing Gulls, of course, but Mike spotted the requisite Oystercatchers across
the way, and we also bagged a couple of Avocets. Mike bravely checked the shorebirds that were in the sun and picked out a Marbled
Godwit! Ruddy Turnstone was also new for
the day here.
American Kestrel
Mike checks out the south side of the Sheepshead Lots
Male Monarch, told by the little black stigma on the hindwing
Showing the paler ventral side
The similar (and more common) Queen
Loafers at the SR48 Boat Ramp (L-R: Sanderling, Ruddy Turnstone, Black Skimmers, and 1st year Ring-billed Gull)
With only about a half hour left before we
had to head back, I decided to go up Old Port Isabel Road just a little bit,
seeing as we were passing right by it (but coming north from the toll road, we
found out you have to make a Uie at Hugh Emerson; it’s not marked at all,
really). No Aplomado, but we did see
another Kestrel, and flushed a covey of Bobwhite who promptly hid in the
grass! Right when we had to head back I
heard a Long-billed Curlew, and a spectacular White-tailed Hawk posed for us on
the way out!
White-tailed Hawk
Finally headed home after that with 76
species for the day. Bird List:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
American Wigeon
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Redhead
Northern Bobwhite
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
American White Pelican
Brown Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Reddish Egret
Green Heron
White Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Cooper's Hawk
Harris's Hawk
White-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
American Oystercatcher
Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Piping Plover
Spotted Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Willet
Long-billed Curlew
Marbled Godwit
Ruddy Turnstone
Red Knot
Sanderling
Dunlin
Short-billed Dowitcher
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Caspian Tern
Forster's Tern
Royal Tern
Sandwich Tern
Black Skimmer
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Belted Kingfisher
American Kestrel
Eastern Phoebe
Great Kiskadee
Loggerhead Shrike
White-eyed Vireo
House Wren
Hermit Thrush
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
American Redstart
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle & Audubon’s)
Wilson's Warbler
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Great-tailed Grackle
House Sparrow
76 SPECIES
No comments:
Post a Comment