This
was Julie and Richard’s first “Winter Texan” trip to escape the cold of
Indiana, and they had already visited many wonderful places before coming to
the Inn for several days! After chatting
a bit in the office on Thursday, they had a handful of target birds that I
thought might be best bagged in Starr County, so we made plans to head out the
next day!
Seeing
as the Green Parakeet mob along Bus 83 in Palmview was becoming more reliable,
we stopped for them on the way (about 800 at least), and had a Red-tailed Hawk on
the way to Salineño. My plan was to go there
first thinking morning might be better for the seedeaters, but the place was
absolutely mobbed!! The seedeaters had
been seen that morning, but many folks (including us) subsequently missed them;
we went up a side road (that I think was actually someone’s very long and rough
driveway) and got Cassin’s and Lark Sparrows instead, both thankfully lifers! I thought I heard a seedeater whistle around
the canyon but it sounded too close to a whistle the Redwings were making to be
sure. Part of The Mob was a group from
Estero Llano Grande led by Ranger John Yochum; they actually went way up the
canyon a la my young friend Josh last December (when I guarded the rocks J)! My charges were perfectly amenable to
“guarding the rocks” as opposed to bush-beating up the canyon; turns out the seedeaters
weren’t up there, either. We couldn’t
kick up any kingfishers, either, but we did see Coots and a pair of Gadwall in
the river, besides the ever present Ospreys and a couple of fishermen…
Checking out the parakeets on Business 83
Lines of pointy tails!
Julie on the upper road
View back towards the river
Julie at one of the traditional seedeater spots
The
Estero group was heading elsewhere, so we made a break for the feeders, but
even so it was quite cozy! All the
regulars came in (including “Patch the Redwing” and “Baldy the Audubon’s”), and
as promised, Richard was able to get some good pics while the Gray Hawk
squealed unseen overhead. From there we
went up Dump Road and had scope views of a Bewick’s Wren before even getting
there! (I’m always nervous about pulling
out a scope in a residential area, though…).
We had passable views of the Pyrrhuloxia, but unfortunately not photo
quality. It was actually pretty dead
except for more Mockers, Bewick’s Wrens, and Curve-billed Thrashers, plus a Turkey
Vulture with its wings out!
Altamira Oriole
Having a spat with the young'un
Olive Sparrow
Kiskadee
Orange-crowned Warbler
"Mrs. Baldy" (the female Audubon's Oriole) takes a look around...
...while "Baldy" comes in after she's had her fill!
One never tires of the colors on a male Golden-fronted Woodpecker!
Young male Hooded Oriole
Harris' Hawk poses on an old windmill along the Dump Road...
...while a Turkey Vulture catches some rays!
We
headed to Falcon County Park on a whim; no Red-billed Pigeons yet (they like to
feed on the Coma berries), but we did run into a flock of Cedar Waxwings! Other than that they really didn’t have many birds
either, perhaps due to the presence of lots of campers. The State Park was pretty quiet, too,
although we saw more Pyrrs; feedings flocks included Orange-crowned and
Yellow-rumped Warblers, gnatcatchers, and kinglets. Had a female Vermilion Flycatcher flopping
around near the boat ramp, and a little off-roading got an Eastern Phoebe, a
calling Greater Yellowlegs, and Chipping Sparrows up in the circle. Tried for the Rock Wren behind the rec center, but he was a no-show... L The lake was pretty devoid of water birds
except for Laughing Gulls (too many boaters, probably), but had the Savannah
Sparrow flock at the end of the picnic area, along with the Harris’ Hawk on his
pole, and the resident Caracara on his
pole as well in the cabin area!
Cedar Waxwing
Crested Caracara
Headed
home with 67 species for the day. Bird
List:
Gadwall
Plain Chachalaca Northern Bobwhite
Double-crested Cormorant
American White Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Harris's Hawk
Gray Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Coot
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Laughing Gull
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
Common Ground-Dove
White-tipped Dove
Greater Roadrunner
Buff-bellied Hummingbird
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
American Kestrel
Green Parakeet
Eastern Phoebe
Vermilion Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Loggerhead Shrike
White-eyed Vireo
Green Jay
Cave Swallow
Black-crested Titmouse
Verdin
House Wren
Bewick's Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Curve-billed Thrasher
Long-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Olive Sparrow
Cassin's Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Pyrrhuloxia
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Great-tailed Grackle
Hooded Oriole
Altamira Oriole
Audubon's Oriole
House Sparrow
67 SPECIES
No comments:
Post a Comment