Alamo Inn BnB Gear and Tours: March 2018

Thursday, March 29, 2018

Birthday Birding, Part 3

3/18/18

For their last morning, the girls wanted to go somewhere “pretty”, so what better place to visit than Santa Ana NWR? I suggested doing a nice long loop walk with regular resting intervals, and they were game to do that (and that allowed both Pauline and myself to keep a running eBird list), so we left the Inn a little later than the usual departure time in order to arrive at the refuge (only a 15 minute drive from the Inn, if that much) by sunrise.

We took the Willow Lake Trail to start, picking up all the regulars: Couch’s Kingbirds were particularly plentiful, and hundreds of Red-winged Blackbirds wafted overhead. We got glimpses of a few members of various feeding flocks (a titmouse here and a kinglet there), and near the turnoff to the Cattail Lakes Trail (where that beautiful, Spanish Moss-laden forest is), a couple of Clay-colored Thrushes sat up on a dead tree while a third one tuck-tucked near the pond next to us! Although we heard the happy whistle of the Altamira Oriole several times (Ginger said it reminded her of some of the lilting Norwegian languages she’s heard), we never did spot one, although we had a great look at one of their huge bag nests! The Chachalacas were beginning to chorus, which was fun, but as we continued on, we suddenly heard the buzzy trill of a parula! Knowing the Tropical Parula was around and singing, but also knowing that their songs (at least around here) can sound identical to a Northern Parula’s, I wanted to track this guy down for a visual! We backtracked, getting turned around on the Cattail Lakes Trail before finally connecting with the continuation of the Willow Lake Trail, but we could no longer hear the bird. We did have terrific views of various ducks (including some stunning Cinnamon Teal) and a lone Common Gallinule at the little “viewing window” at the culvert, though! Birding buddy Huck Hutchins caught up with us about then, also looking for the parula, so after exchanging pleasantries he continued on while we went back to the Chachalaca Trail.

Clay-colored Thrush

There’s a little trail that connects the Willow Lake Trail to the short-n-easy Chachalaca Trail, so we took that and headed to the first Willow Lake overlook. After enjoying Black-necked Stilts, Least Grebes, and more ducks, we heard the parula again, and it sounded like he was coming closer! So we hurried back to the “window” where Pauline waited for Ginger while I went on ahead, and the bird was singing right in front of me! I couldn’t see the thing naturally, and Huck was just ahead, so I got his attention, and he confirmed that it was the Tropical as he had gotten terrific looks! I was just about ready to go running back for the girls (my texts to Ginger apparently hadn’t gone through L), but they had just arrived, so as Huck continued on the three of us chased the thing as he worked his way back the way we had come, then finally flew up into a somewhat open tree right over the trail! Perfect looks, and a great concert, too! That was worth working for! J

Ginger on the Willow Lake Trail

A few shots of the Tropical Parula; the bottom picture shows his wing bars.

Returning to the Chachalaca Trail, we took our time enjoying the rest of the birds in the lakes: more ducks of course (including some American Wigeon), but also Lesser Yellowlegs, and even a Nutria! A Beardless Tyrannulet sang nicely, but started to lead us on a Wild Tyrannulet Chase back to the trailhead, so the girls were very willing to accept a good “listen” with that one! Conversely, a Long-billed Thrasher sat right out in the open for us for great photo ops! An Olive Sparrow showed well for Ginger at the large blind, but Pauline missed it… L

Cooperative Long-billed Thrasher

Blue-winged Teal

American Wigeon

Black-necked Stilt

In a circle...

Lesser Yellowlegs

Stilt and two Lesser Yellowlegs together

We made our way to the old butterfly garden, where at the turnoff what may have been the same Rosebelly Lizard from the last time I was there was sunning on the same log, doing his little pushups! J At the bench along the sidewalk we rested again and had a nice Red-shouldered Hawk circling overhead, and a Ladder-backed Woodpecker that laughed and darted from the dead tree we were staring at. The girls were game for the Tree Tower, so up we went (they beat me up there where they ran into Huck again, who had seen a Broad-winged Hawk)! The view is always stupendous, but we didn’t see much except a pair of Couch’s Kingbirds and a Kiskadee… We also checked out the photo blind, as some other birders I had run into somewhere else the previous week told me they were stocking it, but it looked pretty empty when we got there, except for a little Lincoln’s Sparrow that was checking things out.

Our Rosebelly Lizard is back on his log!

View from the Tree Tower (looking towards Pintail Lakes)

Ginger and Pauline

From there we headed to Pintail Lakes, where we ran into Huck again J, and he pointed out a few things he had seen such as some lady Scaup and a Ruddy Duck. He also spotted both Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs behind us, and as we made our way to the end of the trail we enjoyed hooting Pied-billed Grebes and a pretty Vermilion Flycatcher high up in the tree. Huck had heard a Ringed Kingfisher earlier that I missed, so I was anxious to see if it might be in that last pond, and sure enough, a nice female was perched up in plain view! (Huck failed to conjure us up a Green Kingfisher, though… J) Several White-faced Ibis lifted off as we approached, and a Solitary Sandpiper called and made haste towards one of the other ponds. After resting on the bench and trying to tally all the waterfowl we were seeing, we finally headed back to the parking lot and ultimately back to the Inn, with a respectable 66 species for the morning (which included some Scissor-tailed Flycatchers seen on the way home)! Oh, and another Olive Sparrow finally did pop up for Pauline! J

Huck and Ginger check out Pintail Lakes

White-faced Ibis

Bird List:

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck

Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Lesser Scaup
Ruddy Duck
Plain Chachalaca
Least Grebe
Pied-billed Grebe
Neotropic Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Egret
Cattle Egret
White-faced Ibis
Turkey Vulture
Red-shouldered Hawk
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Black-necked Stilt
Killdeer
Solitary Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Least Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Eurasian Collared-Dove
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
White-tipped Dove
Ringed Kingfisher
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet
Vermilion Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Tropical Kingbird
Couch's Kingbird
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
White-eyed Vireo
Green Jay
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Black-crested Titmouse
Verdin
House Wren
Marsh Wren
Carolina Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Clay-colored Thrush
Long-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Tropical Parula
Olive Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Altamira Oriole
House Sparrow

66 SPECIES

Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Birthday Birding, Part 2

3/17/18

Once again, thanks to DST, we arrived at Estero while it was still rather gloomy, but at least it was light enough to bird! But at that hour it was more of a lesson on vocalizations, as Couch’s Kingbirds were doing their dawn songs, Clay-colored Thrushes were “ringing” (along with a single rising zhree from a hidden Hermit Thrush), and Green Jays were giving their varied raucous calls. The hummingbird feeder in the middle of the Tropical Zone had a brilliant male Ruby-throated Hummingbird come in, and after some patient waiting, the Rufous also came in and posed for us, along with a male Wilson’s Warbler! A feeding flock contained a Blue-headed Vireo along with a couple of kinglets, and we did get nice looks at the thrushes, along with a young Cooper’s Hawk that Pauline spotted. We sat for 15 minutes at the Sniders’ feeders waiting for the Broad-tailed Hummer to come in, but only an Archilochus of some kind visited, which I suspected was a Rubythroat. I heard some very distant Red-crowned Parrots, which counted for the day list but didn’t do my charges any good… L Just before we headed to the VC Ranger Jose hailed us and called our attention to the “new” Screech Owl box, complete with Screech Owl! That was a very nice surprise! Then a Long-billed Thrasher sang for us right out in the open on a power line!

Pauline in the Tropical Zone

Female Rufous Hummingbird

Pauline and Ginger by the exotic cactus

"McCall's" Screech Owl

Long-billed Thrasher

On the way to the deck we were waylaid by a trio of Chachalacas hogging the feeders! (A Buff-bellied Hummer made a brief appearance in the tree next to us, but neither of the girls could get on him before he disappeared…) The overcast skies made viewing from the deck very pleasant: all three teal showed nicely, and both ibises were there as well (had a hard time telling if the “dark” ibis was my problem “Glossy” or not, as I couldn’t really discern the color of the face or the eye). Several Snowy Egrets fed, but they were the only heron reps, and except for a solitary Long-billed Dowitcher, the only shorebirds were a gathering of Least Sandpipers, although we had heard a Greater Yellowlegs calling from back in the Tropical Zone, along with a Sora! At the feeders, the Chachalacas had moved on, and the Redwings had taken over the place, so we moved on as well.

Black-bellied Whistling Duck

Great place for photo ops!

Red-winged Blackbird

Yellowthroats, Marsh Wrens, and Lincoln’s Sparrows called from the reeds but wouldn’t show themselves, and nothing of note was at Dowitcher Pond (except for some Black-bellied Whistling Ducks that flew by), so we headed to Alligator Lake to try and beat the crowd that was hot on our trail! Grebe Marsh had an interesting-looking Soft-shelled Turtle (along with the more common Red-eared Slider), and at the turnoff I figured we had hit the “disappearing date” for the night herons, as we initially only found one Yellow-crowned! Pauline had found the Alligator, however! J A Neotropic Cormorant gave good views, and before we knew it the group (which also happened to be staying at the Inn) had overtaken us, but that turned out to be fine as one of them had found the Pauraque (and he wasn’t in his usual spot, either: this was the one that sometimes hangs out at the foot of the overlook)! So we all got great views, and Ginger even showed me a trick with the camera: how to tilt the viewscreen so that you can shoot something low without having to squat down! After that we took a peek at the overlook, and that’s where all the night herons had gone! We got great looks at several, along with several Neotrops and another Alligator.

Soft-shelled Turtle

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

Pauraque

Another gentleman found a better angle and shows us his pics!

Ginger showed me how to tilt the viewscreen so you don't have to squat down (for those of us who can't do that any more... 😒)

We gave the feeders another chance before heading out (no hummer except another Blackchin), then decided to hit Quinta Mazatlan for the Blue Bunting. Well. We were about to turn in when we saw the tell-tale traffic control guy (and a long line of cars coming from the other direction) with the entrance closed off, so we shot that idea and headed straight to the National Butterfly Center to try for the Painted Bunting and Audubon’s Oriole! (We would find out from another lady at the NBC that the “event” was a Monarch Festival…) The girls were in seventh heaven once we got to the feeder area: the perky volunteer had just put out some PB mixture, and the Chachalacas and Green Jays were going nuts! White-tipped Doves and Lincoln’s Sparrows also gave great photo ops, and before long two Altamira Orioles came blasting in (one was chasing the other), and the victor indulged excitedly! We were close to a log that also had some mixture, and almost immediately the Audubon’s came down in our faces – what a look! About that time the volunteer mentioned that the Painted Bunting had just been seen in another part of the garden, so we headed over there but couldn’t kick up the thing (we did manage a Tropical Leafwing, however...can't go to the Butterfly Center without shooting at least one butter!). We ended up back at the feeders, enjoying a cute little Hispid Cotton Rat amongst the throng, before the girls finally had their fill and agreed to give Wallace Road a shot!

Chachalacas

Green Jays

Altamira Oriole

Lost Audubon's Oriole, normally not found in Hidalgo County.

White-tipped Dove; note the lovely lavender flush!

"Hey! Where'd YOU come from?!"

Hispid Cotton Rat

Golden-fronted Woodpecker

Lincoln's Sparrow

It was getting pretty warm by then, but even so we added some nice things: a Loggerhead Shrike finally gave the girls some photo ops, while a Kestrel wasn’t so cooperative… A Scissor-tailed Flycatcher was certainly a hit, and we found two more Vermilion Flycatchers at the canal where the old Monte Cristo Tract was. Ginger (I think) spotted a White-tailed Hawk circling in the distance, and a few Lesser Goldfinches fed in the sunflowers along the roadside (an American called somewhere unseen as well). Once we got to the wetlands (which were pretty dry to the east but had some shorebird habitat at least) we had stunning looks at two pairs of Harris’ Hawks (one pair which promptly joined the Turkey Vultures – and one Black – circling overhead)! More Least Sandpipers were poking around, along with at least four Lesser Yellowlegs swiping their bills like avocets! The girls also spotted a group of dowitchers a little farther down, and in the one pond that had deep water, several Shovelers, a few Coots, and a Least Grebe had been hanging out.

Ginger and Pauline checking out the wetlands

Long-billed Dowitchers (also below)

We had to head back after that, but it was a very productive day with 81 species under our belts!

Bird List:

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck

Gadwall
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Green-winged Teal
Plain Chachalaca
Least Grebe
Neotropic Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
White-faced Ibis (until proven otherwise)
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Cooper's Hawk
Harris's Hawk
White-tailed Hawk
Sora
American Coot
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Least Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
White-tipped Dove
Eastern Screech-Owl
Common Pauraque
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Black-chinned Hummingbird
Rufous Hummingbird
Buff-bellied Hummingbird
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
American Kestrel
Red-crowned Parrot
Vermilion Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Couch's Kingbird
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Loggerhead Shrike
White-eyed Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Green Jay
Purple Martin
Black-crested Titmouse
Verdin
House Wren
Marsh Wren
Carolina Wren
Bewick's Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
Clay-colored Thrush
Curve-billed Thrasher
Long-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson's Warbler
Olive Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Altamira Oriole
Audubon's Oriole
Lesser Goldfinch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

81 SPECIES