Lee
and Ruth were two birding buddies from New Mexico who just wanted to see a
“nice variety of birds” as they had never been to Texas, so after hearing about
a stupendous hawk liftoff at Santa Ana, I asked Lee if they’d like to bird
there first thing, and they were definitely up for that! So we left a little later and got there right
around sunrise, where we ran into fellow guide Mary Gustafson who also had a
client! After checking in we compared
routes, so since they were heading straight for the Tropical Parula, we decided
to head out to Pintail Lakes first and then go for the parula on the way back.
That
turned out to be a great decision, as after we got on the Pintail Lakes Trail,
a Beardless Tyrannulet started calling close!
What was even more miraculous was that the little bugger actually let us
see him! J (He drew the line at letting the girls get
pictures, though… L)
We crossed the tour road and continued on the trail, and as we came out
into the open and headed south, we saw Broad-winged Hawk after Broad-winged
Hawk lifting off and forming several kettles (we actually flushed a couple
along the trail)! It was amazing; we ran
into a ranger who had already counted several hundred, and it seemed like
everywhere we looked a Broadie was circling!
What a show!
About the best we could manage with the tyrannulet...
Interestingly,
they were the only species I could pick out (aside from Turkey Vultures, and a
lone Cooper’s Hawk later), but we were hoping for a Swallow-tailed Kite as one
was seen the day before! No such luck L but we did have
wonderful views of various ducks and shorebirds as we made our way to the end
and then worked our way back with the sun to our backs: in the next to last pond we had to hike south
a little bit in order to see the Least Grebes (one was actually on a nest), and
the Pied-bills were in stunning breeding plumage in the main lake. Also in the main lake were both flavors of
whistling duck (I was particularly pleased to see the Fulvous, but this is the
time of year they start showing up), a Little Blue Heron, and several
White-faced Ibis amongst the regulars.
Shorebirds included both types of yellowlegs and a Wilson’s Snipe that
Ruth spotted! A Spotted Sandpiper was in
full spots, and what we thought was another Broadie kettle at first turned out
to be a kettle of Anhingas! On the way
out we had scope looks of both Tropical and Couch’s Kingbirds, and the girls
were able to get on a singing White-eyed Vireo.
Black-bellied Whistling Ducks
Fulvous Whistling Ducks
Pied-billed Grebe
Chatty Tropical Kingbirds
Pensive Couch's Kingbird - can you tell them apart? Aside from their voice, it can be tough to tell!
Kettling Anhingas
"I found the White-eyed Vireo!"
We
made our way back to Willow Lakes where we spotted a couple of Verdins along
the trail (one without his tail) and amazingly several Olive Sparrows on the
ground! At the big blind added Solitary
Sandpiper to the list, and over at the big overlook we ran into Mary again, who
pointed out some Baird’s Sandpipers across the way. We also added a Cinnamon Teal, a couple of
dowitchers and a Stilt Sandpiper, and they had gotten the parula, so I was glad
to hear that! In fact, after they left,
the thing was singing right behind us, so we moseyed over to the intersection
with the cutoff trail, and it was singing right over our heads (for a moment
the gals were distracted by a Black-crested Titmouse J), and the fact
that it was with a feeding flock didn’t help as we’d first get on a kinglet,
then a gnatcatcher, before searching again, but finally Lee spotted it, and we
eventually all got great looks (but again, no photo ops, as the little guy was
just too busy…)! As an addendum, one or
both of the gals thought they had two
parulas, and sure enough, the next week Ranger Garza reported two birds! Are little parulas in the future? J
Lesser Yellowlegs
Solitary Sandpiper - can you tell them apart?
It
was getting warm (and the wind was kicking up), so after that we headed to
Anzalduas, stopping in Hidalgo to see the Monk Parakeets busy at their
nests! At the park, I was surprised that
there weren’t many people there given it was Palm Sunday! (That was rectified by the time we left the
place… J) The girls passed on the Pipit Poke, so we
dove right into road-birding. I did get out at the corner to check out
the duck flock (the scaup had been joined by Shovelers), but no kingfishers
this time, although the girls spotted a fleeing Black Phoebe that I
missed. I heard the Gray Hawk that we
could never spot, but the star of the place was definitely the Scissor-tailed
Flycatchers posing for pictures! We took
a quick look at the Cliff and Rough-winged Swallows building their nests under
the dam, finished the loop, then headed out as we couldn’t add anything else to
the list except a flyover Harris’ Hawk.
Monk Parakeet busy on its nest
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Wallace
Road was next, and that was pretty windy and dry as well (about the only
songbirds we kicked up were both kinds of goldfinches that were hiding in the
roadside sunflowers), but the wetlands had a few things, such as another pair
of Least Grebes, a Common Gallinule, lots more ducks, several Least Sandpipers,
and a nice Pectoral Sandpiper! After
finishing that we continued on to Laguna Seca Road which was much birdier: almost right away we added a wonderful
Caracara on a pole, plus the Fuertes’ Hawk!
Further up a wonderful White-tailed Hawk showed off along with a couple
of Black Vultures, and we had a few sparrows on the wires, mainly Lark and a couple
of Vespers (Cassin’s were singing all over).
A Pyrrhuloxia chattered hidden next to us, and it was a relief that my
charges weren’t really interested in pulling that one out, as they have them in
New Mexico! More Scissortails played
with us, and we crawled past this property that was for sale where Lee spotted
our only Great Blue Heron for the day in a barely visible wetland! Before long it was time to head back, so we
headed to the freeway with an incredible 97 species for the day!
Checking out the wetlands on Wallace Road
A Crested Caracara watches us from his post...
They'll often let you drive right up to them!
Yet another Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Bird
List:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Fulvous Whistling-Duck Gadwall
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Green-winged Teal
Lesser Scaup
Plain Chachalaca
Least Grebe
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Little Blue Heron
Cattle Egret
White-faced Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Cooper's Hawk
Harris's Hawk
White-tailed Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Gray Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Sora
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Black-necked Stilt
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Solitary Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Stilt Sandpiper
Baird's Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Snipe
Laughing Gull
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
White-tipped Dove
Buff-bellied Hummingbird
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
American Kestrel
Monk Parakeet
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet
Black Phoebe
Great Kiskadee
Tropical Kingbird
Couch's Kingbird
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Loggerhead Shrike
White-eyed Vireo
Green Jay
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Tree Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Black-crested Titmouse
Verdin
House Wren
Marsh Wren
Carolina Wren
Bewick's Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Long-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Tropical Parula
Olive Sparrow
Cassin's Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Pyrrhuloxia
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Western Meadowlark
Great-tailed Grackle
Bronzed Cowbird
Hooded Oriole
Altamira Oriole
Lesser Goldfinch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
97 SPECIES
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