Gerald
and Jennie were escaping the cold of Toronto by exploring South Texas for the
first time, so since they had already explored several hotspots on their own
(and the forecast suggested that Starr County would be the only area not experiencing high winds the day of
our outing), it looked like Salineño and Falcon would be the places to go, as
many of their targets could be gotten there.
So I picked them up where they were staying and we headed northwest.
It
was truly a beautiful day, and we got to Salineño in good time, with a few
other cars already there (and utilizing the Valley Land Fund parking lot seeing
as the river was quite high at the boat ramp).
Things were actually rather quiet on the way: no Chachalacas, Green Jays, or Altamira
Orioles serenaded us as on previous outings – even the Cassin’s Sparrow was
silent! The Gray Hawk did whistle for
us, but they were inaccessible back in the woods…
Northern Cardinal
Gerald and Jennie on the "Seedeater Trail"
We
heard the Ladder-backed Woodpecker, so I planted Gerald and Jennie near the
nest hole in hopes the thing would come in while I went to the end of the trail
to check things out. A Clay-colored
Thrush sang in the distance, and a suspicious bird in the dead tree on the
island took off the minute I got my bins on him; I was hoping that wasn’t the
one and only Red-billed Pigeon that was gonna show up! L I didn’t hear any seedeaters, either, but
while we waited a couple of Chihuahuan Ravens flew by, and a little bird up in
the tree that got my juices going turned out to be a Lesser Goldfinch… I took my charges up the hill in hopes of
seeing the Ringed Kingfishers; they weren’t at their regular spot, either, and
I was really beginning to sweat that all our targets were gonna elude us, when
I suddenly heard the kingfisher coming in!
He actually landed on a perch between us and the trail we had just come up,
so everyone got wonderful views! It
turned out the Rough-winged Swallows swooping around were life birds for Gerald
as well, so we got good looks at those along with the Bank Swallows chattering
overhead. On the way back we scared up a
Lincoln’s Sparrow that sat for shadowed views.
Ringed Kingfisher
Gerald shooting said kingfisher (circled). For the record, both photos were taken from the same spot!
Earlier,
when we were climbing that hill, a gentleman caught up with us and told us that
he had had an Audubon’s Oriole come in about a half hour earlier, so we were
hopeful! While coming back down the hill
I was suggesting that we spend at least another 15 minutes at the end of the
trail when I suddenly heard the Audubon’s, and there he was, on top of the
mesquite! Had we been on “ground level”
we probably would not have been able to see him! Once down at the bottom, what should be
coming through the airwaves loud and clear but the seedeater’s sweet song! Unfortunately it sounded like he was on the
far side of the island, across the water, and after a lot of scanning, we just
couldn’t find the little bugger before he apparently moved to an inaccessible
area. We decided to wait some more,
enjoying the Turkey and Black Vultures and the resident Ospreys, but the only bird
we added was a Summer Tanager that “pick-a-chooed” and shot into a tree. Before leaving I decided to take one last
look at the tree on the island, and there were the pigeons!! Gerald got his scope on them, and we all got
great looks! Talk about the eleventh
hour! On the way back the Cassin’s
Sparrow was singing, but he was distant and we never could find him… While not a life bird, it had come to my
attention that Eurasian Collared Dove was an ABA bird for Gerald, so we made
sure he got some good looks on the way out! J
The
Dump Road was next, and while it was
starting to get a little breezy, we got some good birds, including a
Pyrrhuloxia that came right in! A
Black-throated Sparrow only gave brief looks, but an Olive Sparrow gave longer
(albeit more skulky) views. At one of
the fields I was hearing something that sounded like a White-tailed Hawk, then
spotted two hawks dogfighting and then actually doing the Talon Lock! I assumed they were the Whitetails I thought
I was hearing, but a closer look at one of the birds proved it to be a
Swainson’s! (They do have a similar wing pattern…)
I couldn’t find the other bird to determine if we had an inter-species
scuffle or not… A Scissor-tailed
Flycatcher was uncharacteristically uncooperative for photos as he scolded us from
his wire!
On to Falcon (Starr) County Park, where new birds came fast and furious: a Lark Sparrow sat in the shadows but still allowed a picture, and when I heard a Verdin we wheeled over to the area in hopes of seeing the little guy (which we did), but also another Pyrrhuloxia demanded attention! On the south side of the park Gerald had a distant view of his life Loggerhead Shrike, and then I heard (and briefly saw) a Cactus Wren, so again I wheeled around while Gerald walked over, but in the meantime a brilliant Vermillion Flycatcher showed up on the wire! A Curve-billed Thrasher took a drink from a spigot while all that was going on, and almost immediately after we headed on an Ash-throated Flycatcher posed on a pole!
Pyrrhuloxia
Gerald shooting said Pyrrhuloxia
On to Falcon (Starr) County Park, where new birds came fast and furious: a Lark Sparrow sat in the shadows but still allowed a picture, and when I heard a Verdin we wheeled over to the area in hopes of seeing the little guy (which we did), but also another Pyrrhuloxia demanded attention! On the south side of the park Gerald had a distant view of his life Loggerhead Shrike, and then I heard (and briefly saw) a Cactus Wren, so again I wheeled around while Gerald walked over, but in the meantime a brilliant Vermillion Flycatcher showed up on the wire! A Curve-billed Thrasher took a drink from a spigot while all that was going on, and almost immediately after we headed on an Ash-throated Flycatcher posed on a pole!
Female Vermilion Flycatcher (not the brilliant one described in the text...)
Curve-billed Thrasher
Ash-throated Flycatcher
After
finishing that up we swung into Falcon State Park, and while it was getting
pretty warm by then, we added a few things:
this time the Black-throated Sparrow posed for photos on one side of the
road, while a Curve-billed Thrasher posed on the other! We happened upon a whole group of people with
Big Guns at one point, and they had spotted a Caracara sitting in a bush! Before long her mate swung in, she did an,
“I’m ready, Henry,” pose, and they started the process of making little Caracaras!
J One lonely yellowlegs that struck me as a
Lesser flew by as our only shorebird of the day…
Mrs. Caracara
Curve-billed Thrasher
Black-throated Sparrow
Watching the skies...
In
the primitive camping area I heard a Bewick’s Wren that sounded visible but
wasn’t, so I drove up next to the vegetation, and Gerald was actually able to
get a look! Another Verdin sounded “gettable”,
so we all got out and tried to find him, but Gerald was distracted by another
pair of Chihuahuan Ravens! About that
time the Verdin actually came out in the open (but flew the minute Gerald
showed up, of course L), but then a Roadrunner cooed in the
distance! We drove over to the general
area, and I tried to call him out, but he wasn’t falling for it this time, so
since it was so hot I persuaded Gerald that we should move on…
Jennie poses next to "Heppy"
We
bypassed “off-roading” in favor of checking the roads for more Roadrunners, but
alas, they were all in hiding. We did
hear another close Verdin, so I swung around and parked while Gerald tried to
shoot him, and in the meantime another gentleman stopped and asked where the
Rock Wren was being seen! I told him,
but my charges agreed that with the temperature already getting into the 90s,
we didn’t think any self-respecting Rock Wren would be out on the rocks then
anyway…
We
enjoyed what was probably the same raven pair in the picnic area, along with a
Caracara that tried to share a tree with one of them! A few scattered White Pelicans wheeled
overhead, and at one point Gerald counted 18 altogether! We couldn’t kick up anything in the hookup
areas, so we decided to head home after that (but not before Gerald spotted a
Harris’ Hawk overhead). He was pleased,
with over 40 lifers so far this trip, with more to come, he was sure!
Bird List:
Chihuahuan Raven, again showing the tell-tale white feather bases!
(...and everyone's panting in this heat...)
Subadult Crested Caracara
Bird List:
Double-crested Cormorant
American White Pelican Great Egret
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Harris's Hawk
Gray Hawk
Swainson's Hawk
Lesser Yellowlegs
Rock Pigeon
Red-billed Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
Inca Dove
White-tipped Dove
Greater Roadrunner
Ringed Kingfisher
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
Vermilion Flycatcher
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Couch's Kingbird
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Loggerhead Shrike
White-eyed Vireo
Green Jay
Chihuahuan Raven
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Purple Martin
Bank Swallow
Black-crested Titmouse
Verdin
House Wren
Bewick's Wren
Cactus Wren
Clay-colored Thrush
Northern Mockingbird
Curve-billed Thrasher
European Starling
Orange-crowned Warbler
White-collared Seedeater
Olive Sparrow
Cassin's Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
Black-throated Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Summer Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Pyrrhuloxia
Red-winged Blackbird
Western Meadowlark
Great-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Hooded Oriole
Audubon's Oriole
Lesser Goldfinch
House Sparrow
61 SPECIES
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