The
original plan for the monthly Bird Patrol trip was Port Mansfield, but in the
meantime a rare Black-whiskered Vireo (BWVI) showed up at the South Padre
Island Convention Centre! Discussion
amongst the core members was had, as the vireo had shown up early in the week
and the trip wasn’t until Saturday – would it stick around? History with Texas BWVIs suggested it
wouldn’t, but the majority voted for South Padre anyway (there’s always
something to see there regardless), and as it turned out, that was the better
choice as the biggest fishing tournament of the year was to take place in Port
Mansfield that day!
So
meeting at the Jack-in-the-Box on Ed Carey in Harlingen, our group consisted of
myself, Norma Friedrich, Sue Griffin and her hubby Billy Snider, Marilyn
Vincent, Alicia Cavazos, and Linda DeRosiers (the latter two who met us
there). The bird hadn’t been reported
since Wednesday, so we knew we were
taking a chance, and as we arrived we could tell right away that the place was
gonna be pretty dead; about all that were around were grackles and mockingbirds
(although I thought I heard an oriole at one point). I mentioned that the BWVIs I had seen in
Florida were almost always associated with mangroves, so we decided to head out
there before it got too hot.
The Birder Patrol checking the back side
We
definitely had more action there, although it was all of the waterbird kind
(except for the Common Nighthawk batting around): in the little flat to the north, we found a
pair of Wilson’s Plovers along with two adorable babies! A few Black-bellied Plovers and a Willet were
also hanging around along with a few White Ibis, but nothing but blackbirds
were in the mangroves. Out on the pier
we had a Pied-billed Grebe and a pair of Neotropic Cormorants, and Alicia
spotted some Brown Pelicans way out there, but we ended up sitting under the
shelter and schmoozing quite a bit! J On the way back we tried to pick out what was
in the “east pond” (always tough when you’re looking into the sun) and were
entertained by several baby Black-necked Stilts, and adult White-rumped
Sandpipers being chased by the parent stilts!
Ruddy Turnstone, Dunlin, Reddish Egret, Common Gallinule, Great Blue and
Yellow-crowned Night Heron, and a cackling Least Bittern were also added to the
list (Billy was the only one to actually see the bittern, though).
Wilson's Plover
Neotropic Cormorant
Black-necked Stilt
Norma and Linda pose while Alicia checks out the plovers...
Baby Black-necked Stilt
With its reflection
Do I hear any "awwww"s yet??
Check out those legs!
After
that Norma, Alicia, and Linda had to leave, so the rest of us piled in
Marilyn’s van and headed to The Flats in order to give our feet a rest! The birds weren’t as numerous as they
normally are, but we added Royal, Caspian, Sandwich, and Least Terns to the
list, as well as a dancing white morph Reddish Egret and a couple of
Sanderlings. After searching in vain for
more plovers, we headed over to the Birding Center to use the restrooms and get
a book Sue was looking for as a gift. In
the meantime we began chatting with Javi Gonzales, the staff naturalist (who
inadvertently got interviewed by the Valley Morning Star while manning the
front desk, so everyone was complimenting him on the article) and Stephanie
Bilodeau, who was about ready to give a talk on the conservation of coastal
birds, so we stayed and listened, but not before taking a peek out back into
the wetlands and enjoying a pair of Black-bellied Whistling and Mottled Ducks
in great light! J
She shared how her organization (the Coastal
Bend Bays and Estuaries Program) is monitoring the nesting birds that are
dependent upon coastal habitat (especially the local Snowy and Wilson’s
Plovers), and it was very informative (and the baby plovers provided a cuteness
overdose… J)!
Royal Terns on The Flats
Black-bellied Whistling Ducks at the Birding Center
Mottled Duck (with his "muddy duck" mate below)
From
there we decided to go to the gang’s favorite lunch place, El Papa’s in Port
Isabel (and witnessing the traffic coming onto
SPI we realized we were leaving just in time), for their fried shrimp fix, and
it was a delightful little place! After
lunch we headed down SR 48 to the famous boat ramp, picking up several
Chihuahuan Ravens on the way, but alas, there were no oystercatchers about,
although we did have a very cooperative Ruddy Turnstone and enjoyed several
Black Skimmers sailing around! Heading
back into Port Isabel I think I was the only one to see the Harris’ Hawk on the
pole…
Ruddy Turnstone
Showing the streaks on the cap
Snowy Egret
We
were going to head back to Ed Carey from there, but while traveling along SR
100 I asked the gang if they knew where this Laguna Vista Nature Park was, as
every time I’d try to find it I’d get lost! L They had, but couldn’t remember how to get
there, so we went on a “wild park chase”, first turning north on Mesquite from
SR 100, but then realizing we were gonna hit the main drag before finding a
park, we made a left on Taylor, and where it T’d with Palm, there it was in
front of us (and to the left a little)!
But as we pulled in the caliche lot, Billy saw the paved parking lot
across the way and said, “That’s
where we parked!” So from there we
headed straight up Palm to Broadway (the road I had originally turned onto from
FM 510 where I was told to “turn left after the library and before the
church”), hung a left, and continued on Broadway, thinking that would swing
around and take us there! Well, I
quickly realized that was the mistake I had originally made wandering around
that neighborhood and not being able to find it, so we turned around, tried
hanging a right on unmarked Fresno, then another right where it T’d on Palo
Blanco, and there it was! This is a spot
that has gotten rave reviews that I always wanted to take our guests to, but
could never find it, and I was so happy and thankful to Marilyn for being
willing to take this detour! (Then we
had to plot the course going backwards:
after making the turn past the library, you take the second left – Palo Blanco – and just go
to the end!)
From
there we decided to explore some more and took Ted Hunt north to the newly
renovated General Brandt Road; we stopped at a sorghum field to see if any
Dickcissels were singing, but it was dead quiet in almost 100-degree
temps! We added Loggerhead Shrike on the
way up, but we could find no hawks, and the resacas were bone dry. So taking the detour around Rio Hondo, we
made a brief stop at Lantana Lake on Sam Houston, where we added Avocet, Stilt
Sandpiper, and a lovely Wilson’s Phalarope to the list.
Finally
made it back to the JITB after a wonderful day of birding; even though the
species list was scanty (compared to what you usually get after an outing to
SPI), the fellowship was great! Bird
List:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Mottled Duck
Pied-billed Grebe
Neotropic Cormorant
Brown Pelican
Least Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Reddish Egret
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
Turkey Vulture
Harris's Hawk
Common Gallinule
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Black-bellied Plover
Wilson's Plover
Killdeer
Willet
Lesser Yellowlegs
Ruddy Turnstone
Stilt Sandpiper
Sanderling
Dunlin
White-rumped Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Phalarope
Laughing Gull
Least Tern
Caspian Tern
Royal Tern
Sandwich Tern
Black Skimmer
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
Common Nighthawk
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
Loggerhead Shrike
Chihuahuan Raven
Purple Martin
Barn Swallow
Northern Mockingbird
Common Yellowthroat
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Great-tailed Grackle
House Sparrow
51 SPECIES
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