Andy
and Mariana had visited south Texas once before, and wanted to see some “new
places”, so I suggested some places “out west” as Brownsville had been their
focus previously. They didn’t seem to
have a target list, but I finally weaseled some suggestions out of him, such as
owls, kingfishers, rails, and bitterns!
My boss Keith was planning on taking them on a night walk, so that would
take care of most of the nocturnal stuff, but a daytime possibility was
Burrowing Owl, so I picked them up from where they were staying in Sharyland
and we headed south to Granjeño!
Ironically they had gone down there themselves the evening before (where
apparently a pretty good party was happening at the restaurant there) and had no
idea that’s where the owls were! By a
miracle we actually spotted one in the rocks, so after enjoying him we quickly
packed up and headed on to the “Roadside Hawk Spot”!
Andy and Mariana shoot the Burrowing Owl (below)
Peeking shyly from behind the rocks...
My
friends Pat, Joyce, and Sherolyn had gone there Saturday, and not only saw the
hawk but (thanks to another friend Rick) three Hook-billed Kites soaring
overhead! Pat directed me to walk down a
road towards the levee, where there was a bridge from where they actually saw
the hawk, but this time the hawk didn’t wanna play ball; there were several
other birders there, with “very sad faces” as Mariana noted! A troupe of Green Jays gave great looks, a
Black Phoebe finally posed for us, and a tree-full of Lesser Goldfinches were
all happy finds for these Pennsylvanians, but even on the levee the only
raptors we spotted were Redtails, harriers, vultures, and three Caracaras that
put on a great show chasing each other!
We did hear a couple of Groove-billed Anis (that had been previously
reported), but upon finding out that Andy and Mariana had traveled extensively
in the tropics (particularly Costa Rica), it turns out that not only was the
ani not a life bird, but neither was
the Roadside Hawk! (Yes, the Black
Phoebe and Lesser Goldfinches were more exciting! J) The kites would have been exciting all
around, but alas, they never showed… An
unspottable Altamira Oriole called in the distance as well, but I assured them
(and hopefully it will really come to pass) that they’d get great looks at
Salineño on Wednesday!
[Ed. note: Since this narrative was written, there was considerable confusion as to whether the connector road (pictured above) between the corrals and the levee was actually open to the public; FWS has clarified that it is indeed CLOSED to the public.]
Lesser Goldfinches (also below)
Black Phoebe
They
had also visited Anzalduas the previous day, but dipped on the coveted
kingfishers, and upon hearing about the possibility of Sprague’s Pipit, they
were game for a repeat visit! So we
swung back in, the Constable et al waving us through (I had forgotten it was
Monday where you don’t pay), and after a bee-line to the restrooms, Mariana
was unfortunately the only one to miss the Gray Hawk making a brief appearance
over the trees… L We
circled the loop, picking up a handsome Caracara on a dead tree (Andy got some
great shots as he took off), some teal in the river, and a Vermilion Flycatcher
near the dam, but it was pretty quiet.
Vermilion Flycatcher
We
finally made it to the parking area and started the trek across the field, and
hadn’t gone far before I heard a Sprague’s flying overhead somewhere, but we
could never spot it. We started toward
the general area the bird went (by the sound of it), hearing an American Pipit going
over as well. We wanted to eventually
get to the river anyway where we could scope for stuff, but just before we got
there the Sprague’s jumped up ahead of us!
Mariana got a good look, but unfortunately Andy never got on it, but he
at least heard the thing… (That got us going on various frustrating “not being
able to see the bird” stories…) We
consoled ourselves with the flock of Western Meadowlarks that were more
cooperative for views! But in the middle of all this a Ringed
Kingfisher let loose, and he eventually flew way up high overhead before coming back down, and thankfully
Mariane saw where he landed! He was
pretty distant, and the heat waves were starting to manifest themselves, so
while we got scope views, you kind of had to use your imagination! Also at that spot we enjoyed an Osprey eating
lunch, a raft of Scaup and Ring-necked Ducks, and the ubiquitous Coots.
Can you spot the Ringed Kingfisher?
(Grainy close-up in case you can't...)
From
there we headed up to Edinburg Scenic Wetlands for another crack at the
kingfishers. Three Inca Doves greeted us
at the entrance, but the sun was out by now, and our attention turned to
butterflies as the place was alive with them!
Queens were all over, but we also saw several Sleepy and Tailed Oranges,
Common Mestras, Gulf Fritillaries, White Peacocks, and a nice Mimosa Yellow! The birds were calling but frustratingly
stubborn (especially the Wilson’s Warbler), so we took solace in the water
birds in the north pond that were more visible, mainly egrets and
cormorants. A Belted Kingfisher rattled
which we eventually got in the scope, and even another Ringed “machine-gunned”
in the distance, but he never showed, nor did his tiny cousin the Green
Kingfisher (although a Green Heron
sounded off). White Pelicans were lazing
by the spillway, along with Red-eared Sliders and Soft-shelled Turtles. Heading back out an Orange-crowned Warbler
and Ruby-crowned Kinglet allowed brief looks, and a Buff-bellied Hummingbird
finally came in to a feeder! A couple of
Chachalacas peered at us from a tree before we took a quick look at the south
pond (you can actually go to the end of the boardwalk now), but no kingfishers;
we only added Tricolored Heron, Shoveler, and Green-winged Teal to the day list
here.
Inca Dove
When the birds get quiet, you switch to butterflies!
Gulf Fritillary
Tailed Orange
Mimosa Yellow
Enjoying birds in the South Pond
Tricolored Heron
Our
last stop was Wallace Road, and while it started off slow (usually does going
through the farmland), the wetlands were hopping, not only with birds but with
butterflies! We did have both species of goldfinches feeding on the sunflowers, and
an Orange-crowned Warbler finally showed himself, but the songbirds generally
stayed hidden (including a witting Least
Flycatcher). We had some nice “wire
birds” including Kestrel, Eastern Phoebe, and several Couch’s Kingbirds. At the wetlands we had wonderful looks at
Neotropic Cormorant, Anhinga, both grebes, Great Egrets, and even a pair of
Harris’ Hawks! A couple of Black-crowned
Night Herons were new for the list, and a Spotted Sandpiper bobbed along a
log. A Sora zipped across a hidden bog,
but several more were calling. In the
butter department, besides the abundant Queens, we also enjoyed a sunning
Monarch, Red Admiral, Great Southern White, and several Southern Dogfaces!
American Kestrel
Great Egret
Least Grebe
Anhinga
Neotropic Cormorant
Monarch
Queen
Monarch (upper left) and Queen together
Tree-full of Queens (plus the Monarch)
Two Southern Dogfaces share a sunflower
Red Admiral
We
wrapped it up after that, with 82 species for the day! Bird list:
Black-bellied
Whistling-Duck
Blue-winged
Teal Northern Shoveler
Gadwall
Mottled Duck
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Ruddy Duck
Plain Chachalaca
Least Grebe
Pied-billed Grebe
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
Inca Dove
Mourning Dove
Groove-billed Ani
Buff-bellied Hummingbird
Sora
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Anhinga
Neotropic Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
American White Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Harris's Hawk
Gray Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Burrowing Owl
Ringed Kingfisher
Belted Kingfisher
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
American Kestrel
Least Flycatcher
Black Phoebe
Eastern Phoebe
Vermilion Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Couch's Kingbird
Loggerhead Shrike
White-eyed Vireo
Green Jay
Black-crested Titmouse
Verdin
House Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Long-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
American Pipit
Sprague's Pipit
Lesser Goldfinch
American Goldfinch
Olive Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Western Meadowlark
Eastern Meadowlark
Altamira Oriole
Great-tailed Grackle
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Northern Cardinal
House Sparrow
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