Rarities and Specialties

1/25/19 

Lydia and David were from Houston and had won a three night stay at the Inn through a silent auction with the Bluebird Society, so they wanted to use it before it expired! J  They had never been to South Texas before, but many of our more widespread wintering (and resident) species were also new for them!  They had a list compiled by a friend of theirs in Houston who ran local trips, so based on that (and what could be expected in a day and a half), I had planned on taking them to Starr County today and Estero Llano Grande the next morning, but the continuing Hook-billed Kites demanded a detour from The Plan, so after stopping at McDonald’s for a Sausage and Egg Biscuit, we were on our way to the now famous levee!

Once we got on the “canal road” next to the levee, we stopped short for Lydia’s first Kiskadee in the canal vegetation, but what was also there were six Groove-billed Anis!  So we enjoyed them for a bit before parking and joining the rest of the mob, and were greeted with, “You missed him by three minutes!” L  Not to be discouraged, my charges were willing to wait and see if the bird returned (it was a gorgeous, windless day, unlike last time), and in the meantime a young Red-shouldered Hawk perched in the “kite tree”, and several unseen little things vocalized from the brush, including Marsh Wren and Yellowthroat behind us and Long-billed Thrasher and Lincoln’s Sparrow in front of us.  Thankfully we didn’t have to wait long before a big, fat, slaty-colored raptor suddenly flew over the thornscrub heading east – it was the Hook-billed Kite, bright white eyes and all!  High fives all around!

Groove-billed Ani, usually rare in the winter

Looking a little fluffy...

Birders hoping the kite will return (David and Lydia are in the further bunch...)

Interloping young Red-shouldered Hawk

  

He had circled around and seemed to go down behind the Border Patrol corrals, so we made plans to head back out the way we had come and head west on Old Military Highway (OMH) so we’d have the sun to our backs, but not before getting great looks at the resident Black Phoebe pair and a very cooperative Lincoln’s Sparrow!  We were putting our gear away when I heard a splat, which sent us back to the bridge looking for the Green Kingfisher that had just vocalized, but he was either hidden or long gone (and the very distant Ringed Kingfisher rat-a-tatting counted for the day list but that was it).  Crawling down the road next to the Butterfly Center bagged us a calling Couch’s Kingbird, and while I was trying to spot it found a Blue-headed Vireo in a tree that unfortunately my charges missed…  Some pretty Savannah Sparrows posed on the fence wires along OMH, but there was no sign of the kite.  We did spot a young Gray Hawk where that canal road dumps onto OMH; he gave great looks on his tree!

Black Phoebe

Lincoln's Sparrow

Young Gray Hawk

Planning on using the restrooms at Bentsen, we pulled into the parking lot where once again a mob of “accidental” House Finches were feeding in the grass along with several American Goldfinches!  (A look at the TOS Handbook will show you that House Finches theoretically don’t occur here, but they’re gradually becoming more established…)  And while editing the pictures later I discovered that some Pine Siskins, also "flaggable" by eBird in the Valley, were in amongst them!  I made another command decision to spend time at the Gatehouse Feeders since we were there (and Chachalacas weren’t necessarily a given at Salineño).  I was also hoping for kingfishers along the canal, but they weren’t playing ball…  However, the chachalacas at the feeders made up for it; Lydia was amazed at how tame they were!  We also enjoyed Green Jays, a Long-billed Thrasher, and a White-tipped Dove while watching the antics of the “big boys”!  On the way out we ran into John Kaye (the Bentsen Hawk Watch Guy) who was leading a group, and at the canal we caught sight of an immature hawk that everyone mused could have been the Broad-winged Hawk that was hanging around!  I got the scope on it, and realized (especially after comparing juvie Broad-winged with Red-shouldered on the handy dandy Sibley app) I’d be hard-pressed to tell the two apart unless I could see the tell-tale checkerboard pattern on the secondaries that a Red-shouldered shows (which I couldn’t see, of course)!  A second bird appeared that was a more finely streaked Redshoulder (and proved it when he flew and showed the pale crescents in his wings), so when I saw a utility truck go down the side road that would probably flush the problem hawk, I started a video and followed the bird when he did fly.  Once home I could analyze the video frame by frame, and thankfully it caught the same buffy crescents that nailed it as a Redshoulder.  John’s gang also found a Sharp-shinned Hawk that darted into a tree, and we all had a heckuva time trying to refind it!

House Finch (above and below), considered rare in the Valley (at least at present)!

Three Pine Siskins feed behind an American Goldfinch

Lydia points something out to Dave at the canal

Checking out the "Gatehouse Feeders"

Mob of Chachalacas

Dave and friends...

Another young Red-shouldered Hawk

Headed upriver after that, stopping at the Whataburger in Rio Grande City for lunch (“cutting back” has been shot to heck this week L).  Once in Salineño Lydia was even happy to see Collared Doves! J  We went to the boat ramp first, picking up a couple of Neotropic Cormorants on the river, an Osprey eating lunch, and hearing this horrendous roaring on the other side (we were guessing wild boars but then saw a bovine over there and concluded it could have been a bull…), then hiking the “Seedeater Trail” in hopes of bagging said seedeaters.  They didn’t show (not surprisingly), but we heard an Audubon’s Oriole calling on the Island and had a nice pair of Couch’s Kingbirds at trail’s end.  Other than that we just had the regular wintering stuff (gnatcatchers, kinglets, et al) along the trail.

Osprey with breakfast

We then spent a very relaxing hour at the feeders, where Lydia spotted an Olive Sparrow coming in to the water feature right away!  Long-billed Thrashers were particularly cooperative, and we enjoyed all the regular players:  Green Jays, Kiskadees, Altamira Orioles, titmice, and Cardinals.  The female Hooded Oriole showed off regularly, but the Audubon’s only came in briefly and gave obscured views.  We always get American Goldfinches every winter, but this year they’ve literally invaded and have been everywhere in numbers, and here was no exception!  A Lincoln’s Sparrow did the “Towhee Shuffle” under the bushes, and a White-tipped Dove made a very brief appearance in the back.  Both the woodpeckers came in, and I was very happy that the guys got a fabulous look at the male Golden-fronted, as that was one Lydia really wanted to see well!

An Altamira Oriole competes with the House Sparrows over the PB mixture!

Readying for the attack...

More Altamira shots

Long-billed Thrasher

American Goldfinch

Green Jay (check out the eyebrows!)

Golden-fronted Woodpecker (female above, male below)

 

Black-crested Titmouse

Everyone signs in with Mike!

On the way up there we noticed that the construction traffic going the other way in La Joya was horrendous, so we decided to leave a little early and take Sparrow Road up and around (and out-of-the-way but more scenic route).  But we didn’t get far from the feeder parking area when three Gray Hawks whistled and circled overhead!  A Bewick’s Wren was also singing, but we couldn’t get him to come out…  We went ahead and made a quick run up the Dump Road, getting a brief view of a Curve-billed Thrasher before reaching the dirt portion, and finding a couple of Lark Sparrows in with some Mourning Doves!  A pair of Harris’ Hawks was on the old windmill, and we heard a chattering Pyrrhuloxia, but he didn’t wanna come out, either… L

Harris' Hawk pair on the old windmill

Headed back about then, and took Sparrow Road as planned.  While enjoying the scenery, we blasted by a magnificent White-tailed Hawk in a dead tree, so we wheeled around to get fabulous looks!  As we headed east on what eventually turned into SR 101, it dawned on me that we could go home by way of Trenton and maybe catch the Green Parakeet Show!  Sounded good, so that’s exactly what we did; when we got there, we were a bit early, but eventually the big flocks started screeching overhead and a few decided to start filling up the power lines!  It wasn’t the spectacle you get at sunset, but we got great scope looks and my charges were happy, so we headed on home with a modest 61 species for the day.  Bird list:

Plain Chachalaca 

Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 
Eurasian Collared-Dove 
White-tipped Dove 
White-winged Dove 
Mourning Dove 
Groove-billed Ani 
Neotropic Cormorant 
Cattle Egret 
Black Vulture 
Turkey Vulture 
Osprey 
Hook-billed Kite 
Sharp-shinned Hawk 
Harris's Hawk 
White-tailed Hawk 
Gray Hawk 
Red-shouldered Hawk 
Red-tailed Hawk 
Ringed Kingfisher 
Green Kingfisher 
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 
Crested Caracara 
American Kestrel 
Black Phoebe 
Eastern Phoebe 
Great Kiskadee 
Couch's Kingbird 
Loggerhead Shrike 
White-eyed Vireo 
Blue-headed Vireo 
Green Jay 
Black-crested Titmouse 
Verdin 
House Wren 
Marsh Wren 
Bewick's Wren 
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 
Curve-billed Thrasher 
Long-billed Thrasher 
Northern Mockingbird 
European Starling 
House Finch 
American Goldfinch
Pine Siskin 
Olive Sparrow 
Lark Sparrow 
Savannah Sparrow 
Lincoln's Sparrow 
Altamira Oriole 
Audubon's Oriole 
Red-winged Blackbird 
Great-tailed Grackle 
Orange-crowned Warbler 
Common Yellowthroat 
Yellow-rumped Warbler 
Northern Cardinal 
Pyrrhuloxia 
House Sparrow 

A Walk Behind the Wall

1/8/19 

Alan and Sandy were Winter Texans from Chicago and staying with us for about a month before heading to other places in the Valley, and had already done quite a bit of birding on their own, but were curious about the “guiding” aspect: they preferred hiking to road birding, wanted to go someplace new, and not too far away.  Well, two outta three ain’t bad, as they had already visited the few places in Hidago County that offered good long hikes, so I suggested that if they could endure a 45 minute drive to and from, they might enjoy Resaca de la Palma State Park!  Sounded good, so off we went!

Well.  On the way we got to talking about The Wall and border issues, and the subject of Sabal Palm Sanctuary came up as an example of a refuge that is actually behind the current Wall and is better than it’s ever been!  That piqued their curiosity, so we continued south to the toll road.  Only I had forgotten about the road construction on 511 and we got totally turned around… L  Finally made our way back to 511 via Ruben Torres, and made it to the sanctuary!

After paying the entrance fee and using the facilities, we headed through the new butterfly gardens where we actually got pretty good looks at three skulkers right away:  a very friendly White-eyed Vireo, a Long-billed Thrasher sitting out in the open (until another one chased it off), and an Olive Sparrow poking along next to the path!  As we made our way through the woods more skulkers vocalized but didn’t show themselves, primarily House and Carolina Wrens.  As warned, the Resaca was dry (the guy in the office told us how much it cost to pump the water in; we almost had collective strokes), but we enjoyed a beautiful walk through the woods and especially up on Vireo Lane through the mesquite forest.  Most of the action was in the form of feeding flocks that we tried to sort through:  Black-crested Titmice were the dominant species, and surprisingly more White-eyed Vireos were very cooperative!  Green Jays powered through, and Orange-crowned Warblers and Ruby-crowned Kinglets gave us the looking over.  We got great looks at several Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, and one Golden-fronted posed for scope views.

The Rabb House

Sandy gets on a vireo while Alan consults the Sibley...

Circling around, we spotted a blind that was new since the last time I was there, so we headed down and found the “puddle” the guy had told us was still hanging on…  A Sora cried almost immediately, and of course Yellowthroats were chacking all over, but the highlight was the Gray Hawk that made a couple of passes!  We didn’t bother with the big blind but rather went straight to the Forest Trail, where we ran into another feeding flock that, in addition to what we had already seen, had a Black-and-white Warbler and at least two Wilson’s Warblers that cheked but never gave us a look.

View from the new blind

Sandy and Alan on the Forest Trail

Getting closer to the feeders, we flushed White-tipped Dove after White-tipped Dove in the woods, but they never did actually come into the feeder area.  Some Green Jays gobbled down what was in one of the hanging feeders, but the real action was yet another feeding flock that contained a Black-throated Green Warbler, a lifer for Sandy!  A Buff-bellied Hummer rattled but never came in…

Green Jays gobbling down breakfast...

From there we headed on to the Native Trail, heading through the old butterfly garden, where Sandy found an American Robin sitting on a log!  (I think they were dubious of the fact that the locals get excited about them, as they’re actually rarer than the Clay-colored… J)  The weather wasn’t the best for butters (nice temps but overcast skies), but a Turks-cap White Skipper showed well.  Yet another feeding flock (and yet another friendly White-eyed Vireo) showed up near the Rio Grande overlook, along with a pupping Couch’s Kingbird (that was hanging with a Golden-fronted Woodpecker wherever it went; we thought that was kinda funny), and while nothing sailed by while we waited, it was a nice rest!  We hiked the rest of the trail, but it was rather quiet by that time; we kicked up a wren of some kind that didn’t stick around while a Verdin called in the background, and we heard some Chachalacas making little chuckling noises unseen in the bushes; a Border Patrol guy rolling by on the narrow levee was the extent of the excitement!  However, a pretty Cardinal did decide to give us nice looks on the way back to the Visitor Center!

American Robin, rarer here in the Valley than the Clay-colored!

Sandy and Alan at the Rio Grande overlook

Shy Northern Cardinal

I was a little bummed at the number of species, but after comparing today’s count with other surveys I’ve done of the reserve during January, this was actually the highest count I’ve had for the month with 33 species!  Bird list:

Plain Chachalaca 

White-tipped Dove 
Buff-bellied Hummingbird 
Sora 
Killdeer 
Turkey Vulture 
Gray Hawk 
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 
American Kestrel 
Great Kiskadee 
Couch's Kingbird 
White-eyed Vireo 
Green Jay 
Black-crested Titmouse 
Verdin 
House Wren 
Carolina Wren 
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 
American Robin 
Long-billed Thrasher 
American Goldfinch 
Olive Sparrow 
Lincoln's Sparrow 
Red-winged Blackbird 
Black-and-white Warbler 
Orange-crowned Warbler 
Common Yellowthroat 
Yellow-rumped Warbler 
Black-throated Green Warbler 
Wilson's Warbler 
Northern Cardinal 

Old Friends, New Hobby - Part 2

1/4/19 

For a half day of birding the standard “go to” place is almost always Estero Llano Grande State Park!  Today (although starting out at a brisk 40 degrees) would prove to be a gorgeous day, with sunny skies and no wind, getting up into the 70s!  Several potential life birds (including both whistling ducks) and a couple of rarities (like Tropical Parula and Hooded Oriole) had us heading in with high hopes!  A fussing Long-billed Thrasher right in the parking lot was uncooperative, but at least we heard the ticking Green Kingfisher coming from the hidden canal!

My initial plan was to head over to Alligator Lake first and give the Tropical Zone time to warm up, but upon hearing Carolina Wrens (another potential lifer), we headed on in anyway, and instantly got a trio of Clay-colored Thrushes!  A female Archilochus hummingbird posed nicely that showed all the characters of a Ruby-throated, so that’s what we called her.  Then no less than three Long-billed Thrashers vocalized near the camp host area, and we finally found one sitting at the tippy top of a tree!  The Carolina Wren sounded very close, but as we snuck up on the sound, several Black-crested Titmice materialized, which made me think I was actually hearing a very wren-like titmouse singing… L  However, as we scoured a little feeding flock there we found a very nice Pine Warbler, a lifer for both girls!

Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Continuing towards Pauraque Hall, Barbara called us back when she spotted a couple of suspicious birds in the bushes:  one was a better look at a Long-billed Thrasher, but another fluffy guy sitting rather still turned out to be a Curve-billed Thrasher!  A young Harris’ Hawk was yelling from a perch and eventually fell off (quite literally)!  We then ran into the gentleman who was filling the feeders, who then asked us if we’d like to see the Pauraque!  Hey, if he had one staked out right there, let’s go for it!  He was very proud of the fact that he found it all by himself J, and indeed, he was hard to spot!  So after enjoying him we sat at the feeders for 15 minutes, as he had told us than an Ovenbird had been visiting the drip, but we enjoyed the regulars:  Green Jays, White-tipped Doves, titmice, and Golden-fronted Woodpeckers all put on a show, along with a Buff-bellied Hummer.  The best bird actually flew high overhead: a Ringed Kingfisher giving its single-noted flight call!  We then sauntered over to the new Indigo Blind, as Ranger Raul told us that’s where the parulas were hanging out, but instead we just enjoyed more great looks at the regular takers (and Julia finally got her Green Jay picture J)!  Another Long-billed Thrasher snuck in briefly as well, along with a bunny and Fox Squirrel…

Young Harris' Hawk (be sure to watch to the end!)

Julia and another birder shoot the Pauraque (below)

(Video grab - a great alternative when the light's too low for a standard picture!)

Video grab of a Buff-bellied Hummingbird

Green Jay pondering the seeds

Julia's coveted Green Jay portrait!  (Photo © 2019 by Julia Corbett)

Golden-fronted Woodpecker

Black-crested Titmouse

  

From there we made the circle, and on the back side closer to the old Methodist camp we hit pay dirt when both an Altamira and the Hooded Orioles showed themselves!  At first Barb found the female, but then the male popped up for good comparisons!  We checked the feeding flocks carefully but just got the standard fare:  Orangecrowns, gnatcatchers, kinglets et al, but a Blue-headed Vireo and Nashville Warbler were nice additions!  A couple of Lincoln’s Sparrows actually sat still for scope views!  More Carolina Wrens sang in stereo, but as per usual, we just couldn’t pin one down… L  The hawk serenaded us the whole time, and at one point had claimed the very tippy top of one of the Norfolk Pines!  On the way out another birder cottoned us on to yet another Pauraque behind a sign!

Video grab of the male Hooded Oriole, rare this time of year!

Julia shoots a second Pauraque

The bad news was that Raul had informed us that the thousands of whistling ducks that had been there last month were totally gone, except for some that were hanging out in the actual Llano Grande! L  I had heard some fly over earlier, so I was hoping we’d see some somewhere eventually!  When we got to the main building to check in and take care of business, he was indeed right:  not a whistling duck to see seen anywhere!  The light was terrible (as per usual on a sunny morning), so we headed to the boardwalk so we could get the sun to our backs; we scared a Sora out from under the boardwalk, and Barb spotted a couple of Cinnamon Teal, but the place was alive with Green-winged Teal and Shovelers!  There were also plenty of Least Sandpipers around, and as we headed on, several Stilt Sandpipers were feeding alongside them.  A flock of dowitchers had flown by earlier, but we never saw them land.  But we did get a grassy view of a feeding Lesser Yellowlegs.  A Kiskadee posed over the boardwalk for Julia’s camera! J

Hiding pair of Cinnamon Teal

Male Northern Shoveler with his harem...

We took the long route to the levee, scaring up several Savannah Sparrows in the process (and hoping for something more exotic J); as we passed Curlew Pond I heard a Tropical Kingbird, and as we were trying to spot him a Least Flycatcher gave its wit call!  We then headed towards the levee and ran into the same gentleman with a big gun that was at the “kite spot” yesterday (he reported he stayed all day and the birds didn’t show up until the afternoon), but he sadly informed us that there were no Black-bellied Whistling Ducks in the llano L but the Fulvous Whistling Duck was in Dowitcher Pond!  So we skipped the levee and headed straight to said pond, where we had lots of Black-necked Stilts and more teal, and even a Pintail!  We were sweating a little until we finally found the Fulvous in beautiful light!  The Tropical Kingbird decided to show as well, so we got scope looks at him.

Julia heads out to Dowitcher Pond

A Snowy Egret primps for the day...

Julia's version (Photo © 2019 by Julia Corbett)

Fulvous Whistling Duck

  

It was almost time to head home, so we opted to go back to the Tropical Zone (the guy said he also had both parulas near the camp host area), only we got waylaid by the Sora who was coming out in wonderful light, so of course both Julia and I had to get some pictures! J  After that we really had to get going, so we headed straight to the car and headed home with 66 species for the morning.  

My Sora...

Julia's Sora!  (Photo © 2019 by Julia Corbett)

Bird list:

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 

Fulvous Whistling-Duck 
Blue-winged Teal 
Cinnamon Teal 
Northern Shoveler 
Gadwall 
Mottled Duck 
Northern Pintail 
Green-winged Teal 
Plain Chachalaca 
White-tipped Dove 
Mourning Dove 
Common Pauraque 
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 
Buff-bellied Hummingbird 
Sora 
American Coot 
Black-necked Stilt 
Stilt Sandpiper 
Least Sandpiper 
Long-billed Dowitcher 
Spotted Sandpiper 
Lesser Yellowlegs 
Neotropic Cormorant 
American White Pelican 
Great Blue Heron 
Great Egret 
Snowy Egret 
Harris's Hawk 
Ringed Kingfisher 
Green Kingfisher 
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 
Least Flycatcher 
Eastern Phoebe 
Great Kiskadee 
Tropical Kingbird 
Couch's Kingbird 
White-eyed Vireo 
Blue-headed Vireo 
Green Jay 
Black-crested Titmouse 
House Wren 
Carolina Wren 
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 
Clay-colored Thrush 
Curve-billed Thrasher 
Long-billed Thrasher 
Northern Mockingbird 
European Starling 
American Pipit 
Olive Sparrow 
Savannah Sparrow 
Lincoln's Sparrow 
Hooded Oriole 
Altamira Oriole 
Red-winged Blackbird 
Great-tailed Grackle 
Orange-crowned Warbler 
Nashville Warbler 
Common Yellowthroat 
Pine Warbler 
Yellow-rumped Warbler 
Northern Cardinal 
House Sparrow