Barbara
and Julia had been friends since age four, but it was only recently that the
latter got the former into birding, so they were both down during a break in
the academic year to see some new birds!
Julia had traveled the world and had seen many of our “semi-specialties”
in Arizona (and even Costa Rica!), but almost everything was new for
Barbara! I had planned the standard
tour, but decided to check the now-famous levee for the Hook-billed Kites! It was even colder and windier than when Sue
and Billy and I had come last Saturday, but unlike last Saturday, the birds
were a no-show for the half hour we gave it (and the birds apparently hadn’t
been seen the day before, which didn’t bode well). But it wasn’t a waste as far as my charges
were concerned: every little feather was
special! Right off the bat an Anhinga
flapped overhead, a pair of Altamira Orioles gave great views, and Green Jays
entertained. A brilliant Vermilion
Flycatcher gave some a brief view as did a peeping Black Phoebe, and a Marsh Wren
sang unseen. We heard a Red-shouldered
Hawk yelling, but never spotted it. A
male Ladder-backed Woodpecker put on a great show in a dead tree right next to
the levee, while a female Golden-fronted was further back in the woods. On the way back to the car two Tricolored
Herons flew overhead.
Looking for Hook-billed Kites along the now-famous levee
We
finally decided to head to the feeders at Bentsen, where the most action seemed
to be right in the parking lot: a whole
herd of Chachalacas came running over, and were promptly bullied by a
Mockingbird! That was a first! A tree full of American Goldfinches had a few
House Finches in with them, which shortly joined a big flock of Lark Sparrows
and even more House Finches on the
ground, and the males had a variety of colors, from orange to rose! At the canal the Black Phoebes were way down
there and showing only when they flew over the water, so we continued to the Nature Center Feeders to see what would come in.
An Orange-crowned Warbler was checking out the empty peanut butter
feeder, but the east side had more action, with several White-tipped Doves on
the ground, more orioles and jays, plus Cardinals adding to the color! A couple of Chachalacas came in as well,
along with a pretty Golden-fronted Woodpecker.
On the way out the Black Phoebe was more cooperative, and a Buff-bellied
Hummingbird gave a brief appearance at the tram stop, along with an Olive
Sparrow on the ground!
American Goldfinches
House Finches (still considered rare in the Valley but are becoming somewhat expected in some places); rosy ones...
...and an orange one!
Altamira Oriole
White-tipped Dove
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Chachalacas vs. Mockingbird...
From
there we headed down Old Military Highway towards Anzalduas. I heard a Couch’s Kingbird pupping in the sunflower field, so we
piled out and got brief views as he flew off, but a flock of Lesser Goldfinches
feeding on the sunflowers stole the show!
We took the levee to Anzalduas, and the girls were duly impressed with
the view of the Rio Grande, but we didn’t pick up much bird-wise until we got
to the “hawk field”, where the numbers were down from Saturday but we still
picked up several White-tailed Hawks (mostly juvies), some Caracaras, and a
distant young Redtail in a tree. There
were some other birders there, and one gentleman got on a distant hovering hawk
that he thought might be the Ferruginous, so we all tracked it until it finally
came closer and landed in the field to the north, showing us the nice white
pitagials! Another lifer for the girls! Heading down the entrance road I casually
waved to another carload of birders and stopped for some Savannah Sparrows,
when the car suddenly started backing up and parked right next to us – it was
my friend Tamie and Father Tom! J Didn’t realize who it was when we passed
them, and they weren’t gonna let me get away without saying hi! J
Distant immature Ferruginous Hawk, accidental in the Valley
The
park was open today, but Julia had already seen Sprague’s Pipit in Arizona (and
none of us were thrilled with the idea of tromping across the field in that
bitter wind), so we car birded the park; no kingfishers on the river, but we did see a nice Osprey, and the girls
picked up a couple of Coots. Loggerhead
Shrikes were quite cute and fluffy, but the highlight here was no less than
three Vermilion Flycatchers (one a bright, full adult male)! A titmouse came out at one feeding flock that
we stopped for, but not long enough for everyone to get a good look… L
Young male Vermilion Flycatcher
Looking for the titmice..
Barb and me (photo © 2019 by Julia Corbett)
Julia and Barb (photo © 2019 by Julia Corbett, even though I took it... 😄)
We
discussed options after that and decided to go to Santa Ana, but not before
Barbara spotted a Coyote trotting across the “pipit field” on the way out! Billy had pointed out the Harris’ Hawk pair
Bill Clark had banded and that had a territory along busy Military Highway, so
I was keeping an eye out for them along the way, and there he was on a wire! We detoured to Hidalgo for the Monk Parakeets
(a flock of Green Parakeets had shot over the freeway on the way to Mission,
but the girls couldn’t discern them in the gloom), and Barbara was amazed at
the pretty winter pattern of the Starling (I think she described them as
“greasy black” back home J)!
It was still cool and breezy at the refuge, but some little things were
moving here and there along the trail; we didn’t run into the Golden-crowned
Kinglet, but we had the Ruby-crowned along with Orange-crowned and
Yellow-rumped Warblers. Three Common
Ground Doves flushed into a tree and gave us scope views, and I heard a Beardless
Tyrannulet that of course didn’t wanna play ball, as did a fussing Long-billed
Thrasher and a couple of song-battling White-eyed Vireos. What was
cooperative to my surprise was a brilliant Verdin overhead!
Coyote hightailing it across the field
Willow
Lakes contained their life Mottled Ducks and Least Grebes (the latter was a big
target), along with the usual Gadwall, Shovelers, and both Blue-winged and
Cinnamon Teal (interestingly, the latter was not a lifer for either one).
Shorebirds included Black-necked Stilts, several Greater Yellowlegs, and
pods of Long-billed Dowitchers across the way.
Soras were crying all over, and as we approached the final deck, Julia
grabbed me by the jacket and pulled me back – she had spotted a Green
Kingfisher on the culvert! We saw her
dart away, but thankfully she shortly came back and gave everyone great views! On the hike back I pointed out the tree
snails that are the staple Hook-billed Kite diet.
Julia shoots a tree snail (below), staple of the Hook-billed Kite!
Northern Shoveler
Consulting the bird app...
Since
the Ringed Kingfisher was high on their list, we decided to head to Edinburg
Wetlands for our last stop. Hoping to
scare up more songbirds (and scaring up a Zebra Heliconian instead), we took the long way to the north pond, where we added
both flavors of cormorant, lots of Snowy Egrets, several White Pelicans, and a
couple of Black-crowned Night Herons. I
planted the girls at the observation deck while I ran to the facilities, and by
the time I got back they had found the Ringed Kingfisher down by the spillway,
along with a Belted! We decided to go
down to that observation platform to get a better look, but on the way
discovered a pod of Roseate Spoonbills in the canal! The Snowy Egrets with them were quite fluffy
as well, but as we watched yet another Green Kingfisher ticked from the
branches! (Another Buff-bellied Hummer
also made a brief appearance at the feeder…)
Zebra Heliconian
Young Roseate Spoonbills
Fluffy Snowy Egrets
Heading
on down to the platform, we got great looks at the Ringed Kingfisher
(“tangerine” colored, one of them quipped J), along with great
comparative looks at both cormorants decorating one of the trees across the
way! While Barbara visited the
facilities Julia and I headed down the canal trail and eventually to the little
blind near the entrance; a Wilson’s Warbler gave great views, but something
batted around that I just couldn’t place – it looked and acted like a
White-eyed Vireo put with no color and a plainer face! The girls didn’t let me live that one down as
I was totally stumped! Best I could
guess was a young White-eyed, as I recall those buggers fooling many of us in
times past, making us think we had a Bell’s a first!
Ringed Kingfisher
Headed
home after that, with 85 species for the day!
Bird list:
Blue-winged
Teal
Cinnamon
Teal Northern Shoveler
Gadwall
Mottled Duck
Northern Pintail
Plain Chachalaca
Least Grebe
Pied-billed Grebe
Rock Pigeon
Common Ground-Dove
White-tipped Dove
Mourning Dove
Buff-bellied Hummingbird
Sora
American Coot
Black-necked Stilt
Killdeer
Long-billed Dowitcher
Greater Yellowlegs
Anhinga
Neotropic Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
American White Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Roseate Spoonbill
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Harris's Hawk
White-tailed Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Ferruginous Hawk
Ringed Kingfisher
Belted Kingfisher
Green Kingfisher
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
American Kestrel
Monk Parakeet
Green Parakeet
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet
Black Phoebe
Eastern Phoebe
Vermilion Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Couch's Kingbird
Loggerhead Shrike
White-eyed Vireo
Green Jay
Black-crested Titmouse
Verdin
House Wren
Marsh Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Long-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
American Pipit
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
American Goldfinch
Olive Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Western Meadowlark
Altamira Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Northern Cardinal
House Sparrow
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