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
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