Peter
from Seattle was celebrating his retirement by taking a big trip around Texas,
so he came to the Valley to pick up a few things. He had already spent time at the Island and
Harlingen (particularly Hugh Ramsey Park) and bagged a lot of specialties
there, so there were only a handful that I thought we could get in Hidalgo
County, seeing as he didn’t want to travel too far afield while at the
Inn. So after going over his list I
figured Santa Ana would be a good start, followed by road birding up along
Brushline.
He
was happy to learn some of the vocalizations, which was good as a lot of the
little stinkers (including the coveted Beardless Tyrannulet) didn’t wanna come
out! Other stubborn stinkers included
the Clay-colored Thrush in the parking lot, and the Carolina Wrens singing
antiphonally all over the park! Along
Chachalaca Trail some of the more cooperative birds included the Couch’s
Kingbird, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, and a pair of Black-crested Titmice that
practically landed on us! Down at Willow
Lakes we added Least Grebe, Common Gallinule, Blue-winged Teal, and distant
stilts to the list, and at the far lake a Belted Kingfisher had me going for a
minute… We kept trying to unsuccessfully
spot Olive Sparrows, Brown-crested Flycatchers, and Altamira Orioles, so we
finally gave up and headed over to Pintail Lakes where things were more open. Along the cutoff trail Peter got on some
little guys that looked like Chipping Sparrows to him, and thankfully I heard
an Olive Sparrow on each side of the trail (which meant that chances were good
that one of them was gonna dart across), and one of them did sit up and give Peter great views! Whew!
Least Grebe
Willow Lake
Solitary Sandpiper
White-faced Ibis
Pensive-looking Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Couch's Kingbird
At
Pintail Lakes the light was glorious, and the evaporating ponds were home to
lots of waders and shorebirds!
Spoonbills, ibis, and herons were the big boys, while the shorebird gang
included gobs of Least Sandpipers, Long-billed Dowitchers, a few Stilt
Sandpipers, both yellowlegs, and singletons of Solitary, Spotted, and Pectoral
Sandpipers, plus an Avocet that joined the crowd at the last minute! Gull-billed Terns were batting around and
calling, but the real highlight was a group of Fulvous Whistling Ducks, an
unexpected lifer for Peter! Several Bank
Swallows were flying over giving their raspy calls, but finally we caught sight
of another of Peter’s targets, a fluttery little Cave Swallow!
Evaporating Pintail Lake is a haven for waders!
Gull-billed Terns
Fulvous Whistling Ducks
Great Egrets and Roseate Spoonbill
The
very last pond was bone dry, but the one across from it had quite a bit of
water and housed Neotropic Cormorants and a couple of White Pelicans, plus more
shorebirds. While scanning I came across
a Green Kingfisher which another couple was able to enjoy, and Peter spotted a
distant kettle that turned out to be Mississippi Kites, another lifer! Gleefully, this kettle drifted right towards
us and broke into a solid wave going overhead where the kite shape of the birds
was very evident! We also saw a couple
of Swainson’s Hawks, and on the way back a Gray Hawk circled overhead. Another wave washed overhead, this time made
up of Scissor-tailed Flycatchers!
Pintail Lakes Cutoff Trail
Empress Leilia
Heading
back along the road we ran into birding buddy Huck Hutchins who had a couple of
Hooded Orioles staked out, and as we re-entered the Tower Trail we found
another Green Kingfisher, this one quite close!
My guidees from yesterday, Jim and Russell, ran into us about that point
(they bemoaned the fact that they hadn’t seen much), and then Peter spotted
another kettle, this time mostly Swainson’s Hawks. I decided it might be best to go back to the
main road at that point, as we’d have more sky to look at, and that turned out
to be a good decision as right away Peter’s life Altamira Oriole sat up in a
distant tree, and finally a Brown-crested Flycatcher sat in the open next to
the road! We also had an adult and
immature Harris’ Hawk on the way back, Chachalacas in the feeder area, and
while trying to kick up a Clay-colored Thrush in the picnic area I heard a
Bronzed Cowbird sing, which Peter said would also be a life bird, so we went
into the parking lot and found him up on the cell tower! Just before we left a nice male
“Black-backed” Goldfinch gave good looks.
Brown-crested Flycatcher
Young Harris' Hawk pondering his foot...
From
there (after a brief stop at Coffee Time J) we headed up to
Brushline Road via Hargill, and with the wind and heat I wasn’t expecting a
whole lot, but we actually got some good views of some things: Lark Sparrows and Scissor-tailed Flycatchers
were cooperative along the wires (except when Peter wanted to get a flight shot
J),
and the day’s only Red-tailed Hawk perched on a tall pole. A pair of Common Ground Doves was another
lifer, and one looked rather cinnamon to me, but after a better look I realized
it was just wishful thinking… J I heard the slow chatter of a Bullock’s
Oriole at some point that finally shot over to give us a brief look. There’s a pond on private land where the
owners have put some sort of a screen up, but another couple was stopped and
told us that they saw some dogs killing a deer in there! We got into a position where we could peek in
and saw a pair of Caracaras in there, but there also indeed was a dead exotic
deer in the pond… While Peter was shooting the Caracaras I heard a Least
Flycatcher giving its quiet whit
call.
Peter tries shooting a distant Scissor-tailed Flycatcher...
A more cooperative one shows up later on a wire!
Harris' Hawk
In
the actual NWR tract were tons of Pyrrhuloxias, and we heard a Bobwhite but
none showed (nor did any Roadrunners, which was a first). A Cassin’s Sparrow sang, and Peter was able
to get a glimpse of the bird as it skylarked!
Heard some Turkeys gobbling in the distance while stopped for another
Scissortail, and a couple of Savannah Sparrows popped up on a fence. The flowers were absolutely stunning along
the road, and we stopped many times just to take pictures! Snaking up to the ponds, I was having
flashbacks of the Purple Gallinules I had up there years ago when I thought I
heard one call (it sure matched the “kik” call on the app), but additional
hidden vocalizations proved to be Common Gallinules… The main pond only had a Pied-billed Grebe
and a Cattle Egret in with the bulls, so we headed back to Ken Baker Road. Crawling down that road finally hit pay dirt
with a brilliant White-tailed Hawk and a cooperative Caracara on a pole!
Riot of flowers along Brushline Road
Blackbuck on a game ranch
Can you see the Blackbuck in this picture?
Crested Caracara
We
had to scoot after that, with a quick stop at the grass field north of the
Donna Walmart (with nothing to show), but we managed an unbelievable 101
species for the day! Bird list:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Fulvous
Whistling-DuckBlue-winged Teal
Mottled Duck
Plain Chachalaca
Northern Bobwhite
Wild Turkey
Least Grebe
Pied-billed Grebe
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Inca Dove
Common Ground-Dove
White-tipped Dove
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
Lesser Nighthawk (at the Inn)
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Buff-bellied Hummingbird
Sora
Common Gallinule
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Killdeer
Stilt Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Spotted Sandpiper
Solitary Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Laughing Gull
Gull-billed Tern
Forster's Tern
Neotropic Cormorant
American White Pelican
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Cattle Egret
White Ibis
White-faced Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Mississippi Kite
Northern Harrier
Harris's Hawk
White-tailed Hawk
Gray Hawk
Swainson's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Belted Kingfisher
Green Kingfisher
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet
Least Flycatcher
Brown-crested Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Tropical Kingbird
Couch's Kingbird
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Loggerhead Shrike
White-eyed Vireo
Green Jay
Horned Lark
Tree Swallow
Bank Swallow
Cave Swallow
Black-crested Titmouse
Verdin
House Wren
Carolina Wren
Bewick's Wren
Cactus Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Clay-colored Thrush
Long-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Lesser Goldfinch
Cassin's Sparrow
Olive Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Eastern Meadowlark
Hooded Oriole
Bullock's Oriole
Altamira Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Bronzed Cowbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Common Yellowthroat
Northern Cardinal
Pyrrhuloxia
House Sparrow
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