Today the winds were out of the north,
which meant the migrant action at South Padre could be good, so off we
went! Found out that Aplomado Falcon
would be a life bird for Jean, so we swung by the Aplomado Viewing Area on SR
100, got to see a distant head on the platform J, and bagged the Chihuahuan Raven while we were at
it! Went straight to The Flats from
there, where the tide was way out, so
we got to drive right up to the usual suspects, plus a nice group of Franklin’s
Gulls and the white morph Reddish Egret putting on a show!
Sandwich Terns (above and below)
Royal Terns
Franklin's Gulls
Showing white band in wingtip
Least Tern
White morph Reddish Egret (above and below)
From there we went
to the Convention Centre which was pretty active: as usual, there were lots of pewees around,
but also a couple of Least Flycatchers.
Both Red-eyed and Warbling Vireos made a showing, and a Philadelphia was
reported, but as is often the case, we missed that one (can’t be everywhere at
the same time)… There were tons of both
Baltimore and Orchard Orioles, but this one tree in the middle of the “back
yard” seemed to be very popular with the warblers, and Jean (from southern
California, remember) got my adrenalin going when he very casually said, “Oh,
there’s a Townsend’s Warbler!”
(!!!) Holy smokes – a rare bird
out here any time but a state bird for me!! J A couple of nearby
Black-throated Greens gave good comparisons, especially this one funky individual
with a darker cap and auriculars than normal (and indeed, many were mistaking
it for the Townsend’s – made me wonder if we had a hybrid on our hands)! A Cedar Waxwing gave its ringing call and
flew overhead, and a Rose-breasted Grosbeak caused a lot of oohs and ahhs! A Chestnut-sided Warbler was back at the
water feature, and somewhere in here a Yellow-breasted Chat showed up. One guy rather casually mentioned that a female
Cerulean Warbler was back in the “back yard”, so we went tearing back only to have my friends in the "Thursday Group" (Tamie, Lizee, and Father Tom) tell us that she was “just there” and had left! L
Jean and the local "Thursday Group"
Baltimore Oriole
Warbling Vireo (above and below)
Great Crested Flycatcher
The ever-present Black-bellied Whistling Duck
Townsend's Warbler, a rare visitor from the west (above and below)!
Several shots of the funky Black-throated Green Warbler that was confusing a lot of folks; even though the cap and auriculars look rather dark on this bird, points in favor of BTG include the white underparts, the splash of yellow across the vent, and the bright green back.
Here's a typical male Black-throated Green Warbler (above and below)
Eastern Wood Pewee
Indigo Bunting
With that we
decided to hit the boardwalk where this one lonely tree always seems to have
stuff, and this time it didn’t disappoint with a Magnolia, Blackpoll, and
Nashville Warbler to show! The only
migrant in the mangroves was a friendly Black-and-white Warbler, but tons of Barn
Swallows were flying around, and we also heard the rapid-fire chatter of a Bank
Swallow going over. On the way back to
the car in the “circular area” Jean said, “What’re these two little guys?” He had found a couple of very cooperative
Canada Warblers!
Yet another Eastern Wood Pewee
Blackpoll Warbler (above and below)
Canada Warbler (above and below)
From there we went
straight to Sheepshead, which was pretty quiet comparatively: the faithful Northern Waterthrush was at his
drip on the “dark side”, a pretty male Northern Parula fed over our heads, and
another couple pointed out a brilliant male Indigo Bunting that was sitting on
the wire fence and helping himself to the grass seed within reach! A male Painted Bunting was around the corner,
and in the northeast corner (with the pines that really aren’t pines, I’m told)
a Clay-colored and Chipping Sparrow sat together (and this time of year, there’s
no confusing the two)!
Northern Parula (above and below)
Indigo Bunting
The Birding Center
was next, where on the ramp down to the Bird Garden a Blue-winged Warbler gave
a very brief view, while an Orange-crowned gave a more prolonged one. A Swainson’s Thrush popped up near the drip,
and a Blue-headed Vireo showed off higher in a tree. On the main boardwalk I kept hearing this
loud “Wheep!” that seemed to be moving, and sure enough, an Oystercatcher came
roaring by at eye level! We heard the Mangrove
Warbler singing, but as per usual he didn’t wanna come out. Besides the other usual suspects we had a
very friendly Tricolored Heron on the railing, both night herons (the
Black-crowned was being chased by a grackle J), and a Sora that went flying across the water. At the “East Pond”, the spoonbills that I had
just glimpsed at while on the Convention Centre boardwalk (thinking they’d
still be there later) had disappeared, but we at least logged the Stilt and
Spotted Sandpipers, plus a Greater Yellowlegs.
Primping Tricolored Heron
The last stop of
the day was the Laguna Vista Nature Trail, a good place to add “Valley
specialties” if most of your day was spent on the Island! There were gobs of buntings and orioles
coming into the drip and bathing at the first blind, plus another chat, a
Tennessee Warbler, a very fluffy Rose-breasted Grosbeak who acted like he wasn’t
sure if he wanted to take the plunge J, the Long-billed
Thrasher, the Olive Sparrow, a “too-fast-for-the-camera” Buff-bellied
Hummingbird, and other “Valley” stuff that sang from the scrub. The lingering male American Goldfinch was at the
middle blind; what a stunner (and usually long gone by now)!
Male (and female below) Indigo Bunting
Female Orchard Orioles bathing (male below)
A Rose-breasted Grosbeak ponders whether to take the plunge...
He fluffs his feathers in anticipation!
Male American Goldfinch
Goes to show what
even moderate fallout weather conditions will do (plus a little birding
off-island), as we had an incredible 111 species (plus 1 subspecies) for the
day! Bird List:
Black-bellied
Whistling-Duck
Muscovy Duck
(Domestic type)Blue-winged Teal
Mottled Duck
Pied-billed Grebe
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
Eurasian Collared-Dove
White-tipped Dove
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Buff-bellied Hummingbird
Sora
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Black-necked Stilt
American Oystercatcher
Black-bellied Plover
Killdeer
Ruddy Turnstone
Stilt Sandpiper
Sanderling
Dunlin
Least Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Spotted Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Willet
Laughing Gull
Franklin's Gull
Least Tern
Royal Tern
Sandwich Tern
Black Skimmer
Neotropic Cormorant
Brown Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Reddish Egret
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Roseate Spoonbill
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
White-tailed Hawk
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
Aplomado Falcon
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Least Flycatcher
Great Crested Flycatcher
Brown-crested Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Tropical Kingbird
Western Kingbird
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
White-eyed Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Chihuahuan Raven
Purple Martin
Bank Swallow
Barn Swallow
Verdin
Marsh Wren
Swainson's Thrush
Gray Catbird
Curve-billed Thrasher
Long-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
American Goldfinch
Olive Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Clay-colored Sparrow
Yellow-breasted Chat
Eastern Meadowlark
Orchard Oriole
Hooded Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Bronzed Cowbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Northern Waterthrush
Blue-winged Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Yellow Warbler
"Mangrove" Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Townsend's Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Canada Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Painted Bunting
Dickcissel
House Sparrow
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