Creation Refreshment, Part 2

1/27/20 

Selimah had sent me an updated target list after our first trip, so that enabled me to really sit down and plot out the best places for her to bag some of them!  Thankfully the initial place I had planned on taking them this day, the La Sal del Rey Route (aka Brushline Road, only it’s really a lot more than just that), had the potential of nailing down a big number of them!  Unfortunately, “potential” is the operative word here, and for the first time in my recollection doing this route, we dipped on the most-wanted Sandhill Cranes (plus the two common geese) L!  But it was a beautiful, sunny day, and she was able to photograph some of the more specialized birds!

We had a good selection of raptors, with a White-tailed Kite and Osprey on the way up along FM 493, along with several Red-tailed Hawks and Caracaras.  We started on Brushline south of SR 186, where while picking up an errant beer can Elizabeth found some intact animal bones and had Selimah identify them!  It was unusually quiet for the longest time; Selimah and I walked the road a little trying to get things to come out, and what I thought was a sapsucker initially (by voice) started sounding more like a Cooper’s Hawk, and we eventually saw it fly off!  The first target we were able to pin down was a cooperative Curve-billed Thrasher (which eventually got bullied away by a Mockingbird), and then the Lark Sparrow, as several were snorting away in the trees and then moved en masse to the fields!  A Vesper Sparrow joined them, and Mourning Doves were out the yin yang, with a few Common Ground Doves thrown in.  At the “Spooky Swamp” what I assumed was a Harris’ Hawk at first (as that’s what’s usually there) turned out to be a young White-tailed Hawk, and a Sharp-shinned Hawk put on a good show.  While we were stopped for something I heard a Bobwhite doing its covey call in the distance, and Selimah spotted a couple of Roadrunners up the road (that wouldn’t let us get all that close)!  I heard Horned Larks in the ag fields, but none of the coveted American Pipits…  Blackbirds, however, were all over: they flew in great, impressive murmurations (at least until I got the video camera out L) and we were able to pick out both Brown-headed and Bronzed Cowbirds at different spots.

The vet analyzes some roadside bones!

"Heppy" on lower Brushline Road

Lark Sparrow

Curve-billed Thrasher

Brushline north of 186 was a little more birdy:  Verdins were calling all over, and in short order a much-wanted Pyrrhuloxia finally came out on the sunny side, allowing for wonderful pictures!  A Bewick’s Wren sang and showed itself for Selimah, at one point she thought she was hearing a frog, but we narrowed it down to a Green Jay… J  We parked at the trailhead for the actual La Sal del Rey, and as we started down the trail we had a little feeding flock with Yellow-rumped Warblers, gnatcatchers, and titmice.  However, a couple of suspicious-looking guys who followed us on the trail (and were not birders) sent us back to the car prematurely (thankfully Snowy Plover was not a lifer…). L  

Mom and daughter checking out the brush

Selimah points to her life Pyrrhuloxia (below)!

 

(Kind of a sweet expression... 😊)

Continuing on, we paused across from Tres Presas Ranch to troll for Cactus Wrens and Black-throated Sparrows; a Curve-billed Thrasher sat up to look us over, but it took awhile for the wren to pop up, and even then Selimah barely got a look as they flew across the road to our side!  She got out and stalked them, but they played Switcheroo with the thrasher and that’s what she ended up shooting! L  A Black-throated Sparrow was singing in the distance, however, and he eventually did come in and give great views and photo ops!  Some Black Vultures circled around, which Selimah admitted was her favorite raptor (after the Swallow-tailed Kite):  as a vet, she found them quite endearing to work with!  The farm pond at the end of the road was quite productive, with gobs of Pintail, Green-winged Teal, a couple of Mottled Ducks, a single American Wigeon, a Great Egret, and both flavors of grebes.  A big flock of Long-billed Curlews in the field was a hit, and they even enjoyed the Killdeer trying to hide!

Long-billed Curlew

I wanted to cover Ken Baker Road before having to head back, as that’s where I usually got the cranes and geese; a few Western Meadowlarks perched on the wires and “wheeped” as we headed back down Brushline, and turning onto Ken Baker a Cassin’s Sparrow sang tentatively (and distantly), but didn’t wanna play ball.  Lots more Pyrrhuloxias were around, and another Roadrunner was cooperative for photos (although on the "wrong" side of the road lighting-wise), but it was really pretty quiet; we had a couple of Red-tailed and Harris’ Hawks (and we were looking hard for oddball sparrows as well).  Checking Bird’s Eye we saw where cranes had been seen at Hargill Playa the day before, so we decided to stop there on the way home.

Curious Roadrunner

We spotted the same kite on the way down, but sadly there were no cranes to be seen; even what was in the playa itself was tough to make out due to the heat waves (we were able to add Avocet at least).  But the most exciting bird was a Say’s Phoebe out in the field!  We found another one as we followed 1^st Street eastbound (Israel Cavazos on Google Maps) next to the little pond north of the road, along with some Shovelers, Coots, and a Ruddy Duck!  

Say's Phoebe, rare (but not totally unexpected) in the Valley in winter

Savannah Sparrow

Second Say's Phoebe down the road...

  

We called it a day after that, with 68 species for our efforts.  Bird list:

Northern Shoveler

American Wigeon
Mottled Duck
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Ruddy Duck
Northern Bobwhite
Least Grebe
Pied-billed Grebe
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Common Ground Dove
Mourning Dove
Greater Roadrunner
American Coot
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Killdeer
Long-billed Curlew
Least Sandpiper
Great Egret
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
White-tailed Kite
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Harris's Hawk
White-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
American Kestrel
Eastern Phoebe
Say's Phoebe
Vermilion Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
White-eyed Vireo
Loggerhead Shrike
Green Jay
Verdin
Horned Lark
Tree Swallow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
House Wren
Bewick's Wren
Cactus Wren
Curve-billed Thrasher
Long-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Cassin's Sparrow
Olive Sparrow
Black-throated Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Western Meadowlark
Red-winged Blackbird
Bronzed Cowbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Prrhuloxia

Creation Refreshment, Part 1

1/24/20

Selimah was celebrating her graduating from veterinary school with flying colors, so she and her mom Elizabeth decided to come to the Valley for some special birds!  (Selimah was the birder, while “mom” was along for the ride providing good company! J)  They met me at the Inn, where from there we worked our way west to Old Military Highway (OMH) to “kill time” until Anzalduas opened, as many of her target birds could be found there.

We went by way of Business 83 hoping for Green Parakeets at the intersection with Breyfogle (nada), then came down Bentsen Palm Drive to crawl along OMH, pointing out Bensten State Park for them to explore on their own later.  I heard an Orange-crowned Warbler out the window, and when Selimah mentioned that was a life bird, we swung into the parking lot and enjoyed a wonderful little feeding flock:  in addition to the Orangecrown, three titmice came in close, and a brilliant male Black-throated Green Warbler came down to say hello!

Black-crested Titmouse

(Can you say "Conehead Cute"??)

  

After finally tearing ourselves away we resumed our crawling, and I took us down the dirt road abutting the NWR tract and the canal (where the famous Roadside Hawk hung out last winter); the girls got a great look at a Ladder-backed Woodpecker in the woodland, and four fluffy-butt Least Grebes were in the canal!  

Elizabeth and Selimah enjoying a Ladder-backed Woodpecker in the NWR tract

Least Grebes

By that time Anzalduas was actually open, so we booked over there, first checking out the large field north of the park.  A handful of White-tailed Hawks and Caracaras still had the place staked out (along with a couple of Redtails), but it didn’t match the spectacle from last week!  A Great Blue Heron was also hunting for breakfast right alongside the laid-back hawks.

Immature White-tailed Hawk

Preening adult, showing off that white tail

Great Blue Heron

According to Selimah’s small but specified target list, the main goals here were both species of pipits, Vermilion Flycatcher, and Zone-tailed Hawk (the latter a long shot, I warned them), but it turned out that the lingering rarities were also potential lifers, so as we came down the entrance “ramp”, we looked out over the field, and sure enough, the Say’s Phoebe was still out there on his skinny post!  Crossing the spillway, even the group of Killdeer were a hit!  We pulled into the little parking area across from the Pipit Field, and while Elizabeth chose to chill in the car (quite literally, as it was rather nippy to start), Selimah and I started the hike, being startled by Savannah Sparrows here and there, and enjoying the big flock of Western Meadowlarks flying overhead.  We were trying hard to spot the pipit before flushing it, but to no avail; we’d be practically on top of the thing when it would suddenly Pike! and be up, up, and away!  Selimah did manage to get a “missile picture” (i.e., one that looks like a little wingless missile in flight), but the little bugger never did land where we could see ‘im…

But as uncooperative as the pipit was, the Vermilion Flycatchers made up for it in spades!  Several brilliant males showed off in all their glory, and Selimah just had a ball photographing them!  At the river we also had an Altamira Oriole in the reeds (!) and a Gray Hawk perched across the way where the Osprey usually hung out!  The river was full of the usual coots and ducks, but not the Eared Grebe Huck and I found the day before…  Over by the boat ramp the Black Phoebe allowed Selimah a quick picture before taking off!

Selimah stalking the Vermilion Flycatcher (below)

Gray Hawk

Altamira Oriole performing contortions trying to get something from the reeds...

  

The wandering Rock Wren would also have been a lifer, so after a quick stop at the restrooms we headed over to the dam, picking up the posing Tropical Kingbirds on the way.  After parking and picking our way over to the rocks, Selimah spotted a couple of Savannah Sparrows right away that she noticed were much darker than those she sees in Massachusetts!  She also spotted a wren dive into the rocks, but since I had previously also seen a House Wren hanging around there (and heard one later), I wanted to be sure, but he never did reappear.  After carefully checking out the rip rap all the way down to the “Do Not Enter” sign, she was ready to move on, so we wrapped that up and headed out, but not before adding some Chipping Sparrows and a group of House Finches to the list (they were duly surprised at the fact that, except for a few known areas, the finches are actually rare down here).  A Green Jay and Golden-fronted Woodpecker hopping on the ground next to a BBQ pit added some color to the scene, and a mob of Cardinals fed on the grass as well!

Tropical Kingbird (above and below)

House Finches

  

On the way out I pulled over next to the “hawk field” to check the soaring vultures for a possible Zonetail, but then heard Selimah’s target Verdin calling (a weird place for one, in a solitary tree in a disturbed ag field)!  So we got the sun behind us and were actually able to get a good look, along with a flock of Vesper Sparrows, which also turned out to be a life bird!  Orangecrowns were all over, quickly becoming a junk bird! J  A shrike posed on the wire, and the Kestrel was as pretty as always.

Great Blue Heron

Close up of the head

Loggerhead Shrike

Checking out Selimah's shot of the Verdin (that was in the tree in the background)

Since planning the original itinerary last November, when I had warned her that another major target, the Hook-billed Kite, was nowhere to be seen (reliably), now the Santa Ana birds were being somewhat reliable, so it was decision time:  blast up to Valley Acres Reservoir for the Fork-tailed Flycatcher (not a lifer, as she had gotten it in Belize, but still neat to see), or try for the kites (I had spent two hours on the tower the day before without success, but the bird showed later that afternoon, apparently).  She opted for the kites, so over we went.  Again, Elizabeth opted to hang around the visitor’s center while Selimah and I trudged to the tower by way of the main tour road.  By doing that, we got marvelous looks at another lifer, the Harris’ Hawk pair, sitting and watching us right along the road, along with that ultimate skulker, the Olive Sparrow!

Harris' Hawk checking us out

There was only one guy up on the tower when we got there (I was hoping that wasn’t a bad omen, i.e., everyone else had seen the bird earlier and then left L), so up we went, scope and all, miraculously!  I suggested we give it at least an hour (visibility was much better than the day before, when everything was socked in), and we were able to see many of the same birds we indeed had the day before:  the Harris’ Hawk family, both White and White-faced Ibis (the latter another target bird), a showy Altamira Oriole, raucous Green Jays, a single cry from a Sora, and a least a good “listen” of the Ringed Kingfisher!  Overhead we had Cave Swallows doing their funny chortling, plus the wintering Bank Swallows doing their rapid-fire raspy chatters.  We had one raptor fly by at a distance that got our juices going as it was the right shape (long-tailed and broad-winged), but it looked too rusty overall, and was probably a Red-shouldered Hawk.  Before long Selimah spotted her mom making her way to the tower, and she climbed up and joined us for a while!  (Elizabeth and I turned out to be the same age, but she’s in much better shape than I am, as proved by the fact that I was halfway down the tower when I realized I had left my water up there, and she ran up and retrieved it without even breaking sweat!)

Juvie and adult Harris' Hawks

View of the walkway and the tram from the tower

Selimah shooting the Harris' Hawk family

Elizabeth comes to join us!

From there we did the Pintail Lake Trail, as the kites had also been seen in that area in the afternoons on occasion.  The light was perfect, and with the scope we were able to give Elizabeth in-your-face looks at the pretty ducks (Shoveler, Pintail, Green-winged Teal, and Gadwall) and the cute little Least Grebes!  Another Vermilion Flycatcher was hamming it up, joined by an Eastern Phoebe, and the Black-necked Stilts were appropriately appreciated!  We also got beautiful sunlit views of the White-faced Ibis, now all showing the distinctive red eyes, and at the far end the Cinnamon Teal allowed glimpses through the grass.  A Belted Kingfisher rattled and flew past (one of the few vocalizations Selimah admitted to being familiar with J), and the Neotropic Cormorant Club had a big log staked out along with both white egrets.  Another long-tailed hawk appeared that initially got us excited, but as it got closer it was evident that it was a classic Sharp-shinned Hawk as it circled several times overhead!  I looked and looked, but couldn’t find the reported Mallard nor the Mallard/Pintail hybrid… L

White-faced Ibis (also below)

Great Kiskadee

 

Vermilion Flycatcher

We were all pretty beat by then, so decided to call it a day, looking forward to a new suite of birds the next day!  We wrapped up with a respectable 79 species!  Bird list:

Muscovy Duck (Domestic type)

Blue-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mottled Duck
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Lesser Scaup
Ruddy Duck
Least Grebe
Pied-billed Grebe
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
Sora
American Coot
Black-necked Stilt
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Neotropic Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
White Ibis
White-faced Ibis
Turkey Vulture
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Harris's Hawk
White-tailed Hawk
Gray Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Ringed Kingfisher
Belted Kingfisher
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
American Kestrel
Black Phoebe
Eastern Phoebe
Say's Phoebe
Vermilion Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Tropical Kingbird
White-eyed Vireo
Loggerhead Shrike
Green Jay
Black-crested Titmouse
Verdin
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Bank Swallow
Cave Swallow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
House Wren
Carolina Wren
European Starling
Long-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
House Sparrow
Sprague's Pipit
House Finch
Olive Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Western Meadowlark
Eastern Meadowlark
Altamira Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Northern Cardinal

First Chase of the Year

1/17/20 

Lots of rarities had been reported over the last week in Hidalgo County, so for my free birding day I decided to try and bag as many as possible (and still go home shortly after noon…)!  First on the docket was Bannworth Park in Mission, where Barbara and I had gotten the Mandarin Duck last month, which was still being reported in addition to an Egyptian Goose!  Not “countable” by TOS standards, but eBird likes us to document exotics regardless of their presumed origin (and the Mandarin clearly belonged to someone as he had one of those round collector’s bands on his leg), so that was a good first stop as the next two stops didn’t open till eight.  Lots of “nice” people were using the park at that hour for their morning jog/walk, so I felt comfortable making my own circle around the pond; like last time, the place was covered in Black-bellied Whistling Ducks and domestic Muscovies (along with the other funny ducks and geese), and a dozen or so Black-necked Stilts huddled against the edge.  And it didn’t take long to find the Egyptian Goose, standing approximately where the Mandarin was hanging out last time!  The latter was not to be found, however (maybe his owner came over and took him home J), but with the on-and-off spits of rain I was treated to not only a lovely sunrise but a pretty rainbow as well!  I was hoping that meant that it would be a blessed day!

Bannworth Park

Sunrise

Rainbow

Egyptian Goose

Next stop was the National Butterfly Center where the wintering Field Sparrow was still being seen.  I popped in the VC to get my band and use the facilities, then headed toward the old gardens in the car, but I had barely gotten past the gate when I heard some sparrow seeps to my right, and there was the Field Sparrow in a tree with some Chippies and Savannahs!  That was almost too easy!  I popped in the VC again on the way out to tell Luciano where the bird was in case others wanted to come chase it, and then I was off to Anzalduas!

Field Sparrow

Tree where the sparrows were hanging out

A Ferruginous Hawk had been reported in the field north of the park, so I slowed down as I approached, only to see gobs of White-tailed Hawks and Caracaras all over said field!  What a sight!  It was a great study in the various ages of the hawks, and there were a couple of Redtails thrown in for good measure.  A Caracara was chasing a dark hawk I thought might have been the Harlan’s Hawk that hung around last winter (I thought I had seen some mottling on the back), but when it finally landed and I could get it in the scope, it turned out to be just another young Whitetail.  The non-raptor highlight was a single Long-billed Curlew that sailed in and called.

Immature White-tailed Hawk

Adult

Heading across the spillway I added some Green-winged Teal, a Belted Kingfisher, and a Snowy Egret on the fly, bantered with the Constable a little J, then started crawling around the park keeping an eye out for the reported Say’s Phoebe.  Lots of Coots were in the river, and I later added Lesser Scaup, Ring-necked Ducks, and Gadwall to the river list.  Green Jays were all over, and the Merlin was still hanging around.  No phoebe yet, so once over by the dam I parked and decided to give the Rock Wren 15 minutes to show up; picked up the requisite Vermilion Flycatcher and Black Phoebe, plus both kinds of cormorants, and scared a Least Grebe away from the shore when I got to the river!  Some Mottled Ducks were behind the dam, and Rough-winged Swallows were swooping around and making their buzzy noises.  A Savannah Sparrow popped up in the rip rap, so I pished to see what else would show, and lo and behold, up came the Rock Wren!  He really put on a show, too, bobbing and preening and looking all around (I had forgotten how pretty their cinnamon rump is)!

Merlin

Vermilion Flycatcher

Rock Wren hangout near the dam (with Heppy)

Several shots of the lost Rock Wren

  

Continuing the loop, added Tropical Kingbird to the list, and at the corner bathroom a perky Yellow-throated Warbler zipped into the tree and chirped!  Couldn’t kick up any bluebirds or House Finches, so headed back out and was poking down the levee when all of a sudden, there was the Say’s Phoebe on one of the guardrail posts!  After getting a quick shot I had to scramble to pull the car over so another car could get by – turned out to be Gabriel, a young birder I had met at Quinta Mazatlan awhile back, and unfortunately hadn’t noticed the phoebe! L  (I saw from eBird that evening that he apparently bagged it later… J)  I also noticed a van on the highway surrounded by other birders, so after quickly checking the growing group of raptors in the field (mostly Black Vultures), I zipped over to see if they had seen the Ferruginous Hawk (which they hadn’t), but it turned out to be Chris Benesh and his Field Guides group! J  So that was fun getting hugs and sharing information!

Say's Phoebe

Young White-tailed Hawk hangs with the Turkey Vultures in the field

  

Next stop was Santa Ana, where the aforementioned Field Guides group had seen a Hook-billed Kite from the tower earlier in the week, and the Crimson-collared Grosbeak and American Woodcock were still being seen occasionally.  I decided to watch the “back yard” feeder area from their blind (as that’s a little better for photography than the shaded windows in the VC), and in the course of 15 minutes I enjoyed lots of color made up of Green Jays, Cardinals, Altamira Orioles, Golden-fronted Woodpeckers, and Red-winged Blackbirds!  The earth tones were represented by a Clay-colored Thrush and Inca Dove, but no grosbeak came in during my watch.  After finding out exactly where the woodcock was being seen, I headed out there, adding a lisping Olive Sparrow to the list, but it was pretty quiet (and I was bemoaning the fact that I haven’t heard any tyrannulets there in the longest time)!  The woodcock had been hanging out at the culvert along the Willow Lake Trail, and if I was a woodcock, that’s certainly where I would hang out, as it looked incredibly like a woodland bog!  Couldn’t find him, but added a slew of waterbirds to the day list out on the lake, including a pretty Cinnamon Teal.

View of the "back yard" feeder area from the blind

Perky Cardinal

Altamira Oriole

Inca Dove

Golden-fronted Woodpecker

Stilts, ibis, and dowitchers

About that time I got a call from my friend Baceliza announcing that they were currently looking at the Fork-tailed Flycatcher, so I abandoned my Santa Ana search and headed straight up to Valley Acres Reservoir!  Actually, the bird had been hanging out at the bends along FM 1425, which is outside the reservoir property, but by the time I got up there the wind was picking up and there wasn’t a flycatcher to be seen L.  The huge flock of blackbirds was there, however, along with a shrike and a mockingbird, so I just pulled over and decided to give it an hour.  After a bit another car pulled up, and I thought it was John Yochum at first until he opened his mouth and started talking with a British accent! J  He turned out to be a birder from Houston named Howard, so as he waited at the actual curve, I made a few more scans and then thought about just cruising up to the reservoir entrance and back.  I started walking over to him to get his phone number in case I saw the bird (he was up on the “hump” looking the other direction for anis), when suddenly there was the flycatcher on the wire!!  Hadn’t even seen him come in!  So we both laughed about that and enjoyed him; I was initially disappointed at the prospect of a big dip when this was my second try for the bird, but after Howard pulled up I got the sense that just maybe God was waiting for him to arrive so he could enjoy the bird, too! J

Howard waits at the "Fork-tailed Flycatcher Spot" near Valley Acres Reservoir

There he is!

 

Huddled against the wind...

  

So with a morning list of 78 species, with rarities from the north, rarities from the south, rarities from the west, and rarities from the zoo J, this is just one of the reasons I moved here!  What a joy!  Bird list:

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck

Egyptian Goose
Muscovy Duck (Domestic type)
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Gadwall
Mottled Duck
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Least Grebe
Pied-billed Grebe
Rock Pigeon
Inca Dove
Mourning Dove
Sora
American Coot
Black-necked Stilt
Killdeer
Long-billed Curlew
Least Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Spotted Sandpiper
Neotropic Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Cattle Egret
White Ibis
White-faced Ibis
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Northern Harrier
White-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Belted Kingfisher
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
American Kestrel
Merlin
Black Phoebe
Say's Phoebe
Vermilion Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Tropical Kingbird
Fork-tailed Flycatcher
Loggerhead Shrike
Green Jay
Black-crested Titmouse
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Rock Wren
House Wren
European Starling
Curve-billed Thrasher
Long-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
Clay-colored Thrush
House Sparrow
American Pipit
Olive Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Eastern Meadowlark
Altamira Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow-throated Warbler
Northern Cardinal