Jan
(pronounced “Yahn”) and his wife Lyn were a couple from Britain with long time
square-dancing friends in the Valley, so the bulk of their time here was to
hang with them (they told me they had visited the famous Christmas House in
Falfurrias the day before), but Jan was also an avid wildlife photographer and
wanted to procure some nice portraits while here! Lyn was the self-proclaimed “sidekick” J, but they were both
interested in enjoying the birds, so we started at the Valley’s “must see”
place, Estero Llano Grande State Park!
Again the Tropical Kingbird greeted us right in the parking lot, and a
White-eyed Vireo actually showed himself in a bush next to the car, along with
an Orange-crowned Warbler! But the big
show was in a rather leafless tree further back: an Altamira Oriole hopped up, followed by
several Green Jays, and then a brilliant male Summer Tanager! That was quite a colorful tree!
Tropical Kingbird
Summer Tanager
Kiskadee (above) and Altamira Oriole
This
time I opted to go straight to the deck to give the volunteers time to fill the
feeders; like last time, there were lots of pretty ducks out there to shoot
(with the camera), and with it being overcast the photography wasn’t as much of
a challenge as it can sometimes be in the morning. Blackbirds were all over of course, and
eventually Lyn spotted the friendly Wilson’s Snipes poking around in the
mud! The Black Phoebe was flopping about
on a log on the other side of the pond, but there was no sign of the Vermilion Flycatcher
this time…
Wilson's Snipe
After
the Visitor’s Center opened we went in to check in, and the gal said she
thought they had already filled the feeders, so we headed back to the Tropical
Zone by way of the “back trail”, but not before running into my friends Larry
and Linda! Larry also sported a fancy
Canon camera, so the two guys talked photo gear while Lyn and I enjoyed a
couple of Chachalacas on the “restroom feeders”! Thankfully we saw a couple more on the back
trail where Jan could get some photos (try as we might, we couldn’t break up
the guys’ conversation J), and an Olive Sparrow that gave fleeting
views, along with an Orange-crowned Warbler reflecting a golden belly from the
grapefruit he was dining on, and a Hispid Cotton Rat down below! Continuing on, we did find the young
male Vermilion Flycatcher and a perched Harrier, but the Screech Owl wasn’t in his hidey hole. Not only that, but the Picnic Table Feeders
were virtually empty, unlike like the last time when the place was crawling
with Chachalacas and White-tipped Doves! L But we sat and gave it 15 minutes anyway, and
were visited by a pair of Curve-billed Thrashers, and a White-tipped Dove did
eventually make it to the tray feeder.
The Indigo Blind wasn’t much better – the only visitor we had was a
rather grizzled-looking Fox Squirrel!
Nothing can deter Jan from talking cameras with Larry and Linda!
Plain Chachalaca
Olive Sparrow
Hispid Cotton Rat
Orange-crowned Warbler
Northern Harrier
Interestingly-colored Fox Squirrel - leucistic or just old??
So
we headed back to the deck, enjoying a large flock of Least Sandpipers on the
way. After a restroom break we headed to
Alligator Lake, where we had much more action:
a cooperative Green-winged Teal gave good photo ops at Dowitcher Pond,
while the Spotted Sandpiper called and bobbed on a log. I found a lone Cinnamon Teal way out
there, and we sat at Grebe Marsh for awhile waiting for the Least Grebes to
stay afloat long enough to get pictures! J After getting our fill there we enjoyed the
night heron show (the Blackcrowns were especially cute with their bills tucked
in their breast feathers); at one point a female Anhinga came crashing in and
rudely awakened one of them! Our only
Neotropic Cormorant plopped in and eventually sat up on a stick, and Jan had a
conversation with a Snowy Egret trying to get him to pose a little better! J
Three-teal log (L-R: Green-winged, Blue-winged, and Cinnamon on the top)
Green-winged Teal
Rummaging in the mud for breakfast...
Snoozing Black-crowned Night Heron
Sleepy-looking Yellow-crowned Night Heron
Primping...
Female Anhinga shortly after rudely awakening the night heron in the corner...
Snowy Egret
Jan tries to get her to pose a little better...
From
there we easily found the Pauraque, and Lyn (I think it was) actually found a
second bird! After enjoying them I heard
the Green Kingfisher ticking, which took us back to the night heron spot where
we could clearly see him across the way!
About then the White-tailed Kite came sailing in, so we ran over to the
Little Overlook and enjoyed him (although we all kept calling it a “her” for
some reason J)!
A couple with a young Husky came by (so I got my doggie fix J), but they
mentioned they had seen even more Pauraques (they asked us if we had seen the
“rock birds”, as they could never remember the real name J), so they pointed
out two more birds to us – four in all!
The Big Overlook was pretty quiet, but on the way out another guy
pointed out the big Alligator floating in the lake, just showing the top of his
head and back with his spikes! On the
way out the Snowy Egret was sharing his log with a couple of Mud Turtles, and a
couple of Red-eared Sliders showed at Grebe Marsh.
Pauraque #1 (look carefully for his legs)
Pauraque #2
White-tailed Kite
Spiky Alligator
Green Kingfisher
Mud Turtles
Least Grebe
We
were pretty beat by then (another lady told us about some Stilt Sandpipers at
the other end of Dowitcher Pond, but no one wanted to schlep out there to see
them), so we headed back, at least hearing stilts, avocets, and a Greater
Yellowlegs in the distance. An Armadillo
was right out in the open by the trail, which was a real treat! My charges got a brief look at a Buff-bellied
Hummingbird while I was in the restroom, and a Long-billed Thrasher came to a
fallen orange, while another Orange-crowned Warbler visited the tray. On the way out a Couch’s Kingbird was pupping
from the power pole in the parking lot, where the Tropical had been earlier!
Jan shoots a friendly Armadillo (below)!
We
all grabbed some food and ate along the way; the plan was to hit Anzalduas and
then the Butterfly Center, but the construction traffic going through McAllen
on Military Highway slowed us down so much (got a White-tailed Hawk out of it,
anyway) that I decided to hit the Butterfly Center first, which was a good
choice; we went straight to the bird feeders after checking in (Luciano told us
that they had just stocked them) and spent a good hour there just enjoying the
show! Tons of Cardinals and Green Jays
entertained us, along with lesser numbers of White-tipped Doves, Golden-fronted
Woodpeckers, titmice (that were usually too quick for the camera), and Altamira
Orioles! A Long-billed Thrasher with a
bum leg came in (Jan noted that he literally fell off the log, and then we saw
why… L),
and eventually the Clay-colored Thrush rushed in and even bullied the other
birds off his log! An Olive Sparrow
lisped but never came in to the water feature, while mammalian highlights were
more Fox Squirrels and another Hispid Cotton Rat. I was actually distracted early on by a Zebra
Heliconian, and another couple sitting there pointed out a Gulf Fritillary that
they were admiring! A Red Admiral also
showed, wherein Jan mentioned that the ones in Britain were huge by comparison,
but I figured the one we were looking at could have been a runt due to the lack
of rain… During all this a Gray Hawk was
whistling and eventually flew in and perched out of sight, so when he did his
descending cry, I knew it was really him and not a Green Jay mimic! J
Gulf Fritillary
Zebra Heliconian laying her eggs
Jan settles in for the photo shoot!
Northern Cardinal
Leucistic female (or else she was in the wrong place at the wrong time...)
Green Jay
Clay-colored Thrush
Gimpy Long-billed Thrasher
Great Kiskadee
Plain Chachalaca
Conehead-cute Black-crested Titmouse
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
"Hey! What's THAT over there?!"
"Hmm - never seen one of THESE before!"
Altamira Oriole
Like other icterids, they'll go after seeds as well!
"The Mad Oriole"
After
having our fill we headed over to Anzalduas, where this time even the Great
Blue Herons had abandoned the field! The
regular shrikes and kestrels were there, however, and coming over the levee,
the Say’s Phoebe was in his regular spot!
Nothing was in the spillway, however (although we did hear Killdeer),
but the field was just covered in Western Meadowlarks!
Say's Phoebe, a rare but regular winter visitor
We
passed on the Pipit Poke and just cruised, picking up three male Vermilion
Flycatchers altogether, plus the continuing Eared Grebe in with the Coots,
along with the female Ruddy Duck and a Common Gallinule. It was really pretty quiet: we managed the House Finch flock on the south
side, and making the second swing by the river I heard a bright chirp, and
spotted a Yellow-throated Warbler close by!
I really insisted that Jan try and shoot it, as it’s such a brilliant
little bird, and he finally got a decent shot when it eventually came out! We thought we were done for the day, but on
the way out, a beautiful male Belted Kingfisher posed on a tree at eye level
over the canal, and we both got great shots, which is a miracle seeing how
skittish those things can be! The male
Harrier in the distance almost went unnoticed!
Vermilion Flycatcher
House Finches, considered "accidental" in the Valley but definitely making an inroad from Mexico!
Belted Kingfisher
We
headed home after that with 82 species for the day! Bird list:
Blue-winged Teal
Cinnamon TealNorthern Shoveler
Gadwall
Mottled Duck
Green-winged Teal
Lesser Scaup
Ruddy Duck
Plain Chachalaca
Least Grebe
Pied-billed Grebe
Eared Grebe
Rock Pigeon
White-tipped Dove
Mourning Dove
Common Pauraque
Buff-bellied Hummingbird
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Killdeer
Least Sandpiper
Wilson's Snipe
Spotted Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Anhinga
Neotropic Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
White-tailed Kite
Northern Harrier
White-tailed Hawk
Gray Hawk
Belted Kingfisher
Green Kingfisher
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
American Kestrel
Black Phoebe
Say's Phoebe
Vermilion Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Tropical Kingbird
Couch's Kingbird
White-eyed Vireo
Loggerhead Shrike
Green Jay
Black-crested Titmouse
Verdin
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
House Wren
Carolina Wren
European Starling
Curve-billed Thrasher
Long-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
Clay-colored Thrush
House Sparrow
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
Olive Sparrow
Western Meadowlark
Altamira Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Summer Tanager
Northern Cardinal
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