4/22/22
With a report of both Golden-winged and Cerulean Warblers landing at the Laguna Vista Nature Trail the evening before, I presented that option to Becky and Michael, and they readily jumped on it! The hour-plus drive went quickly as we chatted eBird and all sorts of things on the way over!
We parked in the main lot (which was almost full, not surprisingly) and ran into Madeleine Sandefur and her Great Texas Birding Classic team as they were leaving; I don’t think they got the Goldenwing (who tells you what blends together after awhile), but a lady we ran into along the trail had seen it that morning, in the bushes around Blind #1! So we set up our cameras and waited to see what would come into the drip, and it was really quite active: lots of Lincoln’s Sparrows were bouncing around like little balls, then shuffling for seeds, and among them came an Olive Sparrow! An Ovenbird strutted his stuff by the edges and occasionally came out into the open, while a Long-billed Thrasher ran across the stage, stopping to “thrash” a bit before running back into the brush! Both White-eyed and Red-eyed Vireos came down to the pond and did their characteristic “fast dip” before flying up and shaking themselves off, while a Yellow Warbler came in and took a more leisurely bath. A macho Great-tailed Grackle tried to impress a lady with his display, while she was more interested in gathering mud and leaves for her nest! Both a Ruby-throated and Buff-bellied Hummingbird made brief visits, but not long enough for pictures… L Becky had wished that the single White-tipped Dove that poked in and out would come back, and instantly her wish was granted when a pair showed up, but they pranced across the stage before any of us could get shots off!
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More and more people came in and (understandably) wanted their turns at the viewing windows, so we headed over to Blind #2. Only I had miscalculated and we only had about an hour before we had to head back, so since Blind #3 was usually more productive (even though #2 has the better lighting setup), we headed over there, scaring up a couple of Ground Doves and Brown-crested Flycatchers in the process. That blind was more quiet; another Ground Dove came in and perched on a limb briefly, and I thought he was gonna come in to the drip, but he zigzagged out… The best show was a female Common Yellowthroat that came in and went from high perch to low perch to the pond to bathe several times in a row, giving a great performance; Michael got a terrific shot of her peeking up out of the water while sending spray all over!
Michael and Becky take their places at the blind!
We went back to Blind #1 for a short stint, on the
way to which Michael photographed a Mockingbird with a “scarf” (the wind was
blowing his feathers). They also enjoyed
shooting the many cactus blossoms! It
was really quieting down by that time, and sadly it was time to leave, having
dipped on the Golden-winged, even though it was spotted by others throughout the day… L That’s the
crap shoot of birding sometimes! We
wrapped up with 40 species for the morning.
Bird list:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Common Ground Dove
White-tipped Dove
Mourning Dove
Lesser Nighthawk (seen at the Inn before leaving)
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Buff-bellied Hummingbird
Laughing Gull
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Turkey Vulture
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
Brown-crested Flycatcher
Tropical Kingbird
Couch's Kingbird
White-eyed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Curve-billed Thrasher (seen at the Inn before leaving)
Long-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
Olive Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Ovenbird
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow Warbler
Northern Cardinal
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