The Heat Is On!

4/21/2016

            Thursday’s trip to Starr County was, as per usual, low on quantity but great on quality!  We arrived at Salineño to find a couple of tour groups had beaten us there and were crowded on the only dry spot where you could look upriver!  So we decided to hunt down the seedeater, which I heard almost immediately upon getting out of the car!  Another couple from Arizona were also trying to track it down, but it had quit singing by the time Sharon and I got to the area.  So we headed down to the end of the trail and had a great view of the river; she was thrilled that she was actually seeing Mexico!  Things were quiet at that end except for a Mexican Duck that flew by and an “Audubon’s” Warbler, and we actually heard another seedeater singing upriver, but on the way back, the guy from Arizona came and got us – they had found the seedeater!  So back we went, and eventually the little guy sat way up high in a spindly tree, just singing away, his little tail pumping along with each phrase!  What a look!

 

 

Sharon poses next to the Rio Grande

  

 

White-collared Seedeater

            We then joined the rest of the crowd doing river watch, and about the only exciting birds were a Gray Hawk being chased by a grackle almost as big as he was, and a Ringed Kingfisher that finally decided to fly by and give everyone great looks!  A big flock of Blue-winged Teal weren’t “uncommon”, but it was a pretty sight and gave the visiting Brits some good photo ops!

 

 

Happy birders at the boat ramp

            After awhile it was time to move on, so we headed up to the Dump Road.  Just as we made the right turn onto the main road, what should be standing right by the side but a gorgeous Scaled Quail!  He was in perfect light, and seemed to pose forever while we both got crippling views and shots!  There was actually a second bird down in the grass, and he eventually hopped off his tire to go join his mate…

 

 

Scaled Quail

 

            Things were rather anticlimactic after that, but we did manage to spot some more desert birds such as Black-throated Sparrow, but the Verdin was a little less cooperative.  A male Bobwhite stood in the middle of the road before flying off, and his wife soon followed, giving us a nice look first.  Heading over to Falcon County Park (most locals call it “Starr County Park” to avoid confusion with Falcon State Park next door), we made a sudden stop for a Kestrel, which was Sharon’s first!  Just before entering the park, I was surprised to see a young White-tailed Hawk that subsequently took off right towards us, as I couldn’t recall ever seeing one in that area before!  In the park proper, a Cactus Wren was singing at the top of a tree right outside the car, and after finding a shady spot to park we started the walking loop around the center thicket.  Almost right away Sharon spotted the Vermilion Flycatcher (another “most wanted” bird), and both Bullock’s and Hooded Orioles showed up.  A huge “bird-nado” in the sky turned out to be a mob of White Pelicans that had caught a thermal and was circling around gracefully, and a House Finch warbled briefly and then took off before he could be “documented”.  A sparrow flock blasted from tree to ground to tree, most of which were Larks, but we also picked out both Chipping and Clay-colored.  No sign of the Red-billed Pigeons, alas, but hopping in the car and driving the perimeter we scared up another Roadrunner, and this one we actually raced to stay abreast of it!

 

 

 

Western Kingbird

 

 

Bullock's Oriole

 

Hiking the loop at Starr Co. Park

            From there we went to the state park where Sharon spotted a Painted Bunting singing in the bushes on the entrance road along with a Texas Tortoise making headway across the road, but things were warming up by then; we did walk the loop over by the boat ramp and just got exercise and a few Coots for it, then decided to drive closer to the lake where we thought we had several egrets that turned out to be plastic bags stuck in the trees…  Just for kicks and grins I decided to go down to the old Falcon Dam Overlook to see if security had lightened up since I had last been there about seven years ago, and when we saw that the gate was open things looked hopeful!  However, when we got down to the actual overlook, a very nice official wheeled over and told us it was still off limits, due to a bomb threat from a cartel, I think he said… L

 

 

Texas Tortoise

 

Killdeer doing a distraction display

            We made one last river watch at Salineño before the heat inspired us to call it a day, winding up with 74 species for the day!  Bird List:

  Mallard (Mexican Duck)                              

  Blue-winged Teal                     

  Plain Chachalaca                     

  Scaled Quail                         

  Northern Bobwhite                    

  Double-crested Cormorant              

  American White Pelican               

  Great Egret                          

  Snowy Egret                          

  Green Heron                          

  Turkey Vulture                       

  Harris's Hawk                        

  White-tailed Hawk                    

  Gray Hawk                            

  Swainson's Hawk                      

  American Coot                        

  Killdeer                             

  Spotted Sandpiper                    

  Laughing Gull                         

  Rock Pigeon                          

  Eurasian Collared-Dove               

  White-winged Dove                    

  Mourning Dove                        

  Inca Dove                            

  Common Ground-Dove                   

  White-tipped Dove                    

  Greater Roadrunner                   

  Ringed Kingfisher                    

  Golden-fronted Woodpecker            

  Ladder-backed Woodpecker             

  Crested Caracara                     

  American Kestrel                      

  Vermilion Flycatcher                 

  Ash-throated Flycatcher              

  Brown-crested Flycatcher             

  Great Kiskadee                        

  Couch's Kingbird                     

  Western Kingbird                     

  Scissor-tailed Flycatcher            

  Loggerhead Shrike                    

  White-eyed Vireo                     

  Green Jay                            

  Bank Swallow                         

  Cave Swallow                         

  Black-crested Titmouse               

  Verdin                               

  Bewick's Wren                        

  Cactus Wren                          

  Clay-colored Thrush                  

  Curve-billed Thrasher                

  Northern Mockingbird                 

  European Starling                    

  Yellow-rumped Warbler                 

  White-collared Seedeater             

  Olive Sparrow                        

  Cassin's Sparrow                     

  Chipping Sparrow                     

  Clay-colored Sparrow                 

  Lark Sparrow                         

  Black-throated Sparrow               

  Savannah Sparrow                     

  Northern Cardinal                    

  Pyrrhuloxia                          

  Painted Bunting                      

  Red-winged Blackbird                 

  Eastern Meadowlark                   

  Great-tailed Grackle                 

  Bronzed Cowbird                      

  Brown-headed Cowbird                 

  Hooded Oriole                         

  Bullock's Oriole                     

  Altamira Oriole                      

  House Finch                          

  House Sparrow                        

 

74 SPECIES

 

 

Another Taste of Migration

4/19/2016

            The Big Storms didn’t materialize down here like everyone thought, but since we did have a big thunder-boomer the night before, I figured we might have fallout conditions at South Padre, so after picking up Sharon we headed out!  Aplomado Falcon was big on her wish list, so we made a brief stop at the Blue Shack along SR 100, and thankfully there was a falcon perched on a power pole not too far away!  Whew!

            Headed on to the Convention Center after that, and I was honestly surprised that the place wasn’t packed after yesterday’s rains!  While there weren’t “tons” of birds (I think that big fallout three years ago spoiled us J), there were good numbers of Baltimore Orioles and Indigo Buntings, and Yellow-headed Blackbirds almost outnumbered the Redwings!  Quality was certainly present, as both a male and female Western Tanager appeared right away, and a little later a Bobolink teed up on top of one of the trees and then took off for the marsh!  A vireo in terrible light kinda struck me as a Red-eyed, and thankfully Jan Dauphin, another Valley birder, saw it at a better angle and confirmed it!  J A lovely Rose-breasted Grosbeak came in, and a handsome Northern Parula posed over the water feature and sang!  The back area had several Black-and-white and Black-throated Green Warblers, along with a couple of “western wanderers”:  a male Bullock’s Oriole and a stunning male “Audubon’s” Warbler!  A Painted Bunting posed over our heads, and another “most wanted” bird for Sharon, a Dickcissel, fed among the pigeons and Collared Doves!  A visit out back produced nothing as the tide was up to the brink (and we all watched with anticipation as a guy in a pickup who had gotten caught by the tide tried to drive out of it…).  Sitting on the “tucked away bench” in the southwest corner of the “Secret Garden” bagged us a Gray-cheeked Thrush along with great looks at all the buntings coming in.  We checked the boardwalk and managed to flush the female Least Bittern and were entertained by a tame Sora, but only heard the Clapper Rails.  Back at the Center we circled the “outer bushes” near the parking lot as they often have good stuff but are not visited as much by birders, and found the continuing female Pyrrhuloxia feeding with some Chipping and Clay-colored Sparrows.

 

 

Western Tanager, an annual vagrant in the Valley

 

Yellow-headed Blackbird

 

Bobolink, another vagrant

 

Female Least Bittern

  

 

Sora

 

Northern Parula

 

 

Female Pyrrhuloxia

 

 

Painted Bunting

 

 

"Audubon's" Warbler, rather rare on the coast

 

          From there we headed over to Sheepshead, and that’s where all the excitement was:  right away Mary G. alerted us to a Kentucky Warbler that was hanging around the sunny north side, but later what may have been the same bird came in to the drip on the shady south side and proceeded to give everyone a great show by taking a bath! J  The Cape May Warbler (a vagrant in the Valley) shortly showed up, along with Worm-eating, Chestnut-sided, Wilson’s, Blackburnian, more Black-and-whites and Black-throated Greens, and a Northern Waterthrush!  Non-warbler goodies included a molting Summer Tanager that had a rather interesting pattern, a Warbling Vireo that several were trying to turn into a Philadelphia, and several Swainson’s Thrushes.

 

Female Baltimore Oriole

 

Orchard Oriole

 

Cape May Warbler, also a vagrant

 

 

Summer Tanager in transitional plumage

 

Kentucky Warbler

 

 

Curious Black-throated Green Warbler

 

             Sharon’s most “most wanted” bird, however, was a Roadrunner, so from there we headed up to Laguna Atascosa.  Even the Eastern Meadowlarks were new for her, and she was delighted to finally get a look at one facing her!  Lark Sparrows were also plentiful, and I was once again reminded of how easy it is for us to take such a striking bird for granted!  We did well in the raptor department along Buena Vista, picking up pairs of White-tailed Kites and Harris’ Hawks, plus a White-tailed Hawk making his getaway with lunch.  Unfortunately no Roadrunners were to be had along the entrance road, so we parked at the Visitor’s Center and checked out the photo blind.  Thankfully another “want bird,” the Green Jay, didn’t disappoint, as several hopped around getting drinks, raiding the hummingbird feeder, and tussling amongst themselves!  Even the Bronzed Cowbirds put on a show by performing The Helicopter, a fascinating display wherein the male will hover motionless over the female for several seconds before landing and doing the Darth Vader puff-up!  On the way out we were blocked by some very dead-looking Chachalacas that were sunning; they certainly didn’t want to move and ended up “accompanying” us to the Kiskadee Trail!

 

 

Sunning Chachalacas

            On the way one of the rangers (Daniel Rivera, I was to discover) called us over to see a snake eating a lizard!  The snake was a Ruthven’s Whip Snake, and his lunch looked like a Texas Spotted Whiptail (probably the most common lizard we have)!  The lizard was still very much alive as the snake had him by the side of the neck, but the snake finally wore him down and swallowed him head first…  On the trail we tried to pish out an Olive Sparrow, but I knew that was a hopeless cause… J

 

 

A Ruthven's Whipsnake grabs a hapless Texas Spotted Whiptail for lunch! 

 

 

 

Interesting fungus covers a dead tree on the Kiskadee Trail

            After cooling off in the Visitor’s Center we drove down to Osprey Overlook in hopes of scaring up a Roadrunner; it was pretty dead by that point, and as I was turning around to leave, what should suddenly pop up but the Roadrunner!  As I’ve confessed, I can’t help messin’ with Roadrunners, so I cooed at it, and he answered back and came closer, but I think “he” was really a “she”, because another Roadrunner also answered on the other side of the car, and Sharon excitedly said, “There he is, out in the open!”  Sure enough, this guy had a very bright red-and-blue ear patch, which I understand is indicative of a male (the other bird’s ear patch was quite dull).  Talk about the 11^th hour!!

 

 

A lady Roadrunner comes to investigate, along with her mate (below)!

            We headed back after that, but the excitement wasn’t over: on the way down Buena Vista Road, Sharon spotted a sparrow with a “very yellow breast,” which turned out to be a Grasshopper Sparrow (two of them, in fact)!  She got a kick out of their song, which truly does sound like a grasshopper!

            I wasn’t sure we’d break 100 with relatively few shorebirds on the list, but we certainly did (granted, many of them were heard-only that Sharon never got to see… L)!  Bird List:

  Black-bellied Whistling-Duck         

  Mottled Duck                         
  Plain Chachalaca                     
  Brown Pelican                        
  Least Bittern                        
  Great Blue Heron                      
  Great Egret                          
  Tricolored Heron                     
  Cattle Egret                         
  Roseate Spoonbill                    
  Turkey Vulture                       
  Osprey                               
  White-tailed Kite                    
  Harris's Hawk                        
  White-tailed Hawk                     
  Clapper Rail                         
  Sora                                 
  Common Gallinule                     
  American Coot                        
  Black-necked Stilt                   
  Killdeer                             
  Spotted Sandpiper                    
  Willet                               
  Long-billed Curlew                   
  Laughing Gull                        
  Franklin's Gull                      
  Least Tern                           
  Gull-billed Tern                     
  Royal Tern                           
  Sandwich Tern                        
  Black Skimmer                        
  Rock Pigeon                           
  Eurasian Collared-Dove               
  White-winged Dove                    
  Mourning Dove                        
  Inca Dove                            
  Common Ground-Dove                   
  White-tipped Dove                    
  Greater Roadrunner                   
  Chimney Swift                        
  Ruby-throated Hummingbird            
  Golden-fronted Woodpecker            
  Ladder-backed Woodpecker             
  American Kestrel                     
  Aplomado Falcon                      
  Eastern Wood-Pewee                   
  Brown-crested Flycatcher             
  Great Kiskadee                       
  Western Kingbird                      
  Scissor-tailed Flycatcher            
  Loggerhead Shrike                    
  White-eyed Vireo                     
  Warbling Vireo                       
  Red-eyed Vireo                       
  Green Jay                            
  Barn Swallow                         
  Verdin                               
  Marsh Wren                           
  Bewick's Wren                        
  Blue-gray Gnatcatcher                
  Gray-cheeked Thrush                  
  Swainson's Thrush                    
  Clay-colored Thrush                  
  Gray Catbird                         
  Long-billed Thrasher                 
  Northern Mockingbird                  
  European Starling                    
  Worm-eating Warbler                  
  Northern Waterthrush                 
  Black-and-white Warbler              
  Tennessee Warbler                    
  Nashville Warbler                    
  Kentucky Warbler                     
  Common Yellowthroat                  
  Cape May Warbler                     
  Northern Parula                      
  Blackburnian Warbler                 
  Yellow Warbler                       
  Chestnut-sided Warbler                
  Yellow-rumped Warbler                
  Black-throated Green Warbler         
  Wilson's Warbler                     
  Olive Sparrow                        
  Cassin's Sparrow                     
  Chipping Sparrow                     
  Clay-colored Sparrow                 
  Lark Sparrow                         
  Savannah Sparrow                     
  Grasshopper Sparrow                  
  Lincoln's Sparrow                    
  Summer Tanager                       
  Western Tanager                      
  Northern Cardinal                    
  Pyrrhuloxia                          
  Rose-breasted Grosbeak               
  Indigo Bunting                       
  Painted Bunting                      
  Dickcissel                           
  Bobolink                             
  Red-winged Blackbird                  
  Eastern Meadowlark                   
  Yellow-headed Blackbird              
  Great-tailed Grackle                 
  Bronzed Cowbird                      
  Brown-headed Cowbird                 
  Orchard Oriole                       
  Bullock's Oriole                     
  Baltimore Oriole                     
  House Sparrow                         
 
109 SPECIES