The Puerto Rico Driving Route

6/11/16

            Birded the “Puerto Rico Route” this morning in “Breeding Bird Survey” (BBS) style (stop every half mile and log everything you see and hear for three minutes), and again miscalculated the driving time to the destination, but the nice thing was being able to pick up a Pauraque and some Common Nighthawks at that early hour!  The route starts along FM 1017 a half mile beyond the intersection with FM 3250 (there can be a lot of traffic up to that point) and follows 1017 to Puerto Rico Road, which is a dirt road heading north into Puerto Rico and then swinging around back to FM 1017 just past the Starr County line, for a total of 22.5 miles.  As is typical for this area, most of the habitat is thornscrub and grassland/mesquite savannah, as there are a lot of ranches up here, and is about as far north as you can get on public roads in Hidalgo County.  FM 1017 has a nice wide shoulder to pull off on, but you still have to be careful as the speed limit is 70 and the trucks especially go barreling through there!

Typical habitat along the route (on a hazy morning)

            I’ve only done this route twice (and both times in summer), so I don’t know what the wintertime potential is, but it always seems to be a reliable place for Painted Buntings, Caracaras, Roadrunners, and Turkeys!  EBird burped on several of my numbers, but that’s not unusual on these long routes (the standard BBS route is 25 miles long): the “flags” included 50 Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, 40 Painted Buntings, 66 Mockingbirds, and 31 Olive Sparrows!  I had good numbers of other things, too, but those are more expected, like 61 Mourning Doves and 76 Bobwhites…

One of many Scissor-tailed Flycatchers

            This type of habitat is good for more “desert” type birds, and was happy to pick up Black-throated Sparrow and Blue Grosbeak in a couple of places, along with several Pyrrhuloxias, a few Bullock’s Orioles, and a Cactus Wren.  Had a handful of “Valley specialties” like Green Jay, Couch’s Kingbird, and White-tipped Dove as well.  Raptors were scarce, but did have a single Harris’ Hawk, a Swainson’s in with some Turkey Vultures, and a couple of Black Vultures along with several Caracaras.  A Cooper’s Hawk was being chased by something early on…

Crested Caracara

Black-throated Sparrow

            The dirt road is nice because you can go at a slower pace and usually has several Roadrunners around!  This is also a good spot for Turkeys; one was by the side of the road, and it amazed me how such a huge bird could so effortlessly hop up and take off flying!  This was the only area I had Inca Doves, as there are several humble homes back here.  It was nice to hear a lot of Yellow-billed Cuckoos, too.

Greater Roadrunner

Wild Turkey hogging the road

Queen (token butter)

Peek-a-boo Painted Bunting

            Wrapped it up fairly early, but it was already 87 degrees out and I was ready to call it quits!  EBird list: 

Puerto Rico Route, Hidalgo, Texas, US

Jun 11, 2016 6:12 AM - 10:00 AM

Protocol: Traveling

22.5 mile(s)

Comments:     78 to 87 degrees, foggy to mostly cloudy, calm to slight breeze

54 species (+1 other taxa) 

Northern Bobwhite  76

Wild Turkey  2     One calling, and another bird crossing the road later; this is a reliable place for them.

Great Egret  1

Cattle Egret  20

Black-crowned Night-Heron  1

Black Vulture  1

Turkey Vulture  10

Cooper's Hawk  1

Harris's Hawk  1

Swainson's Hawk  1

Killdeer  1

Eurasian Collared-Dove  11

Inca Dove  3

Common Ground-Dove  3

White-tipped Dove  7

White-winged Dove  4

Mourning Dove  61

Yellow-billed Cuckoo  8

Greater Roadrunner  13

Common Nighthawk  8

Common Pauraque  1

Golden-fronted Woodpecker  18

Ladder-backed Woodpecker  8

Crested Caracara  11

Brown-crested Flycatcher  13

Great Kiskadee  8

Couch's Kingbird  1

Tropical/Couch's Kingbird  1

Western Kingbird  2

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher  50     This was a 22 mile route; count is accurate.

White-eyed Vireo  10

Green Jay  7

Black-crested Titmouse  4

Verdin  6

Bewick's Wren  18

Cactus Wren  1

Curve-billed Thrasher  5

Northern Mockingbird  66     This was a 22 mile route; count is accurate.

European Starling  2

Common Yellowthroat  1

Olive Sparrow  31     This was a 22 mile route; count is accurate.

Black-throated Sparrow  2

Lark Sparrow  3

Northern Cardinal  34

Pyrrhuloxia  13

Blue Grosbeak  3

Painted Bunting  40     This was a 22 mile route; count is accurate.

Dickcissel  1

Red-winged Blackbird  2

Eastern Meadowlark  11

Great-tailed Grackle  34

Bronzed Cowbird  8

Brown-headed Cowbird  17

Bullock's Oriole  5

House Sparrow  33

Easy Birder Hunt

6/8/16

Today’s trip was once of those things that if circumstances had been timed differently, it may never have happened!  I just happened to be the one on duty when Gerald and Shirley checked in after hours, but it turned out they needed a birding guide!  They only had two days here, so I encouraged them to explore on their own the next day while I tried to make arrangements to go places where they didn’t have to walk far, as both had limited mobility issues.  So the next day I called Javier at Estero Llano Grande State Park, and he was gracious enough to arrange for an electric tram to take us around today, and in particular see the Pauraque over at Alligator Lake, which ordinarily is a bit of a hike!

The “tour” was set for 8:30, so we packed up “Diggory” at 8:00 and headed over to the park.  Javier was there waiting for us, and while Gerald was a seasoned birder with several thousand species to his name, Shirley was relatively new, so she was like a kid in a candy store!  Javier took us down the access road where the Chachalacas were passing the morning news along, and on the way we nearly ran down a Rat Snake!  Shirley got a kick out of the “Don’t Molest the Alligators” sign, so we took a picture of that, and after piling out, Javier quickly found the roosting Pauraque who was unusually wide-eyed today, which made him easier to find for Shirley!  She was amazed at how “flat” he looked!

Ranger Javier drives the tram while Shirley and Gerald ride in style!

Rat Snake crossing the road

Javier shows Shirley something on his app while Gerald enjoys scope views of Estero's famous Pauraque!

The Pauraque

We poked down to the first overlook to see what we could see, and when I heard a Least Bittern “singing” and announced it, Javier actually found the culprit right out in the open!  We got the scope on him and everyone had great looks at this little guy puffing up and uttering his cu-cu-cu-cu song!  Huck and his friend Lee showed up about then, so we all had a great time with that bird!  Down at the main overlook, the Alligator dutifully showed itself, but right above it was a brilliant Yellow-crowned Night Heron, and soon after a Green Heron flew in and stared at us like a dufus…  Huck had mentioned that they had a Painted Bunting along the access road, and fortunately when we happened to stop to watch a dogfight between a White-tailed Kite and a Swainson’s Hawk, I heard the bunting up ahead of us!  Thankfully he stayed put long enough for Shirley to get a look, but zipped off before Gerald could do so… L 

Least Bittern "singing"

L-R:  Shirley, Gerald, Huck, Lee, and Javier

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

Green Heron

A restroom break was in order, so that gave us an excuse to go into the Tropical Zone, where we got glimpses of the Altamira Oriole leaving and entering the nest, but never a real good look.  Both Couch’s Kingbirds and Brown-crested Flycatchers sat on the same wire the nest was on, however.  Things were vocalizing (like Clay-colored Thrush and Tropical Kingbird) that we never could get on.  Javier also shared that a researcher had discovered that over 100 White-tipped Doves live in the park!

Altamira Oriole nest

After dropping us off (and then returning again because I left my scope on the tram) L we headed on to Laguna Atascosa, as Shirley really wanted to see a Green Jay.  Yes, there were closer places where one could see them, but not where you didn’t have to potentially walk some distance, so I figured that was the best shot.  Discovered to my chagrin that they’re still not done with General Brant Road (we first discovered it closed for repairs way last November), so we took the detour, enjoying the storm we were going to eventually drive through (that got us talking about the Arizona monsoons as they’re from Tucson), and then heading up Buena Vista, where we ran into a family of Harris’ Hawks in lovely light!  Shirley was delighted with the Eastern Meadowlarks, and Dickcissels were singing out the yin yang when Gerald announced that that would be a life bird for him!  So we got the scope out and found one fairly close in all his glory!  At another place a White-tailed Hawk was sitting but took off before I could get the scope on him, and a Botteri’s Sparrow (which was another lifer for Gerald) sang cooperatively from a fence post!  Both Bobwhite and Horned Larks put on a show in the road, but the only bird Shirley got a good look at was a Lark Sparrow just before we got to the entrance road.  I got all excited about a Roadrunner hopping up, but they laughingly waved him off (besides, they ate her backyard birds, she said)!

Cloudburst

Young Harris' Hawks

Botteri's Sparrow

Once we got to the visitor’s center (and the bathrooms are open, hallelujah!) we sat at the water feature awhile and experienced the grackle cacophony, until finally some Green Jays came in and gave good (but not too lingering) looks.  Unfortunately we were really running late by then and couldn’t hang around too long, but they announced (since they’d be spending the night in Harlingen) that they’d like to come back here on their own the next day before heading north, plus visit someplace in Harlingen, so I made a quick call to Norma Friedrich with the Arroyo Colorado Audubon, and she agreed to throw some seed in the feeders at Hugh Ramsey Nature Park and arrange for someone to meet them, as I couldn’t think of any other handicap-accessible place in Harlingen.  So we headed home, picking up a nice Crested Caracara and some fly-by Common Ground Doves on the way out.

Bird List:

  Black-bellied Whistling-Duck         
  Plain Chachalaca                     
  Northern Bobwhite                  
  Least Bittern                        
  Great Egret                          
  Green Heron                           
  Black-crowned Night-Heron            
  Yellow-crowned Night-Heron           
  Black Vulture                        
  Turkey Vulture                      
  White-tailed Kite                   
  Harris's Hawk                        
  White-tailed Hawk                
  Swainson's Hawk                  
  Killdeer                             
  Laughing Gull                   
  Rock Pigeon                      
  Eurasian Collared-Dove    
  White-winged Dove          
  Mourning Dove                 
  Common Ground-Dove     
  White-tipped Dove            
  Yellow-billed Cuckoo       
  Greater Roadrunner           
  Common Nighthawk         
  Common Pauraque            
  Buff-bellied Hummingbird
  Golden-fronted Woodpecker            
  Ladder-backed Woodpecker             
  Crested Caracara                     
  Brown-crested Flycatcher       
  Great Kiskadee                       
  Tropical Kingbird                    
  Couch's Kingbird                     
  Loggerhead Shrike                   
  White-eyed Vireo                     
  Green Jay                            
  Horned Lark                        
  Verdin                               
  Carolina Wren                   
  Bewick's Wren                 
  Cactus Wren                     
  Clay-colored Thrush         
  Curve-billed Thrasher        
  Long-billed Thrasher        
  Northern Mockingbird      
  European Starling             
  Common Yellowthroat     
  Olive Sparrow                   
  Botteri's Sparrow               
  Lark Sparrow                     
  Northern Cardinal              
  Blue Grosbeak                   
  Painted Bunting                 
  Dickcissel                          
  Red-winged Blackbird      
  Eastern Meadowlark         
  Great-tailed Grackle          
  Bronzed Cowbird              
  Brown-headed Cowbird    
  Altamira Oriole                  
  Lesser Goldfinch               
  House Sparrow                  

63 SPECIES

Unintentioned Storm-Chasing

6/4/2016

             The plan was to check out Orphanage Ponds (as I had never been there before, but they had hosted nesting Masked Ducks in the past and I figured it would be a good spot to start surveying), Monte Meta Cemetery, and Adolph Thomae County Park.  Due to a miscalculation on my part I got to Orphanage Road well before sunrise, but couldn’t for the life of me figure out where the ponds were (unless they were down that horrendous dirt road that I wasn’t gonna touch)!  But I know I had seen them from the freeway, so the next plot was to head north on the frontage road and turn south at the first opportunity and see if I could see anything.  But what I saw was a tremendous thunderstorm coming my way from the west, so the storm-chasing part of me went into gear and pulled over to take video and watch the storm!

            When it started spitting, I continued north and got to the “causeway” in Sebastian right about the time the skies opened up, so I found my turnaround and decided to wait out the storm in the sheltered area.  Sounded like a good idea until I started pondering maybe why they made this section of the freeway a “causeway” – could it be prone to flash floods??  Suddenly I didn’t feel so comfortable under there, and to top it off, the low tire indicator suddenly popped on!  Thankfully I had one of those little plug-in generators that pumps air, but no way was I gonna attempt that with lightning shooting off left and right and forward and back!

            When it finally let up I risked getting zapped and got the tire up to a reasonable level, then limped back to Harlingen to the Sears auto shop (what did we ever do before IPhones that can tell us where the nearest tire shop is?? J), where I ended up having to replace the tire, but at least the morning was still young and the storm had passed to the south, so I gave up on trying to find the ponds and just headed on to Monte Meta Cemetery, which is northeast of San Benito.  Looking south on the freeway you could see the storm I had just sat through, and the updraft was being fed by a tremendous tail cloud coming in from the west; it was wicked!  But I got off on Sam Houston well north of the storm and headed northeast through the cute little town of San Benito towards the cemetery.  This spot is best in migration with its forest of ebony trees, but the purpose of a survey is to see what’s there all times of year, and the rains had certainly energized the birds!  The place was a cacophony of mockingbirds, White-winged Doves, and Golden-fronted Woodpeckers, and even Chachalacas!  There’s a nice area of thornscrub habitat that under drier conditions you can actually drive into, but I didn’t dare attempt it today, although I did hear a White-tipped Dove moaning from the area.

View of the storm heading south on US 77 (that's the updraft, not a rain shaft; you can just make out the feeder cloud on the bottom right)

Monte Meta Cemetery

            Sam Houston takes you right into Rio Hondo, and from there you can take FM 2925 north and east into Arroyo City.  It also takes you right by the Arroyo Colorado Unit of the Las Palomas WMA, and while it’s closed to the public, you can still bird the little entrance road and get some nice things right by the parking lot, so I decided to swing in and jump out to photograph yet another big storm coming east!  It was fun taking video and having the likes of Common Nighthawk, Lark Sparrow, Eastern Meadowlark, and Bobwhite singing next to the rolling thunder while a Swainson’s Hawk sat unconcernedly on a pole!  In the parking lot I watched a Turkey making tracks down the main trail and towards the woods as the storm made its way relentlessly in my direction, all the while adding goodies like Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Common Ground Dove, Painted Bunting, and a family of Groove-billed Anis!  A Long-billed Thrasher sang out in the open on a wire with a Verdin as company (it always amazes me that I knock myself silly to get a Verdin to come out for a client – and they rarely do – and invariably the silly thing will sit right out in the open when I’m by myself…)!

Camera-shy Swainson's Hawk

Turkey fleeing down the trail

            Was time to skedaddle and try to stay ahead of this thing, so I blasted up and over to Arroyo City, where it looked like the leading edge of the storm was south of me (and the poor folks doing the run at South Padre were getting clobbered, I found out later); the structure was just tremendous, and it looked as though the whole front end could have been rotating, as it had that classic “barber pole” striated look!  The spot where I stopped to shoot the storm happened to have a nice little wetland with a Great and Snowy Egret, some Black-necked Stilts, and another group of Turkeys!  I happened to notice an oncoming car slowing and expected him to stop and ask what I was doing, but then saw that he was slowing for yet another group of Turkeys in the road!  Arroyo City is traditionally a good spot to find them, although never guaranteed by any means.

Storm south of Arroyo City

Wild Turkeys

Another view of the storm, showing striations on the left side

            Continued on to Adolph Thomae County Park, which has a steep entrance fee but is a delightful little place to bird!  I was surprised at the number of campers there on this lousy weekend, but was even more surprised that, with thunder and lightning clapping all around, people were still out in their boats and fishing on the shoreline!  By the time I got down to the end of the road (I usually go there first and work my way back, as all the pullouts are on the westbound side), the skies once again opened up, and a few brave souls were scurrying to get their boats out of the water!  It was quite the madhouse for awhile, but I found a place to park and wait it out, after which the weekend warriors got their boats back in the water (even though it was still spitting lightning) and the birds started to get energized again!  A pair of Scissor-tailed Flycatchers were going after what I thought was a grackle at first, but turned out to be an ani!  (Not sure if anis actually go after nestlings, or if it was simply a case of mistaken identity…)  Nighthawks were out the yin yang, and I was pleased to hear a Cactus Wren singing across the river.  A couple of “House Sparrows” foraging next to the dumpster turned out to be Olive Sparrows, and a Curve-billed Thrasher gave a nice look.

            That took me right up to noon, so headed home after that with 53 species; not a whole lot, but not bad considering the weather!  Bird list: 

   Black-bellied Whistling-Duck         

   Mottled Duck                         

   Plain Chachalaca                    

   Northern Bobwhite                    

   Wild Turkey                          

   Great Blue Heron                  

   Great Egret                           

   Snowy Egret                        

   Green Heron                        

   Black Vulture                      

   Turkey Vulture                    

   Swainson's Hawk                

   Black-necked Stilt                   

   Laughing Gull                        

   Royal Tern                           

   Rock Pigeon                          

   Eurasian Collared-Dove               

   White-winged Dove                    

   Mourning Dove                        

   Common Ground-Dove                   

   White-tipped Dove                    

   Yellow-billed Cuckoo                 

   Groove-billed Ani                    

   Common Nighthawk                      

   Golden-fronted Woodpecker            

   Ladder-backed Woodpecker             

   Brown-crested Flycatcher             

   Great Kiskadee                        

   Tropical Kingbird                    

   Couch's Kingbird                     

   Scissor-tailed Flycatcher            

   Loggerhead Shrike                    

   White-eyed Vireo                     

   Purple Martin                        

   Black-crested Titmouse               

   Verdin                                

   Bewick's Wren                        

   Cactus Wren                          

   Curve-billed Thrasher                

   Long-billed Thrasher                 

   Northern Mockingbird                 

   European Starling                    

   Olive Sparrow                        

   Lark Sparrow                         

   Northern Cardinal                    

   Painted Bunting                      

   Red-winged Blackbird                 

   Eastern Meadowlark                   

   Great-tailed Grackle                 

   Bronzed Cowbird                      

   Brown-headed Cowbird                 

   Lesser Goldfinch                      

   House Sparrow