Alamo Inn BnB Gear and Tours

3/23/18

Another beautiful day greeted us as we headed up to Starr County! The Salineño feeders were of course closed by now, but we had high hopes of bagging the seedeaters, as they were being seen regularly. The river was quite high when we got there, and another car had beaten us there, so we parked behind them and immediately saw the Lesser Scaups swimming backwards (just appearing to with the strong current J) and hearing but not seeing the Gray Hawk. The Chachalacas were also chorusing but not showing themselves. We headed up the trail, and the first thing we tried to zero in on was the singing Cassin’s Sparrow, who happened to be sitting right out in the open for scope views! A pair of Verdin was also very cooperative!

Lesser Scaup

Female Ring-necked Duck

Tam at the river's edge

We arrived at the end of the trail where another birder had a scope up, and as we approached we asked what she had, and she was looking at five Red-billed Pigeons! We were jazzed: they were sitting right up top in beautiful light for knockout looks! While watching them both an Altamira Oriole and a Cardinal hopped up to join them, giving us a splash of color! The gal’s name was Nina, and shortly her two friends Theresa and Brian came down the hill with no luck with the seedeaters; turned out they were all from Houston coming down for some “spectacular” birding! We gave the spot a few minutes then crawled up the hill where the same Ringed Kingfisher from last time was in the dead tree, this time with a mate! Coming from the opposite direction this time, I saw the bank that they were in all probability nesting in, so we kept our distance but still got some nice pictures. I saw smaller holes in the bank and wondered if they were used by the Bank Swallows we were hearing overhead. Coming back down the hill I thought I heard a distant seedeater, but it never sang again, and I just wasn’t sure, so we let that one go. A Red-tailed Hawk soared over the river, proving itself to be a clean-breasted Fuertes’. After Brian pointed out a Caspian Tern and then showed us where a Ladder-backed Woodpecker had made a nest, we headed back to the car, where the Osprey was again on his pole with a big fish!

Red-billed Pigeons (with a token grackle)

A closer bird...

Jamie shooting the Ringed Kingfisher pair (below)

Couch's Kingbird

Next route was the Dump Road, where on the connector road we found a House Finch on a wire! In the thornscrub we added several Caracaras, Black-throated Sparrow, and Pyrrhuloxia; Tam actually walked much of the road while we crawled along, and managed to spot a lot of stuff that way, including a White-eyed Vireo! While stopped to enter the eBird list, someone spotted a hawk, so I jumped out, and it turned out to be a very high Swainson’s Hawk!

Black-throated Sparrow

Crested Caracara

From there we headed to Falcon (Starr) County Park, as Vermilion Flycatcher was high on the want list. We crawled in the main road and parked at the restrooms, and Tam said, “Watch the Vermilion show up the minute I go in!” Well. She disappeared and I spotted a red bird right in front of us – the Vermilion! That got a good laugh when she finally came out (she had actually already seen one, but Jamie hadn’t), and as they chased the thing around, there turned out to be two birds, one that looked like a young male to me (as his “red” areas were more orange), but they were certainly interacting strangely! On the way out another cooperative Verdin worked the bushes right next to the car!

Stalking the elusive Vermilion Flycatcher (below) at Falcon County Park

From there we went to Falcon State Park to kill time until it was time to head to Rancho Lomitas. We ran into another birder who was RVing with her husband, and she alerted us to a nearby Ash-throated Flycatcher, another lifer for Jamie! We also spotted a White Pelican for Tam, and after that we actually didn’t get very far before it was time to head to the Ranch. But on the way out we were held up by a very cooperative Roadrunner!

Ash-throated Flycatcher

Fleeing Roadrunner

Eadweard Muybridge proved in the late 1800s that all four feet of a horse are off the ground in a gallop; now we know that both feet of a Roadrunner are off the ground in a run!

This was only my second time to Rancho Lomitas (a native plant nursery where one must call ahead for access), but since Scaled Quail was on Jamie’s “want” list, this is about the only place in the Valley where they’re almost guaranteed! Jim and “Pal” (the little dog) met us at the gate and showed us to his little bungalow where he puts out the food, and sure enough, after awhile they came in and screwed up the courage to come right to the platter where Jim had put the feed out! What looked like a little Mexican Ground Squirrel stuck his head out briefly, and a White-tipped Dove made an appearance way in the back, but the quail were definitely the stars! With what little time we had left, we took the loop trail around the property and down to the pond, picking up Cactus and Bewick’s Wrens, a friendly Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Curve-billed Thrasher, both Inca and Common Ground Dove, and at Toni’s patio another Ash-throated Flycatcher! (Toni and Benito actually own the property, and besides plants, also rent out casitas to folks…)

Tam makes friends with Pal (Jim's doggie)

Scaled Quail

Bewick's Wren

Ash-throated Flycatcher

Cactus Wren

We headed home the back way (via FM 490), and I resolved to explore some of these dirt roads we were traveling for future road-birding routes; the habitat looked wonderful!

Bird List:

Lesser Scaup

Ring-necked Duck

Plain Chachalaca
Scaled Quail
Double-crested Cormorant
American White Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Harris's Hawk
Gray Hawk
Swainson's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Coot
Caspian Tern
Rock Pigeon
Red-billed 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
Vermilion Flycatcher
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Couch's Kingbird
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Loggerhead Shrike
White-eyed Vireo
Green Jay
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Bank Swallow
Cave Swallow
Black-crested Titmouse
Verdin
Bewick's Wren
Cactus Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Curve-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Olive Sparrow
Cassin's Sparrow
Black-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Pyrrhuloxia
Red-winged Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Altamira Oriole
House Finch
House Sparrow

65 SPECIES

3/22/18

Today we were hopefully going to bag some more of the Valley specialties and vagrants by birding Hidalgo County, and I was thrilled to hear that my charges had scored on the Tropical Parula at Santa Ana the evening before! (They said it helped that another couple was already on it… J) So that was one less stop we had to worry about, which was good, as it turned out that we didn’t even have time to do Wallace Road!

We started per usual at Estero Llano Grande, and it was a lovely morning – but we were shocked that so many cars were already in the lot at that hour (about 7:30)! We got fleeting glimpses of an Orange-crowned Warbler, and after enjoying the Long-billed Thrasher that had taken up residence on the power line (plus a close pair of Curve-billed Thrashers), we headed on in to the Tropical Zone, but not before hearing the “tic-tic” of a Green Kingfisher in the canal! We were incongruous as the sound was coming from the side with no water, but sure enough, Tam spotted his white neck, and after some moving around and describing of the branches, we all finally spotted him! On the way to the Kingbird Trail I heard the distinctive “ringing” of some Clay-colored Thrushes (which we found sitting directly overhead), but then I thought for sure I was also hearing waxwings, and after voicing that Tam said, “Oh, I see them!” They had been sitting right under the thrushes the whole time and blended right in with the trees! We then headed to the Kingbird Trail Hummer Feeder, and the female Rufous Hummer showed almost immediately, followed by the male Ruby-throated and then the Buff-bellied who sat and gave great looks!

Clay-colored Thrush

Cedar Waxwings

Peek-a-boo White-winged Dove

Circling around we had wonderful views of a Harris’ Hawk, and then gave the new blind a few minutes, but despite all the food and water nothing came in, so we headed on to the “old” feeder area where a couple of Chachalacas and a Cardinal came in, while White-tipped Doves cooed on different pitches in the background. Nothing came in to the drip, either, so we headed on to the VC, hearing a Killdeer and Sora calling from the nearby wetlands. We stopped at the Sniders’ place hoping for the Broad-tailed Hummer, but about that time we noticed the school bus roll in, so we decided to hightail it out to Alligator Lake for the Pauraque!

Tam enjoys the bougainvillea on the way out!

And that answered the question about the early vehicles: Ranger Javier was on the deck with his volunteers (he greeted me with, “Did you bring any crows with you?” J), so we quickly got checked in, checked out some dowitchers from the deck, and after hearing, “We’re on our way!” coming over the radio, we made a beeline for Dowitcher Pond! There, after getting the sun behind us, we spotted another lifer for Jamie: two Fulvous Whistling Ducks! I had heard a Least Grebe, but couldn’t spot him; however, the pond was full of the usual Shovelers, Coots, teal, and Mottled Ducks. Continuing over the bridge we quickly checked out Grebe Marsh with nothing but some Blue-winged Teal, then hoofed it over to Alligator Lake, where Jamie spotted a subadult Yellow-crowned Night Heron, but Tam was looking at a full adult!

First view of the Fulvous Whistling Duck

Checking out Grebe Marsh

Then came the search, and despite careful looking in all the usual spots, we just could not conjure up a Pauraque… L (I figured they probably retreated into the underbrush in order to raise their babies…) By that time one of the kidlet groups had caught up with us, and Jamie and Tam got a kick out of the ranger explaining to them how the Anhinga dries its wings, and no, we don’t climb on the railing, and we have to be quiet because these people are looking for a bird! J By that time I don’t think it mattered… But on the back side Tam was entertained by a group of Green Jays that came right overhead, while Jamie and I tried unsuccessfully to call out a Wilson’s Warbler…

So we dragged ourselves out of there, but one last peek at Grebe Marsh got us our Least Grebe (Jamie thinks there were two – either that, or the one was swimming awfully fast under water!), and since Jamie wanted to try and get a better photo of the Fulvous Whistlers, we circled around Dowitcher Pond and got some nice views, along with some Cinnamon Teal, a gallinule, and another Least Grebe (plus a Pied-billed). A Snowy Egret was in Curlew Pond, and the guys saw a spoonbill fly over that I missed. Back at the deck a quick look around added Least Sandpipers, a distant White Pelican, and a snoozing Pintail to the list, and on the way to the parking lot a Beardless Tyrannulet called about five feet away, but as per usual wouldn’t show himself… Headed on to Quinta Mazatlan, picking up a Swainson’s Hawk flying over the freeway on the way!

Male Blue-winged Teal with a female Green-winged

The whistling ducks were snoozing by the time we got to the boardwalk...

Northern Shovelers

School field trips are a regular sight at Estero!

Upon arriving we headed straight to the VC to check in, then headed over to the amphitheater in hopes that the Blue Bunting was still around. We gave it an hour, and eventually enjoyed Chachalacas challenging each other, Kiskadees attacking the PB mixture, another Buff-bellied Hummer visiting the feeder, and Jamie finally got great looks at the titmice! Tam was getting a kick out of the antics of the Fox Squirrels, and the blackbirds were inundating the place (we actually got excited over a female Brown-headed Cowbird L), but alas, the bunting never showed.

Jamie shoots an Inca Dove (below) at Quinta Mazatlán

A Long-billed Thrasher skulks towards the back of the feeder area...

...while the Chachalacas come right out in the open!

Black-crested Titmouse

Kiowa Dancer (token ode)

I had been hearing Lesser Goldfinches, so we went traipsing all over the Ebony Grove trying to track them down, but to no avail (excitement was caused by a Sharp-shinned Hawk that went blasting through). After checking out the rest of the trails I mentioned that sometimes a Pauraque was along the entrance road (although I had yet to find one there myself), so we checked every gap in the bougainvillea hedge, not finding a Pauraque, but Tam did manage to find a brilliant male Hooded Warbler! We ran into John Brush and explained our plight, and after looking for the Pauraque in its regular spot there (it wasn’t), he said he could take us right to one that was reliable! Well! He was certainly not happy with the bird when we got to “the spot” and it wasn’t there! L I quipped that “someone” must not want Jamie to see a Pauraque J and John quipped that it was “balance” for getting all those Tamaulipas Crows yesterday! J

Checkered White

Jamie and Tam in the Ebony Grove

John Brush tries to help us find

Inchworm, which will turn into some kind of geometrid moth...

After that I found out they had never seen Monk Parakeets, so we swung by Hidalgo to see them, and unlike last time, they were all over the place! Lighting conditions weren’t great, but several were sticking their heads out of their nests, looking very cute! We were going to hit the National Butterfly Center but realized we wouldn’t have time to do it justice, so just decided to finish up the day at Bentsen, where we enjoyed more Chachalacas, Green Jays, and blackbirds at the feeders!

We discover several Monk Parakeets gathering nesting material on the ground...

...which they then take to their massive stick nests!

Jamie shooting the nest

"She's taking our picture again!!"

Inca Dove portraits

Chachalacas

Flighty Green Jay

More Green Jay shots

Oh, and on a happy note, Jamie and Tam returned to Estero with Justin LeClaire, and this time they found the Pauraques! (Justin reported that they were uncharacteristically very flighty and easily spooking, so there's a good chance they had been spooked already by the time we had gotten there earlier...)

Bird List:

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck

Fulvous Whistling-Duck
Gadwall
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Plain Chachalaca
Least Grebe
Pied-billed Grebe
Neotropic Cormorant
Anhinga
American White Pelican
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Tricolored Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
Turkey Vulture
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Harris's Hawk
Swainson's Hawk
Sora
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
Inca Dove
White-tipped Dove
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Black-chinned Hummingbird
Rufous Hummingbird
Buff-bellied Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Green Kingfisher
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
Monk Parakeet
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet
Great Kiskadee
Couch's Kingbird
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
White-eyed Vireo
Green Jay
Purple Martin
Black-crested Titmouse
House Wren
Marsh Wren
Carolina Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Clay-colored Thrush
Curve-billed Thrasher
Long-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Olive Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Lesser Goldfinch
House Sparrow

79 SPECIES

Alamo Inn BnB Gear and Tours

Tuesday, April 3, 2018

Quail for Lunch

Monday, April 2, 2018

Naughty Pauraques