Don
from Massachusetts was a member of the “700 Club”, wanting to come down and
clean up a few missing South Texas specialties, so he scheduled a day of
birding with me before his trip to the King Ranch. This time of year, I generally split up a
full ten-hour guiding day in order to avoid the hottest time of the day, so I
had the time perfectly laid out between an early-morning jaunt to Salineño et
al, then an evening cruise down 10th for the Green Parakeet show.
Well,
long story short, he was delayed in getting here from Houston, so actually
ended up getting to the Valley the morning we were scheduled to go to Starr
County! This time of year that is one
place you really have to get to by
sunrise to avoid melting, so after a quick freshen up we went to Quinta
Mazatlan instead in hopes of getting him his parakeets, as they were nesting
there. It was a lovely day, and a
Curve-billed Thrasher greeted us just as we pulled into the parking lot! It was also the first time I’ve had to use
the overflow, as it looked as though they were getting ready to have a wedding
(or something) on the grounds and the parking lot was stuffed! It turned out fine, however, as there were
very few people on the trails. Don is a cancer
survivor and was just getting his “sea legs” back, so we went slowly and had a
gorgeous male Ladder-backed Woodpecker even before getting through the gate, a
pair of flyover Red-crowned Parrots, some Chimney Swifts flying over for his
trip list, and enjoyed the tame Chachalacas escorting us to the visitor’s
center! After paying the entrance fee we
poked along the trails, sat for awhile and listened to the White-winged Doves
drowning out everything else J, then headed
for the Ebony Grove.
A group at Quinta Mazatlan enjoys the "official greeter" (Plain Chachalaca)!
After
the rough trip down from Houston, Don was pretty beat, so we headed home after
that, sharing stories of leading tours, as he’s also organized some small
groups (including chartering a helicopter to see the Himalayan Snowcocks in Utah),
and about his career as a operatically-trained bass/baritone! After a good long rest he was ready to hit 10th
Street that night for the Parakeet Show, and thankfully we heard them near Dove
on our return leg from Trenton (they can show up anywhere along 10th
between there and Nolana)! We ended up
pulling into the Lowes’ parking lot (that in itself was amazing to Don – that
these little guys favored such urban settings), and he was in hog heaven as a
large group of them settled on the wires and proceeded to cuddle and preen each
other, and make all sorts of racket! Don
was thrilled!
Cuddly Green Parakeets
"Hey, watch it!!"
His
King Ranch tour was the next day, so we made plans to head up to Salineño the
day after that. He successfully bagged
three targets there (Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, Groove-billed Ani, and Tropical
Parula), but the next morning I was the
one with health issues and had to back out! He was happy to drive out to
Salineño on his own as he had been there previously for the seedeaters and knew
exactly where to go to try for Red-billed Pigeon and Muscovy Duck. He sent the live play-by-play via text J and got to see Audubon’s Oriole,
Olive Sparrow, and Pyrrhuloxia, but not the targets, unfortunately (which which
can be tough, anyway). After that he
headed straight to Houston for the flight home, hopefully a happy camper (he
sounded pretty happy at the boat ramp, anyway J)!
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Plain Chachalaca
White-winged Dove
Inca Dove
Chimney Swift
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Green Parakeet
Red-crowned Parrot
Brown-crested Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Couch's Kingbird
Curve-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Yellow Warbler
Olive Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Great-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Sparrow
21 SPECIES
Vicariously enjoyed your excursion with Don. Thanks for sharing.
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