For our second day of this adventure, we headed out to Salineno, Falcon State Park, and stopped at Bentsen on the way home. Couldn't find any seedeaters and no Muscovies flew by, but we did have nice looks at a Ringed Kingfisher and a couple of Gray Hawks, and one of the guys spotted a Zone-tailed Hawk from Merle and Lois' yard! Everyone (including Merle and Lois) was disappointed that neither oriole put in an appearance, but we concluded that it was either due to a) the Sharp-shinned Hawk that was terrorizing the joint (and putting on some great aerial performances while chasing Red-winged Blackbirds. ;-)), or b) it simply hadn't gotten cold enough yet, and the orioles tend to come in when it's too cold for their natural nectar sources to produce anything.
Looking for seedeaters along the Rio Grande
Checking upriver for ducks and pigeons
Green Jay at Merle and Lois' feeders
The
Dump Road was very quiet, but thankfully Falcon was more productive: several
Cactus Wrens sat right up along with a couple of Black-throated Sparrows, a
Roadrunner performed famously right next to the car (never mind I was messin'
with him by cooing :)), and in the primitive camping area one little bush gave
us cracking views of Pyrrhuloxia, Verdin, and my first ever Black-tailed
Gnatcatchers for the park!
Cactus Wren going into Falcon State Park
Roadrunner
We
went back to Salineno for one last river/feeder watch, then headed back towards
the Inn, stopping at Bentsen on the way in hopes of an Altamira Oriole at
least, but Gary managed to spot a Clay-colored Thrush while I was checking us
in, and thanks to a tip from Ranger Roy at the Gatehouse Feeders we picked up a
wintering Groove-billed Ani! On the way
home we stopped at the Green Parakeet staging area at 10th and Dove to at least
pick up ONE more lifer!
A Chachalaca waits (im)patiently as the Gatehouse Feeders get refilled...
Plain Chachalaca
Bird List:
Mottled Duck
Plain Chachalaca
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Cattle Egret
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Harris's Hawk
White-tailed Hawk
Gray Hawk
Zone-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
Inca Dove
Greater Roadrunner
Groove-billed Ani
Buff-bellied Hummingbird
Ringed Kingfisher
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
American Kestrel
Green Parakeet
Black Phoebe
Eastern Phoebe
Vermilion Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Tropical Kingbird
Loggerhead Shrike
White-eyed Vireo
Green Jay
Tree Swallow
Black-crested Titmouse
Verdin
House Wren
Bewick's Wren
Cactus Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Black-tailed Gnatcatcher
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Long-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Lark Sparrow
Black-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Pyrrhuloxia
Red-winged Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
House Sparrow
60 SPECIES
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