Susan’s
second target was the White-collared Seedeater, so we made plans to be up at
Salineño at dawn, but I sure didn’t see the tremendous lightning storm we
witnessed on the way there in the forecast!
No doubt that a front came through, as it was warm when we left and
definitely cool when we stopped at the Stripes in Roma! We did drive through some rain, but thankfully
it was over by the time we got to Salineño.
Along the dirt road an Altamira Oriole showed off on the left, but then
we noticed a pair of Hooded Orioles in the tree next to us! An Olive Sparrow jumped right up on the wire
fence and sang for us, which was a special treat!
Another
person was already there (a photographer who looked like he may have been from
India), and he had his sights on a big bird across the way and asked us what it
might be. I was anticipating Red-billed
Pigeons, but our “pigeon” turned out to be a Chachalaca once in the scope! However, several large pigeon-like birds flew
overhead so fast that I couldn’t get on them, but Susan got enough of a look to
confirm that there was no white on
the tail tip, so I felt comfortable adding Red-billed Pigeon to the list!
We
headed up the trail with lots of things singing, including what may have been
the same brilliant red Cardinal we had the last time I was up here! We pretty much headed straight to the end,
but we did stop for a singing Summer Tanager and a brilliant Bullock’s
Oriole! We set up shop once at the cul-de-sac,
as Susan was willing to give it as long as it took for the seedeater to show
up! In the meantime we did have some
interesting birds: five Black-crowned
Night Herons and a single White-faced Ibis were in a tree across the river, egrets
and a Tricolored Heron rowed by, and a small flock of Blue-winged Teal went
whizzing up the river. We heard
quacking, and two “Mexican” Ducks went dashing the other direction, showing
their white-bordered speculums quite nicely.
And just to relieve any doubt, several Red-billed Pigeons flew by at eye
level for beautiful views!
Altamira Oriole
Happy Summer Tanager
It
shortly started to drip after that, so since the radar showed a big green blob
next to us (and the animation wasn’t loading to help me determine which
direction it was going), I made a command decision to retreat to the car and
come back later, after the rain threat had abated. So we headed out, passing another guy with a
Big Gun who was heading to the Seedeater Spot, and decided to bird the Dump
Road, picking up a pair of Common Ground Doves on the way out. Since Susan and Terry had been to southeast
Arizona before, they weren’t worried about trying to draw out every Cactus Wren
and Verdin we heard, but the star of the show was a Scaled Quail that was
calling right next to us! A little
coaxing brought him right out in the open (and I unfortunately didn’t have my
camera ready…L)!
That was a great look!
The
sun came out while on the road, so we decided to scoot back to Salineño and try
for the seedeater again. I quipped, “I
hope that guy we passed doesn’t say, ‘You shoulda been here five minutes
ago!’” Down at the boat ramp the Gray
Hawk called behind us, and as we headed in, we passed said guy plus the Indian
guy, and when I asked, “Any success?” he answered, “It depends on what you mean
by ‘success’!” and then told us that the only look they had was of two birds
darting down the river! That didn’t bode
well, but we decided to give it a go anyway, and spent about two hours there,
enjoying more tanagers, orioles (the Audubon’s sang but wasn’t visible), and
even more Red-billed Pigeons! At least
nine Caspian Terns sailed by, followed by a single Forster’s; even a Cattle
Egret pumped by at one point! One Black
Vulture joined the Turkey Vultures, but the only other raptors to come by were
a pair of Sharp-shinned Hawks. The
Red-winged Blackbirds were making those maddening teu calls that sound just like the seedeater, but finally the little bugger sang his sweety-sweety-sweety-teuteu song, but
from way upriver, just like last time… L Susan reached a point where she felt she was
crossing the line from dedicated to obsessed J, so she agreed to
call it quits and head to Falcon State Park where Terry could get some
butterflying in!
Susan hopes beyond hope for a seedeater...
We get Red-billed Pigeons instead!
After
checking in we headed straight for the garden, where Susan finished her lunch
in the shade and Terry and I made the rounds, but not before adding a
Curve-billed Thrasher to the list! Even
though it was sunny, the wind was horrendous, so the gardens weren’t terribly
active. But we did log several Elada
Checkerspots, Lyside Sulphurs, a couple of Texan Crescents, a Southern Dogface,
a Large Orange Sulphur, and a Reakirt’s Blue.
We finally happened on a life butter for him: a rather beat-up Turk’s
Cap White Skipper!
Elada Checkerspot (ventral above, dorsal below)
Female Powdered Dancer
Susan
wanted to walk, so not wanting her to get turned around on those trails, I went
with her while Terry continued to “lep”, and we had nice looks at a pair of
Pyrrhuloxias that we suspect had a nest.
A Roadrunner popped up at the trailhead parking lot but literally “ran
away,” and on the way back we had glimpses of a Green Jay and a Verdin. Back at the car, Terry had added Pipevine
Swallowtail and Gulf Fritillary to his list, so since it was getting rather
warm we spent the rest of our time there slowly cruising the roads; we had
several Scissor-tailed Flycatchers (I had seen a Western Kingbird before going
to find Susan), and at one point a pair of Lark Sparrows started the process of
making a family! J
Susan and I got on a female Bullock’s Oriole, but Terry kept insisting
that it looked red! We finally figured
out that he was looking at a different bird, a brilliant male Vermilion
Flycatcher! Susan agreed that was the
perfect icing to the day!
Lark Sparrow, showing the characteristic white tail corners
Singing Pyrrhuloxia
Why some of our British friends call them the "Half-painted Cardinal"!
Somewhere
in here my phone kept dinging with reports of migrants from South Padre, and
the “last straw” for Susan was a report of a male Cerulean Warbler at the
Convention Centre! Hindsight is always
20/20: I was kicking myself for not
sticking around the seedeater spot despite the dripping, and Susan was kicking
herself wondering if, with the front, she should have sacrificed a possible
seedeater for more migrants! Oh, well;
you make the best decisions you can at the moment, and live with the results
(although they were discussing making
an Island run the minute we got home…)!
We
headed to Alamo after that, adding a Chihuahuan Raven on the way, which made it
a surprising 73 species for the day; that’s not bad for Starr County! (And an update: they did
end up making an Island run, and got all
the reported warblers, including the Cerulean! J)
Bird List:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Mallard Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Plain Chachalaca
Scaled Quail
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Black-crowned Night-Heron
White-faced Ibis
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Gray Hawk
American Coot
Caspian Tern
Forster's Tern
Rock Pigeon
Red-billed Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
Inca Dove
Common Ground-Dove
White-tipped Dove
Greater Roadrunner
Lesser Nighthawk (heard at the apartment pre-dawn)
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
Vermilion Flycatcher
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Brown-crested Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Couch's Kingbird
Western Kingbird
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
White-eyed Vireo
Green Jay
Chihuahuan Raven
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Bank Swallow
Barn Swallow
Cliff 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
Lark Sparrow
Summer Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Pyrrhuloxia
Red-winged Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Bronzed Cowbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Orchard Oriole
Hooded Oriole
Bullock's Oriole
Altamira Oriole
Audubon's Oriole
House Sparrow
73 SPECIES
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