I
honestly thought I was done for the season until we got a last minute guiding
request from Martha and Breck, a couple from California! They wanted help with the vocalizations, so
we agreed on Estero Llano Grande (which never disappoints J), and since I had
made an afternoon visit there on the Hidalgo County Birdathon the day before and
saw it was stuffed with shorebirds, I figured that would be a nice rounded
experience!
We
got there around sunrise, so it was still rather gloomy, but the Tropical Zone
was alive with dove song (and lonely-looking now that the Sniders and the other
park hosts were gone L); I pointed out the remains of the big
tree that had crashed and blocked the entrance the day before, then thankfully
the McCall’s Screech Owl was in his box, wide-eyed and blinking at us! White-winged and White-tipped Doves were the
dominant vocalization, followed closely by Mockingbirds fooling us into
thinking they were something else J! Martha likened the song of the Olive Sparrow
to a bright-sounding Wrentit, and I tried to explain the difference between the
calls of the Brown-crested and Great Crested Flycatchers, but ended up playing
the recordings back at the car, as those spoke better than words!
A
harsh call got my attention, and sure enough, we caught sight of a Harris’ Hawk
fleeing his post, with a mocker hot on his tail! As we continued down the lane we spotted (and
got great looks at) the hawk! At one
point Martha and Breck saw a long-tailed thing shoot into the trees, and
shortly after that, in amongst the cacophony I heard a low cou, cou, cou of a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, so we figured that’s
probably what they saw! At the far end I
thought I heard an Altamira Oriole giving its short whistles, but then I heard
rapid chattering coming from another tree, and shortly the “chatterer” shot
into the tree from whence the whistles were coming from, and with a little
searching we confirmed it was a pair of Baltimore
Orioles (the chattering was a giveaway, of course, but I’ve discovered that the
males often give short whistles similar to the Altamira)!
Breck and Martha enjoy a Harris' Hawk (below)!
I
heard a Rose-breasted Grosbeak pink
that we could never locate, but a Long-billed Thrasher provided comedy relief
by tossing big leaves high into the air!
We were trying to pull out a Carolina Wren when an uncharacteristically
cooperative individual decided to come out and hop along a log! After that we sat at the drip for a few
minutes; it was pretty quiet, so when a nearby Beardless Tyrannulet got our
attention, we abandoned the sit and went after him (although he quit calling
about that time). The Clay-colored
Thrush was both calling and singing, and Breck was able to spot him in a distant
ficus tree! On the way out we enjoyed a
family of Chachalacas making their way across the road!
We
headed into the main part of the park, but not before Martha spotted something
brown with a white eyebrow; since I was hearing warbler seeps I immediately
thought Swainson’s, but when we finally refound the culprit it was just another
Carolina Wren… We had yet another leaf-tossing thrasher at our feet, and enjoyed
the Buff-bellied Hummingbird on the very same perch he was on the day before
during the Birdathon, before checking in.
We spent a considerable amount of time pouring over the shorebirds (and were
thankful that it was overcast, as the morning glare off Ibis Pond can be
something)! Close to shore were oodles
of Stilt, Least, and White-rumped Sandpipers, with lesser numbers of Wilson’s
Phalaropes, Lesser Yellowlegs, and even a single Pectoral and Semipalmated
Sandpiper! One very long-billed
breeding-plumaged Least had us going for awhile until it gave us a good look at
its legs; the overall pattern was “Western-like”, but not quite as bright. A fully-spotted Spotted Sandpiper came in,
and one very strange-looking Mottled Duck was with a more normal bird (that led
to a conversation about the “Muddy Ducks” at the Convention Centre). So engrossed with the shorebirds were we that
we almost overlooked the four Fulvous Whistling Ducks closer to the boardwalk!
Look carefully for all the shorebirds in Ibis Pond!
Stilt Sandpiper (in flight below)
You really don't need to see anything else to know this is a White-rumped Sandpiper!
The other diagnostic feature is the reddish base to the lower mandible, visible on both these birds.
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Spotted Sandpiper
Fulvous Whistling Ducks
Mottled Ducks, but the one on the left definitely has something else in him...
A "Mexican Duck" would have white borders to the speculum, but that head pattern sure suggests Mallard blood in there - thoughts?
From
there we headed out to Alligator Lake, enjoying a Cardinal family near the
butterfly garden! Before even getting to
Dowitcher Pond my charges spotted the brilliant Roseate Spoonbills feeding
there; there had to be at least a dozen of all ages! In addition we had several Avocets, a few
Shovelers, and a Sora that Breck spotted along the shore! Grebe Marsh was quite productive, with both
flavors of night herons, fighting Green Herons, and a trumpeting Least Grebe
that we spent considerable time looking for and couldn’t spot until the Green
Kingfisher burst from his hiding place, and while all eyes were on him across the way, that’s when the grebe decided to patter out as if to say,
“Hey! Here I am; don’t look at him!”
At Dowitcher Pond, we're greeted by a mob of spoonbills!
Adults have the green head and black ear patch...
Whereas youngsters still have their white head feathers!
The one on the right is kind of in between...
Martha and Breck enjoy the spectacle!
Yellow-crowned Night Heron
After
enjoying the cormorants at the Alligator Lake turnoff and looking unsuccessfully
for an Anhinga, we started looking for the Pauraque, but after a fruitless
search figured she was deep in the woods raising babies. A lady Ladder-backed Woodpecker decided to
come in and show off, however, literally hugging the little branch she was tapping
on! Nothing much except the famous
Alligator was at the overlook, so after a five-minute rest we headed back,
picking up a flopping Groove-billed Ani along the canal!
On the way out the spoonbills have finished feeding and are now relaxing on the dead trees!
With
what time we had we decided to make a short visit to Frontera Audubon in hopes
that some migrants might be around. Mary
G. had apparently been there earlier and saw a Black-billed Cuckoo in addition
to a Yellow-billed, so we were hopeful, but alas, it was pretty quiet. We did happen to flush the gang of three
Green Kingfishers hanging out at the little resaca, and Buff-bellied Hummers
were all over, but the only migrants we saw were brief glimpses of a
Black-throated Green and Magnolia Warbler.
But all in all, Martha and Breck were glad to know of the place for
future reference!
On the trail at Frontera Thicket
For
a half-day trip, we managed 80 species, which ain’t half bad! Bird List:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Fulvous Whistling-Duck Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Plain Chachalaca
Least Grebe
Neotropic Cormorant
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Tricolored Heron
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
White-faced Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
Turkey Vulture
Harris's Hawk
Swainson's Hawk
Sora
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Stilt Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
White-rumped Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Phalarope
Laughing Gull
Eurasian Collared-Dove
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
Inca Dove
Common Ground-Dove
White-tipped Dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Groove-billed Ani
Eastern Screech-Owl
Chimney Swift
Buff-bellied Hummingbird
Green Kingfisher
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Green Parakeet
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet
Brown-crested Flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
Tropical Kingbird
Couch's Kingbird
Green Jay
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Purple Martin
Bank Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Black-crested Titmouse
Carolina Wren
Clay-colored Thrush
Gray Catbird
Long-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Common Yellowthroat
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Olive Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Great-tailed Grackle
Bronzed Cowbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Baltimore Oriole
Lesser Goldfinch
House Sparrow
80 SPECIES
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