Friday, June 8, 2018

Goin' With the Flow

6/8/2018 

Clayton, a journalist with Texas Highways, wanted to write an article about the Valley, found our hotel, and booked a room and a guide (me)! J  Neither she nor her photographer Kenny were birders, but their purpose was to do a “go with the flow” type of trip to the Valley (no GPS, and no technology – just reading the maps the old fashioned way J), and seeing Santa Ana was high on their list.  So we took off very early this morning to beat the heat!

We even beat the automatic gate going in J, but as I warned them, we’d probably hear a lot more than we’d see this time of year!  So I tried to point out what I was hearing:  White-winged and White-tipped Doves, Clay-colored Thrushes, and Olive Sparrows were amongst the early-morning songsters, and as we got out of the car a Chachalaca posed on a tree (which was also big on Clayton’s “wish list”), but didn’t stay around for a scope view…  

It was just after sunrise when we got there, so Kenny wanted to try and get some early morning shots in an open area, so we headed to Pintail Lakes first.  It was a beautiful morning and was actually quite pleasant to start; going over the levee we had a pair of Roseate Spoonbills fly past, and once out in the open and by the lakes a pair of Mottled Ducks greeted us first off (but again, didn’t stick around for scope views), and an adult and immature Yellow-crowned Night Heron posed on some dead branches.  A pretty Black-bellied Whistling Duck sat out in the lake, so we scoped him while Kenny took pictures of us enjoying the duck! J  

On the Pintail Lakes Trail

Clayton and Kenny

A Common Ground Dove sang and then darted past, but then I heard a Ringed Kingfisher call, so we hightailed it down to the last lake (also to get the sun to our backs) and were greeted with lots more night herons!  Each lake is numbered (and I keep forgetting which is which L), but the lake we ended up at had lots of Pied-billed Grebes on the nest, trumpeting Least Grebes, both Neotropic Cormorants and an Anhinga drying their wings, and Black-necked Stilts flying overhead!  Both Tropical Kingbird and Great Kiskadee gave us scope looks, and before long I heard a Blue Grosbeak singing – and there he was, right on top!  What a looker!  

Yellow-crowned Night Heron on the trail...

...and on the wood!
   
The kingfisher was in a tree along the trail, but obscured by branches, and as we tried to get closer he took off, but thankfully landed on a branch across the pond which was actually in great light!  So everyone got scope looks at him before he took off and showed off his lovely chestnut underparts!  Both Great Egrets and a Great Blue Heron flew in; Clayton relayed a story where one seemed to follow them all the way down the Guadalupe River on a boat trip!  I heard an ani, but never could spot him, telling my charges that he looks kinda like a grackle with a big schnozz!

Clayton enjoying scope views of the Ringed Kingfisher

We headed back after that, enjoying a pair of Blue-winged Teal that had joined the Mottled Ducks and a female Marl Pennant (until told otherwise) watching us from a stem!  Some Lesser Goldfinches fed in some sunflowers along the main trail, and taking the cutoff trail back to the tour road bagged us a pair of Altamira Orioles!  Up on the road a Beardless Tyrannulet called loud and clear, but as per usual wouldn’t let us get a look… L  We were on our way to the Willow Lakes connector trail and enjoying a Yellow-billed Cuckoo when the Rare Bird Alert went off on my phone:  a Mexican Violetear (which had initially shown up the day before at Quinta Mazatlan) had reappeared!  When I told them how rare this bird was (a life bird for me, definitely) and suggested they may want to write about chasing a rarity as part of the “birding culture” (plus the fact that the mansion itself has such a great history), they were very game!  So we double-timed it back to the car and headed to Quinta Mazatlan!

Female Marl Pennant

Kenny getting some photo ops

We found a spot in the almost-full parking lot, and right away the Chachalacas were doing their thing right there in the lot, spreading the morning news!  A Clay-colored Thrush zipped in while a Curve-billed Thrasher fed on the ground, but we quickly headed in, checked in, then found the clearing behind the amphitheater where the bird had been hanging out.  My friend Pat and I had zipped over the previous day and dipped (Keith gave his blessing to take a long lunch hour J), but we saw old friends, and practically the same crowd was back today!  The bird wasn’t visible when we walked up, but we gave it about 15 minutes before exploring the rest of the place, and in good journalist fashion, Clayton “interviewed” Mary G., Lizee C., and I think even Simon K. a little!  I had explained that this bird was a recent “split”:  what used to be known as Green Violetear – ranging from Mexico down into South America – was now the Mexican Violetear (for the birds in Mexico down to Honduras) and Lesser Violetear (everything south of there).  I wasn’t sure what the split was based on, so Mary gave us a rundown on the subtle differences in plumage and vocalizations.  In the meantime we enjoyed a little female Black-chinned Hummer that came in, and a family of Chachalacas that came right out on the road!  

After a while the group broke up while we waited out the 15 minutes, hearing a Hooded Oriole sing and a cowbird rattle (Clayton didn’t think very highly of their parasitic habits)!  After said 15 minutes I took my charges on a stroll around the main trail, where we had more closeup looks at Chachalacas, a family of Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, and a baby Curve-billed Thrasher being chased by an adult!  Clayton enjoyed the animal statutes (in case you didn’t see the real thing J).  We were just coming out of the Ebony Grove where I had been showing them the Green Parakeet nesting trees area when another alert came over my phone – the bird was back!  So we zipped back over there (along with everyone else who had gotten the alert) and again, the bird was gone by the time we got there… L  But this time he didn’t stay away long: I think both Mary and Lizee announced at once that they had the bird, and this time he posed just beautifully!  I eventually got the scope on him, and Clayton was just delighted with this sparkling little guy!  Even Kenny was able to get a digiscoped picture (which he immediately posted on Facebook J)! 

Clayton enjoying the statuary

A young Ladder-backed Woodpecker entertains us with its acrobatics!



Back at the watch site, Lizee, Mary, and Simon enjoy the vagrant Mexican Violetear (below)!


After that Clayton and Kenny explored the old mansion while the rest of us continued to enjoy the violetear, then eventually called it a day.  We had a modest 60 species for the morning, but you couldn’t beat the quality!  Bird List:

  Black-bellied Whistling-Duck         
  Mottled Duck                         
  Blue-winged Teal                     
  Plain Chachalaca                     
  Least Grebe                          
  Pied-billed Grebe                    
  Neotropic Cormorant                  
  Anhinga                              
  Great Blue Heron                     
  Great Egret                          
  Yellow-crowned Night-Heron           
  Roseate Spoonbill                    
  Turkey Vulture                       
  Common Gallinule                     
  American Coot                        
  Black-necked Stilt                   
  Killdeer                             
  Eurasian Collared-Dove               
  White-winged Dove                     
  Mourning Dove                        
  Common Ground-Dove                   
  White-tipped Dove                    
  Yellow-billed Cuckoo                 
  Groove-billed Ani                    
  Chimney Swift                         
  Mexican Violetear                    
  Black-chinned Hummingbird            
  Buff-bellied Hummingbird             
  Ringed Kingfisher                    
  Golden-fronted Woodpecker            
  Ladder-backed Woodpecker             
  Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet        
  Brown-crested Flycatcher             
  Great Kiskadee                       
  Tropical Kingbird                    
  Couch's Kingbird                     
  White-eyed Vireo                     
  Green Jay                            
  Purple Martin                        
  Bank Swallow                         
  Black-crested Titmouse               
  Verdin                               
  Carolina Wren                         
  Clay-colored Thrush                  
  Curve-billed Thrasher                
  Long-billed Thrasher                 
  Northern Mockingbird                 
  European Starling                    
  Common Yellowthroat                   
  Olive Sparrow                        
  Northern Cardinal                    
  Blue Grosbeak                        
  Dickcissel                           
  Red-winged Blackbird                 
  Great-tailed Grackle                 
  Brown-headed Cowbird                 
  Hooded Oriole                        
  Altamira Oriole                      
  Lesser Goldfinch                     
  House Sparrow                        

60 SPECIES

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