All photographs © 2019 by Ron Lam
Raymond and Ron from California had organized a group of photographers to come out and capture
our special birds on camera, but because of a very nasty bug that incapacitated
me for almost a week, I was unable to guide them as planned… L Thankfully Michael Marsden was able to step
in, and Raymond very graciously shared some of his photos, so here is a very
basic recap of their adventures!
Cameron
County was the destination this first day, and as always, this county usually
comes away with the highest daily species total, given you visit a variety of
habitats! The gang started at Laguna
Atascosa NWR, concentrating on the feeding area and a very brief visit to
Osprey Overlook. One can assume there
were plenty of Green Jays and Chachalacas at the feeders, along with
White-tipped Doves parading around the floor, plus an American Robin (actually
more exciting here in the Valley than the Clay-colored variety) made an
appearance! A single Bobwhite apparently
showed, probably on the way to Osprey Overlook.
A pair of White-tailed Hawks was along Buena Vista Road on the way to
Laguna Vista.
Green Jays
Harris' Hawk
White Ibis
White-tailed Hawks
It
was a shock to discover that Port Isabel Reservoir has apparently been
permanently drained in order to be used for recreational motorcycling!! L So they headed across the street to South
Padre Country Club (Michael introduced Pat and me to this place during a
Frontera Birdathon) where they picked up five female Bufflehead! Their route then took them through Laguna
Vista and onto the Island itself where the highlight was a very late Tennessee
Warbler that had been hanging around!
Black Skimmer
Northern Pintail
Roseate Spoonbill
From
there they headed down SR 48 where they encountered several Chihuahuan Ravens
and an American Oystercatcher at the boat ramp, then went up to explore Old
Port Isabel Road, where they apparently missed the Aplomado Falcon but had
another White-tailed Hawk and three Sandhill Cranes fly over the road. The resaca at the University of Texas in
Brownsville had a couple of Green Kingfishers, and they were able to bag the
Green Parakeets coming in to roost!
Finally they ended up at the famous Oliveira Park, where several hundred
Red-crowned Parrots put on an a aerial show but never actually came in to
roost. They ended their first day with
96 species (if you count the feral Muscovy at the Birding Center J)! Bird list:
Black-bellied
Whistling-Duck
Muscovy
Duck (Domestic type) Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
American Wigeon
Mottled Duck
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Redhead
Bufflehead
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Plain Chachalaca
Northern Bobwhite
Pied-billed Grebe
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
Eurasian Collared-Dove
White-tipped Dove
Mourning Dove
Clapper Rail - heard only
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Black-necked Stilt
American Oystercatcher
Black-bellied Plover
Killdeer
Long-billed Curlew
Sanderling
Dunlin
Least Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Spotted Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Willet
Lesser Yellowlegs
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Caspian Tern
Forster's Tern
Royal Tern
Black Skimmer
Neotropic Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
American White Pelican
Brown Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Reddish Egret
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Harris's Hawk
White-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Belted Kingfisher
Green Kingfisher
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
American Kestrel
Red-crowned Parrot
Green Parakeet
Eastern Phoebe
Great Kiskadee
Tropical Kingbird
Loggerhead Shrike
Green Jay
Chihuahuan Raven
Black-crested Titmouse
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
European Starling
Gray Catbird
Curve-billed Thrasher
Long-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
American Robin
House Sparrow
Olive Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Eastern Meadowlark
Altamira Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Tennessee Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Northern Cardinal
No comments:
Post a Comment