"Forget the Island!"

11/19/21 

I had guided Vicki, Janie, Linda, and Kayden last March just before COVID hit, and they were back for more (minus grandson Kayden)!  Initially they wanted to visit South Padre and the Laguna Vista Nature Trail, but when I gave them an alternate itinerary that included all the cool rarities that were around, they said, “Forget South Padre!” J  So we headed first to UTRGV in Brownsville where the 4^th US record of Social Flycatcher had shown up again (the initial sighting was a one-day wonder during the Festival) and parked in the free lot in Lincoln Park.  There we ran into fellow guide Ron Weeks (when the flycatcher showed initially during the Festival, he famously said over the guides’ chat, “Is it still being seen?  I may have a mutiny on my hands!” J), and then all headed over to the “dike”, a pathway between two resacas where the bird had shown pretty faithfully for the last couple of days.  Unfortunately Linda’s back was the one to mutiny, so she relaxed on a bench while we continued on.  It was easy to find the mob, and shortly Ron heard the flycatcher (giving a sharp tia very unlike a Kiskadee).  For the longest time he remained within the shrubbery; I started the video just to get a sample of his vocalization, but then suddenly, there he was right out in the open!  He sat for the longest time, giving everyone wonderful looks in perfect light!  The two spoonbills that flew overhead were virtually ignored!

We find the mob that has the bird in their sights... 

...the Social Flycatcher!

Call note, lifted from a video and then looped.

Happy campers!  (L-R, Vicki, Janie, and fellow local birding buddy Susan)

From there Vicki and Jackie wanted to see what else was in the resacas, so once I figured out where I was J, we checked out the resaca closest to the bookstore, where hundreds of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks were hanging around!  A Great Egret was hanging with them, along with a White Ibis and the ubiquitous feral Muscovies, but I was disappointed that the Black Phoebe didn’t show!  Over on the bridge where the Common Black Hawk used to spend his winters, Jackie spotted a Green Kingfisher shoot under the bridge, then give us a great show from a small twig!  Her mate remained on the other side on a snag, and shortly an Anhinga made his way over to the same snag and sat with his wings spread out to dry!  Other than that it was surprisingly non-birdy.

Part of the Black-bellied Whistling Duck mob

With Great Egret at right

Female Green Kingfisher

Anhinga

Janie and Vicki pose by the bridge...

...while more local birding buddies (Alicia and Laura) check things out!

We picked up Linda (not being a “lister” she wasn’t too disappointed over missing the flycatcher), stopped at a Stripes to get some meds for her back, then headed on to San Benito Wetlands where my friends Pat and Norma and I were able to bag the Fork-tailed Flycatcher for their 2021 Rarity Game earlier in the week.  We came in from the southeast this time, passing my friend Peggy who hadn’t seen the Forktail, but we cruised slowly down Mayfield Drive anyway; Eastern Meadowlarks were singing while a flock of Westerns rose and fell in a ditch to our right.  Waay off on one of those big power poles sat a dark raptor that oddly looked like a Red-tailed Hawk with a rufous chest, and doing a little digging afterwards we concluded it had to be the dark morph calurus that had been reported earlier.  Closer yet was the Fuertes’ Redtail (which we had seen the other day), and further down the White-tailed Kite pair, one which came close and gave us a great show, harassing one of the Redtails and then hovering right next to us!  A Harrier also swooped through, and closer to the water treatment plant we found one Scissor-tailed Flycatcher and several Vermilions, plus a Curve-billed Thrasher and Loggerhead Shrike.  At road’s end a Belted Kingfisher posed briefly before being typically skittish and taking off, but alas no Forktail (we figured that maybe he went south with the front, along with the mob of Scissortails that had been there previously). 

A very distant dark morph Red-tailed Hawk

"Fuertes'" Hawk, a southwestern race of the Redtail that shows little to no belly band.

White-tailed Kite

Young male Vermilion Flycatcher

Fuzzy-headed adult male

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Belted Kingfisher

Next on the docket was the playa up in Willacy County where the female Black Scoter was hanging out.  Thankfully the roads were in good shape after the heavy rains the front brought, and there were still plenty of ducks in the playa:  a string of Green-winged Teal, Ruddies, Lesser Scaup (someone had reported a Greater, but at that distance I’d be hard-pressed to pick one out), a handful of Pied-billed Grebes, a Greater Yellowlegs, and a couple of Black-necked Stilts allowed themselves to be found, but we just couldn’t find the scoter.  Useless to the girls but good for the list was a heard-only Sprague’s Pipit, and we unsuccessfully tried to call out a House Wren, but from that other angle we spotted a nearby Long-billed Curlew close to the road! 

Vicki viewing the birds on the playa

I had heard Sandhill Cranes calling while we were out of the car, so instead of backtracking we decided to continue on CR 1900 and see what we could see.  We were rewarded with a soaring White-tailed Hawk, plus several Caracaras in a nearby field!  Nearly invisible against the plowed soil were several Long-billed Curlews very close to the road!  Three Lark Sparrows popped up in a scrubby bush next to the road, but the cranes remained elusive.  I had stopped long enough to get a Diet Coke out of the back when a barking farm dog came over to investigate; thankfully he stayed on property amongst a chorus of “Go home!”s from the girls while I got back in the car… 

Lark Sparrow

Long-billed Curlew

Just as we got back on FM 498 to head to Tiocano Lake, an alert came over the RBA Chat that Father Tom had just found the Fork-tailed Flycatcher!!  The vote was to continue on to Tiocano (Vicki said that if they were truly “hard core” they’d go back, but they weren’t… J), so we continued on, Siri taking us the back way through Santa Rosa (still got lost as I missed Kansas City Road…).  I didn’t really expect the Cackling Goose from last week to still be around, but Tiocano always has something interesting, and this time it was a repeat of Inspiration Road Pond as tons of White Pelicans filled the lakes on both sides (along with some Neotropic Cormorants)!  In addition we added Great and Little Blue Herons, Tricolored Herons, a big group of Long-billed Dowitchers, more Black-necked Stilts, a couple of Spotted Sandpipers chasing each other, a handful of Mottled Ducks, and two female Shovelers.  In the songbird department Common Yellowthroats were calling and Marsh Wrens were singing; we managed to call out a female Yellowthroat for Vicki, but the wren was unsurprisingly obstinate.  Unfortunately the King Rail never sounded off, but that’s life… 

Tiocano Lake

Fly-by White Pelican

Recent reports of the Golden-crowned Warbler at Valley Nature Center sounded a little more promising, so we headed there next, picking up a handful of Inca Doves outside the building.  The gal behind the desk knew we wanted the warbler before we even asked, so she whipped out a map and marked the spot!  We headed to the little bridge, and the girls got a kick out of the mob of Soft-shelled Turtles and Red-eared Sliders all descending upon our position wanting a handout! J  We headed down the Butterfly Trail, being waylaid by a Chachalaca and a Long-billed Thrasher at a tray feeder, but at the intersection thankfully ran into a handful of people who were waiting for the warbler to show!  One gal was hearing its “tic-tic” call, and occasionally you’d get glimpses of movement back in the stuff, but at one point the bird miraculously came out in the open: Janie got a great look, I got off a shot that actually came out, but Vicki and Linda only got glimpses.  I offered to hang around as long as necessary, but they were okay with the glimpse (they were trying to recall if they actually had seen it in Costa Rica), so we just wandered, picking up Green Jays, a Clay-colored Thrush, and at least heard the wing whistles of the White-tipped Doves.  The girls were ready to call it a day after that (it was close to closing time anyway), so we headed out, picking up a wheeping Hooded Oriole in a palm by the bridge, a fly-by White-winged Dove in the parking lot, and a rattling Buff-bellied Hummingbird in the front garden. 

 

Janie shoots the turtles over the railing...

Red-eared Slider

Soft-shelled Turtle

"Proof shot" of the Golden-crowned Warbler

Vickie posing outside the Visitor's Center

All in all we had 73 species for the day, which was a decent total for a rarity chase!  Bird list:

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck

Northern Shoveler

Mottled Duck

Green-winged Teal

Lesser Scaup

Ruddy Duck

Pied-billed Grebe

Rock Pigeon

Eurasian Collared-Dove

Inca Dove

White-tipped Dove

White-winged Dove

Mourning Dove

Buff-bellied Hummingbird

Sandhill Crane

Black-necked Stilt

Long-billed Curlew

Long-billed Dowitcher

Spotted Sandpiper

Greater Yellowlegs

Laughing Gull

Anhinga

Double-crested Cormorant

Neotropic Cormorant

American White Pelican

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

Snowy Egret

Little Blue Heron

Tricolored Heron

Cattle Egret

White Ibis

Roseate Spoonbill

Turkey Vulture

White-tailed Kite

Northern Harrier

White-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Belted Kingfisher

Green Kingfisher

Golden-fronted Woodpecker

Crested Caracara

American Kestrel

Vermilion Flycatcher

Great Kiskadee

Social Flycatcher

Tropical Kingbird

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

White-eyed Vireo

Loggerhead Shrike

Green Jay

Black-crested Titmouse

Horned Lark

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

House Wren

Marsh Wren

Carolina Wren

Curve-billed Thrasher

Long-billed Thrasher

Northern Mockingbird

Clay-colored Thrush

House Sparrow

Lark Sparrow

Western Meadowlark

Eastern Meadowlark

Hooded Oriole

Great-tailed Grackle

Orange-crowned Warbler

Common Yellowthroat

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Golden-crowned Warbler

Northern Cardinal

Some Post-Festival Chasing

11/16/21 

Gail from Vermont had attended the RGV Birding Festival and was spending an extra week in the Valley to bird before having to drive to Waco, so she wanted to go somewhere off the beaten track (she figured she could visit the popular parks on her own).  So we originally scheduled road-birding along Wallace Road, but several rarities that were found during the Festival were still being seen in Hidalgo County, so when I asked her if she wanted to try for them, she was game!  So we first headed to Bentsen Rio Grande State Park in hopes of Audubon’s Oriole, Rose-throated Becard, and Hook-billed Kite!

After checking in we went straight to the Nature Center feeders, as that’s where the becard was hanging, and also where I thought the oriole was, but fellow guide Tiffany informed us it was actually at the Visitor’s Center!  So we traipsed back and found the area where it had been seen, but it never showed; we got Chachalacas, Green Jays, Inca Doves, and Cardinals instead, plus a distant Eastern Phoebe.

Northern Cardinal

Back to the Nature Center we went, stopping to admire a Blue Spiny Lizard on the wall (which wasn’t blue, Gail noticed J); the becard was a no-show, but Gail was thrilled with the Altamira Orioles that came in, as she hadn’t seen any orioles this trip yet (even during the Festival)!  The Chachalacas were giving their strange rising alarm calls (someone, probably Dayna the Volunteer, mentioned that it might have been due to the resident Bobcat), and more regulars came to the feeders, including a Long-billed Thrasher and tons of Green Jays.  We took the tram to the hawk tower, but on the way the driver pointed out a huge tom Turkey indulging in one of the tray feeders!  (I also noticed they’re no longer flagged in eBird; guess those tracking them are happy with their “residence” there…)  We also ran into Tiffany’s group on the way, so we picked them up and headed over.

Blue Spiny Lizard

Altamira Oriole

Long-billed Thrasher

Green Jay feeding frenzy (with token Red-winged Blackbird)

White-eyed Vireo hiding in a nearby bush

Wild Turkey 

When we pulled up to the Rio Grande Trailhead (also the trailhead to the Hawk Tower), the bad news was that several vans were parked there (which meant a huge group up on the tower; I was hoping the thing didn’t have a maximum capacity), but the good news was that meant more eyes (including professional guide eyes J) looking for the Hook-billed Kite!  The top platform was indeed packed, and after a while Gail and I parked the scope down the ramp a little just to get some breathing room.  One of the guides spotted a Green Kingfisher in the same exact spot I had one the last time I came up here looking for the kite, along with various waders and waterfowl in the resaca.  In the other direction was an Anhinga, plus a hovering large kingfisher that I suspected was a Ringed (and pointed out to the group), only because I again had one down there the last time, but I also had those two Belted Kingfishers chasing each other, so since it was in horrible light and far away, I wasn’t gonna make a call without it calling!  The kite never showed (one of the guides was even doing a countdown to the time it showed up the day before), but a nice consolation prize was a juvenile Broad-winged Hawk that flew low over our heads!  (I was too busy studying the thing to get a photo… L)  A couple of Gray Hawks were also nice, so it wasn’t a total loss!  A hovering Osprey right in the light gave a good lesson in ID by jizz and behavior!

Young White Ibis from the hawk tower

A birding tour all cozy on said hawk tower 

Rather than waiting for the tram to swing around again after our hour up there, I suggested we start walking in the direction that the tram would be coming (and hitch a ride at that time), as we could possibly kick up some birds that way.  Gail seemed dubious as it had gotten rather quiet by that time, but I was hoping for a Roadrunner, as she wanted to see one and I’d often see them along that stretch.  Somehow we got talking about venomous and non-venomous snakes in the Valley, and I was just about to mention that the one snake one was most likely to encounter here was an Indigo Snake, when I suddenly noticed one stretch out on the road ahead of us!  He must have realized he had been spotted as he started moving the minute I said something, but Gail got a great look (and he was unfortunately too fast for the camera)! 

We jumped on the tram when it came, and on the way back to the parking lot had a nice Red-shouldered Hawk (in the sun, unfortunately).  We then took Old Military Highway (OMH) towards Hidalgo, and we were just past the Butterfly Center when we noticed a gorgeous White-tailed Kite right next to the road in beautiful light (and he stayed put, too J)!  Gail spotted a string of White Pelicans in the distance, and I figured they were probably headed to Inspiration Road Pond, and that we should check it out.  Well!  That place was stuffed with hundreds of White Pelicans all doing the swim-n-scoop routine, along with dozens of Neotropic Cormorants – and almost every one of them had a fish in his or her beak!  There were a few egrets hanging around as well, but they were virtually ignored as the pelicans swam and flew and in general just put a on a great show!  But there was one oddball white bird in the distance that I though might be a gull at first, so Gail dragged out her Kowa scope (while I did the “camera-scope” trick of shooting the thing then zooming in; with a camera with the equivalent of a 1,365 mm lens, that gets you in closer than the scope can!), and it turned out to be an immature Snow Goose!  That was a hoot!

White-tailed Kite

Inspiration Road Pond

White Pelican feeding frenzy

Sailing in to a better spot...

Neotropic Cormorant with prize 

Continuing on OMH, I took Gail up on the levee so she could see Chimney Park and the Rio Grande, and told her all about the historic flooding in 2010 from Hurricane Alex.  Anzalduas was still closed due to the housing of immigrants with COVID, but we managed to add some Black Vultures along the entrance road.  We then continued on towards Granjeno, where a black hawk with silver wing linings glided low overhead; I assumed it was a young Zone-tailed Hawk (as there were no bands on the tail), but with so many buteos having dark morphs, I wanted to be sure to rule out anything else.  Fast forward to post-production and a couple of video grabs that showed a suspiciously whitish tail, and a few inquiries to the RGV Birding Group (and especially Bill Clark, Mr. Raptor himself), confirmed that it was actually a Harlan’s Hawk, not a Zonetail!  Truthfully, that was in the back of my mind anyway, as Bill had banded a Harlan’s years ago that wintered here (a rarity in itself, even though presently considered only a race of the Red-tailed), so I wasn’t a bit surprised.

Harlan's Hawk, both ventral and dorsal views

 

On to Hidalgo, where we didn’t have to go into Old Hidalgo Pumphouse before finding the Monk Parakeets!  They were too skittish for the camera (or even a really decent look), so from there we continued to Quinta Mazatlan in hopes of the Crimson-collared Grosbeak.  The big group we encountered at Bentsen beat us there as well J, and the guides were spread out trying to find this thing while most of the folks waited at the amphitheater, where the bird had also been seen.  Come to find out one of the guides, Brennan Mulrooney, was an old San Diego birding buddy, but back then he was a “young kid” who joined me a few times, and this time we didn’t even recognize each other!  (The name tag gave him away… J)  When activity finally geared up again at the feeders there, we got great looks at their Clay-colored Thrushes (one was color-banded), and both Long-billed and Curve-billed Thrashers.  A Carolina Wren made a brief appearance, snatching a seed and darting off in the manner of the titmice, while a Summer Tanager called behind us unseen.

Amphitheater feeders at Quinta Mazatlan

Clay-colored Thrush

 

One of their color-banded birds

Carolina Wren

Northern Cardinal

We took our leave after awhile as I wanted to check some areas, like Ebony Grove, where the grosbeak had been seen in years past.  It was really quiet by then; the most exciting thing we saw on the trails was a little Black-striped Snake, a South Texas specialty, that I thought was dead at first (as I almost stepped on him), but proved to be very much alive when he scurried away after a couple of pictures!

Black-striped Snake

Gail outside the historic mansion 

We called it a day after that with 66 species and some cool critters as well!  Bird list:

Snow Goose

Blue-winged Teal

Plain Chachalaca

Wild Turkey

Pied-billed Grebe

Rock Pigeon

Inca Dove

White-winged Dove

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Buff-bellied Hummingbird

Sora

Common Gallinule

American Coot

Anhinga

Double-crested Cormorant

Neotropic Cormorant

American White Pelican

Least Bittern

Great Egret

Snowy Egret

White Ibis

Black Vulture

Turkey Vulture

Osprey

White-tailed Kite

Northern Harrier

Cooper's Hawk

Harris's Hawk

Gray Hawk

Red-shouldered Hawk

Broad-winged Hawk

Zone-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Green Kingfisher

Golden-fronted Woodpecker

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

Crested Caracara

American Kestrel

Peregrine Falcon

Monk Parakeet

Eastern Phoebe

Great Kiskadee

White-eyed Vireo

Loggerhead Shrike

Green Jay

Black-crested Titmouse

Verdin

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

House Wren

Carolina Wren

European Starling

Curve-billed Thrasher

Long-billed Thrasher

Northern Mockingbird

Clay-colored Thrush

House Sparrow

House Finch

Lesser Goldfinch

Olive Sparrow

Altamira Oriole

Red-winged Blackbird

Great-tailed Grackle

Orange-crowned Warbler

Summer Tanager

Northern Cardinal