Escape from South Dakota

October 8-9, 2016

Mary from Portland, TX (whom I had birded with last spring at South Padre), talked her friend Luanne from South Dakota into coming down to the Valley for some fall birding, and since Luanne was a new birder and this was her first time to South Texas (as a birder, anyway), everything was new (which makes it easier on the guide :-))!  On Saturday we decided to focus on south Hidalgo County and started with Bentsen Rio Grande State Park.  I warned them that the specialties are much easier to see after they start feeding the birds in November, but even so we managed great looks at Green Jay, both Ladder-backed and Golden-fronted Woodpeckers together, and a gorgeous Altamira Oriole!  Couch's Kingbird also showed well, but the Olive Sparrow was elusive...

Mary and Luanne at Kingfisher Overlook

From there we headed over to Anzalduas via Old Military Highway, and we hadn't gone far before we spotted a big, beautiful female Ringed Kingfisher sitting along the levee!  She allowed great looks and wasn't fazed a bit by all the Border Patrol vehicles whizzing by her on the levee! :-)

Ringed Kingfisher

Anzalduas was a little disappointing in that it didn't produce the specialties I was hoping for (at least by sight - we heard both the Black Phoebe and Tropical Kingbird), but the consolation prize was a noisy Osprey and a cute little subadult Vermilion Flycatcher!  We startled a roosting Black-crowned Night Heron along the little "Dam View Trail" (he stayed put long enough for everyone to get views), then made a quick stop to see if the Burrowing Owls had arrived yet (they hadn't).  After that we headed straight for Quinta Mazatlán (actually, we may have hit Tony Roma's first :-)), where we did manage to see the target Chachalacas and Clay-colored Thrushes, but my personal highlight was an Owl Moth that we flushed, and then which thankfully landed on a tree!  Butterflies were plentiful by the Education Center, with a nice Julia Heliconian showing off.

Along the Rio Grande at Anzalduas County Park

Cutie pie Vermilion Flycatcher

Owl Moth (it's the lighter-colored piece of bark... :-))

Sampling the cactus tunas...

Clay-colored Thrush

Julia Heliconian

With what time we had left we elected to head to Estero Llano Grande State Park, which is always a great place to go in the afternoon as the lighting is perfect for viewing Ibis Pond!  This day it had several snoozing Blue-winged Teal, along with a White-faced Ibis alternately feeding and preening (this turned out to be Luanne's favorite bird of the trip :-))!  We headed straight out to Alligator Lake, pausing to check out some yellowlegs at Dowitcher Pond, but alas, we couldn't find the Pauraque (Park Host Huck DID warn us that he didn't see it that morning), nor was the Screech Owl out, but we did see a nice adult Yellow-crowned Night Heron, and the Alligator was a big hit!

Mottled Duck

Waterbird lineup at Ibis Pond (Pied-billed Grebe, Coot, Blue-winged Teals, and White-faced Ibis)

Alert and laid-back Blue-winged Teals

White-faced Ibis

The next day we headed out to Cameron County, with the first destination being Old Port Isabel Road.  We were greeted right away with a covey of Bobwhite and lots of Eastern Meadowlarks and Long-billed Curlews, but I was sweating a little when the Aplomado Falcon wasn't at his appointed spot near the nesting platform!  Thankfully we didn't have to go far before we spotted him near the top of one of those high-wire towers, and he even performed by darting out and catching a dragonfly for breakfast!  Harris' and White-tailed Hawks also showed off nicely, and we managed nice views of Cactus Wrens, while other "western" specialties (like Verdin and Bewick's Wren) were most uncooperative.  A Wood Stork sailed across the road, and we had nice studies of Cave Swallows in with all the Barnies on the wires!  The road itself lived up to its reputation, and the north end especially was in HORRIBLE shape (but thankfully dry, so we were able to get through)!  I told the girls they could now say that they survived the infamous Old Port Isabel Road! :-)

Northern Bobwhite

Distant view of an Aplomado Falcon

Cactus Wren

White-tailed Hawk

Thankfully it was dry...

Having survived that, we headed straight over to South Padre Island, where we first checked the condos for the wintering Peregrine (a no-show) then hit the bayside flats for water birds.  The water level was not low but not high, either (we watched a van go plowing through the water to get to the other point), but there was a nice collection of birds to the north that we could get closer to by skirting the edge, which we did.  The girls enjoyed great looks at a dancing Reddish Egret, skimmers, several types of terns (including a Common), a nice Franklin's Gull in with all the Laughings (we were keeping an eye out for a reported Sabine's that was hanging around various places around the Island), and my personal favorite, the cute little Piping Plover!

Watching the water birds...

Black Skimmers

Wind-blown Piping Plover doing his Dinner Dance...

View of the flats

Semipalmated Plover, similar to the Piping but the color of "wet sand".

Headed over to the Convention Centre after that, and as Dan Jones reported, we had to work hard to find the migrants!  Mary had been with me last spring when she remembered "hundreds" of Magnolia Warblers and other migrants, but it was quite different today!  We found a Catbird by the water feature, and several Indigo Buntings (that were not "indigo" to Luanne's chagrin) carried on in the scrub.  We did have our first Orange-crowned Warbler of the season along with a Tennessee Warbler, and a nice man with a Big Gun alerted us to the presence of a Clay-colored Sparrow, Northern Waterthrush, and Scarlet Tanager, all of which we eventually saw (Mary found a Swainson's Thrush that the rest of us missed)!  We took a quick jaunt out to the boardwalk where the resident show-off Common Gallinules performed as expected :-), and the Clapper Rails sounded off, but it was pretty quiet otherwise (except for a nice Tricolored Heron that landed in front of us).

Luanne and Mary in the back of the Convention Centre

Clay-colored Sparrow

Common Gallinule

Tricolored Heron

After lunch at Parrot Eyes (great fried fish) we checked out Sheepshead, which had a few things like Least Flycatcher, Blue-headed Vireo, Nashville and Magnolia Warbler, and American Redstart.  After checking out the flats at Pier 19, we made a brief stop at the Highway 48 Boat Ramp for the American Oystercatchers, then called it a day (but not without stopping at Stripes for a F'Real milkshake :-))!

Bird List:

  Black-bellied Whistling-Duck         

  Mottled Duck                         
  Blue-winged Teal                     
  Northern Shoveler                    
  Plain Chachalaca                     
  Northern Bobwhite                    
  Least Grebe                          
  Pied-billed Grebe                    
  Wood Stork                           
  American White Pelican               
  Brown Pelican                        
  Great Blue Heron                     
  Great Egret                          
  Snowy Egret                          
  Little Blue Heron                    
  Tricolored Heron                     
  Reddish Egret                        
  Cattle Egret                         
  Black-crowned Night-Heron            
  Yellow-crowned Night-Heron           
  White Ibis                           
  White-faced Ibis                     
  Roseate Spoonbill                    
  Turkey Vulture                       
  Osprey                                
  White-tailed Kite                    
  Harris's Hawk                        
  White-tailed Hawk                    
  Clapper Rail                         
  Common Gallinule                     
  American Coot                        
  Black-necked Stilt                   
  American Oystercatcher               
  Black-bellied Plover                 
  Semipalmated Plover                  
  Piping Plover                        
  Killdeer                             
  Spotted Sandpiper                    
  Greater Yellowlegs                   
  Willet                               
  Lesser Yellowlegs                    
  Long-billed Curlew                   
  Marbled Godwit                       
  Ruddy Turnstone                       
  Sanderling                           
  Least Sandpiper                      
  Western Sandpiper                    
  Laughing Gull                        
  Franklin's Gull                      
  Caspian Tern                         
  Common Tern                          
  Forster's Tern                       
  Royal Tern                           
  Sandwich Tern                        
  Black Skimmer                        
  Rock Pigeon                          
  Eurasian Collared-Dove               
  White-winged Dove                    
  Mourning Dove                        
  Inca Dove                            
  Common Ground-Dove                   
  White-tipped Dove                    
  Lesser Nighthawk                     
  Ruby-throated Hummingbird            
  Buff-bellied Hummingbird             
  Ringed Kingfisher                    
  Belted Kingfisher                    
  Golden-fronted Woodpecker            
  Ladder-backed Woodpecker             
  American Kestrel                     
  Aplomado Falcon                      
  Green Parakeet                       
  Least Flycatcher                     
  Black Phoebe                          
  Eastern Phoebe                       
  Vermilion Flycatcher                 
  Great Kiskadee                       
  Tropical Kingbird                    
  Couch's Kingbird                     
  Scissor-tailed Flycatcher             
  Loggerhead Shrike                    
  White-eyed Vireo                     
  Blue-headed Vireo                    
  Green Jay                            
  Northern Rough-winged Swallow        
  Barn Swallow                         
  Cave Swallow                         
  Black-crested Titmouse               
  Verdin                               
  House Wren                           
  Carolina Wren                        
  Bewick's Wren                        
  Cactus Wren                          
  Blue-gray Gnatcatcher                
  Ruby-crowned Kinglet                 
  Clay-colored Thrush
  Swainson's Thrush                  
  Gray Catbird                         
  Curve-billed Thrasher                
  Long-billed Thrasher                 
  Northern Mockingbird                 
  European Starling                    
  Northern Waterthrush                 
  Tennessee Warbler                    
  Orange-crowned Warbler               
  Nashville Warbler                     
  Common Yellowthroat                  
  American Redstart                    
  Magnolia Warbler                     
  Yellow Warbler                       
  Wilson's Warbler                     
  Olive Sparrow                         
  Clay-colored Sparrow                 
  Savannah Sparrow                     
  Lincoln's Sparrow                    
  Scarlet Tanager                      
  Northern Cardinal                    
  Blue Grosbeak                        
  Indigo Bunting                       
  Red-winged Blackbird                 
  Eastern Meadowlark                   
  Great-tailed Grackle                 
  Altamira Oriole                      
  Lesser Goldfinch                     
  House Sparrow                        

125 SPECIES

Guiding the Guide

9/6/16

Bird Fairs are a great way to meet new friends, and Keith and Audrey did exactly that at the British Bird Fair when they met Ian Saville, co-owner of Wrybill Birding Tours of New Zealand!  (His company's claim to fame was rediscovering the New Zealand Storm-Petrel after being written off as extinct for over 100 years!)  "Sav" and his wife were coming to the States anyway, so they decided to take a swing down to the LRGV and fill in some gaps in his North American list!

Sav's "want list" was pretty straight forward, targeting the common "Valley specialties", so we started pre-dawn at Bentsen where several things were tantalizingly calling but not wanting to show themselves:  Couch's Kingbird, Brown-crested Flycatcher, and even Green Jays played hide-and-seek until the sun broke over the horizon and gave us some light!  Dickcissels earned the name "Dotcissels" as they flew overhead giving their "brat" calls!  Chachalacas were a bit more cooperative (especially a family that was right overhead as we started out), but unfortunately one of the best targets, a Northern Beardless Tyrannulet, called once in the distance and then never called again.  A Gray Hawk posed briefly (twice) on a dead tree, and at the Resaca we heard Least Bitterns and got barely passable views of his first Kiskadee, but it was rather quiet.  When a pair of Clay-colored Thrushes shot through and I calmly pointed them out, he nearly fainted - he didn't realize that they're pretty much a "backyard bird" now! 

We headed back via the Kiskadee Trail (where an Olive Sparrow miraculously hopped out onto the trail) and Acacia Loop (hoping for another shot at the Gray Hawk), and I was frankly feeling disappointed at the lack of cooperative birds when I heard some Groove-billed Anis a bit past our turnoff, so we headed down the loop a little, and before long a whole family group gave crippling looks!  (Unfortunately I had left my camera in the car...)  The bird action actually picked up a bit on the way back to the parking lot, with a Roadrunner that came out onto the road in response to my coo, a magnificent Ringed Kingfisher flying right overhead, Cave Swallows at the bridge (I heard a distant Black Phoebe but he didn't need that one J), and finally a Buff-bellied Hummingbird in the gardens!  While we were waiting for the hummingbird to show up, an Upland Sandpiper called overhead, sending Sav running around the corner to try and spot it, which he did!  We also had a tree full of orioles which included three species:  Baltimore, Hooded, and Orchard!

When I asked him the day before if he was "into" butterflies, he said he was, so I figured a visit to the National Butterfly Center was in order:  not only do they have feeders where more of his target species would probably appear, but a report of not one, but TWO Mercurial Skippers had ME chomping at the bit to at least try for them!  We flushed a Bobwhite heading down to the "old gardens", but we didn't spend a whole lot of time carefully "grooming" the jasmine tree where one of the rare skippers had shown up as birds were the priority.  I did point out some common things like Fiery Skipper, Giant Swallowtail, Gulf Fritillary, and Brown Longtail, but the Clavipes Sphinx took the prize!  Snouts were all over the place, and he mentioned that most every car and truck coming down the highway from Galveston was stopping to clean their windshields of the hapless little buggers!  The feeders came through for us, with lots of Green Jays, a cooperative White-tipped Dove, a couple of Black-crested Titmice shooting in and out, and finally a young Altamira Oriole allowing a brief view.

Clavipes Sphinx

From there the plan was to head to Anzalduas County Park via the levee road, but as we poked down Old Military Highway Sav suddenly knocked on my dashboard - I thought he was warning me about the state trooper parked on the side ahead of us, but he had seen TWO Ringed Kingfishers perched on the wire in front of us - he was just so excited he couldn't get it out! J We actually had another Gray Hawk along the levee (that didn't stay put) and unsuccessfully tried to lure out a Long-billed Thrasher, but did get some nice looks at migrating Eastern Kingbirds.  When we got to the park we discovered it was closed due to storm damage!  It was still cool to show him the Rio Grande and Mexico across the way, however...

That actually worked out for the best, as that allowed us to continue on to Quinta Mazatlán, where despite the heat we could somewhat escape within the trails!  More Chachalacas greeted us, and a thrush-like "chup" got us onto a motionless but beat-up Clay-colored Thrush!  The Green Parakeets were long gone from the new trail, but we got plenty of Inca Doves, and just before the visitor's center we came across a Guava Skipper that I insisted he "needed" for his butterfly list! J Near the feeders we heard a hawk calling overhead, so I ran out into the open to try and spot it, and initially found a Mississippi Kite WAY up there, but that certainly wasn't what was calling!  Sav spotted it - a nice Swainson's Hawk!  No specialty odes were at the pond, but on the way back to the main road Sav spotted his life Canada Warbler, along with a Black-and-white doing its "nuthatch" thing!

"Sav" in the Quinta Mazatlán parking lot

Clay-colored Thrush

Guava Skipper

Near the pond

Dropped him off for "siesta" after that, and at 5:00 his wife Jody joined us for a trip to Estero Llano Grande State Park!  But first, a stop at the Progresso Silos was in order, as Bronzed Cowbird was another target bird!  Bagged that one easily enough (along with tons of House Sparrows), then headed up to Estero.  The saying, "Estero Never Disappoints" was sure evident this afternoon, as the light was just perfect for viewing waterbirds in Ibis Pond, and in short order we got his target Least Grebes, along with both yellowlegs, dowitchers, stilts, Blue-winged Teal, Common Gallinules, and a posing Black-bellied Whistling Duck!  Swallows were all over:  mostly Banks, but also a few Barns and Roughwings, and Sav spotted a Tree.  A few minutes at the hummingbird feeders got another Buff-bellied, along with a young male Ruby-throated showing just a couple of red feathers!

Jody and Sav at Estero

Least Grebes

Ibis Pond

Common Gallinule

Shy Buff-bellied Hummingbird

Young male Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Heading over to Alligator Lake, we checked out Dowitcher Pond quickly but only found a family of Black-bellied Whistlers.  Grebe Marsh had a Spotted Sandpiper, and what I thought was another one turned out to be a Solitary Sandpiper!  After the turnoff we found two Yellow-crowned Night Herons, and at the new overlook there Sav spotted his Green Kingfisher!  The Pauraque hunt was next, and I was sweating a little as he wasn't in his usual spot right next to the trail, but after going around to the "back" trail, I miraculously spotted him in a position where great looks were had by all!  (Sometimes he'll sit facing you all hunkered down in some roots...)  We didn't think much could beat that, but the screech owl box had not one, but TWO little Eastern Screech Owls peeking out of the hole!  I told Sav to put this one "in the bank", as they may split it in the future! 

Solitary Sandpiper

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

Pauraque

"McCall's" Screech Owl twins

No Alligators at the overlook (or much else for that matter), so we headed back to the parking lot, where Sav decided to give the parrot roost a try after all!  A young Harris' Hawk sat on a pole on the way out, but it was getting pretty late (and we did have nighthawks of unknown species batting overhead), so cruising through the suburbs of Weslaco proved fruitless (except for a low-flying Chimney Swift), so we decided to call it a day.  My list was 88 (and Sav saw a couple I didn't), so our combined list was probably well over 90 for the day (right along with the temperature)!  Bird List:

  Black-bellied Whistling-Duck         

  Blue-winged Teal                     
  Plain Chachalaca                     
  Northern Bobwhite                    
  Least Grebe                          
  Pied-billed Grebe                    
  Least Bittern                        
  Great Blue Heron                     
  Great Egret                          
  Snowy Egret                          
  Little Blue Heron                    
  Tricolored Heron                     
  Green Heron                          
  Yellow-crowned Night-Heron           
  Black Vulture                        
  Mississippi Kite                     
  Harris's Hawk                        
  Gray Hawk                            
  Swainson's Hawk                      
  Common Gallinule                      
  American Coot                        
  Black-necked Stilt                   
  Killdeer                             
  Spotted Sandpiper                    
  Solitary Sandpiper                   
  Greater Yellowlegs                   
  Lesser Yellowlegs                    
  Upland Sandpiper                     
  Least Sandpiper                      
  Long-billed Dowitcher                
  Rock Pigeon                          
  Eurasian Collared-Dove               
  White-winged Dove                    
  Mourning Dove                        
  Inca Dove                            
  Common Ground-Dove                   
  White-tipped Dove                    
  Yellow-billed Cuckoo                 
  Greater Roadrunner                   
  Groove-billed Ani                    
  Eastern Screech-Owl                  
  Common Pauraque                      
  Chimney Swift                        
  Ruby-throated Hummingbird            
  Buff-bellied Hummingbird             
  Ringed Kingfisher                    
  Green Kingfisher                     
  Golden-fronted Woodpecker            
  Ladder-backed Woodpecker             
  Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet        
  Eastern Wood-Pewee                   
  Black Phoebe                         
  Great Crested Flycatcher             
  Brown-crested Flycatcher             
  Great Kiskadee                       
  Tropical Kingbird                    
  Couch's Kingbird                     
  Eastern Kingbird                     
  Loggerhead Shrike                    
  White-eyed Vireo                     
  Green Jay                            
  Northern Rough-winged Swallow        
  Bank Swallow                         
  Barn Swallow                         
  Cave Swallow                         
  Black-crested Titmouse               
  Verdin                               
  Carolina Wren                        
  Blue-gray Gnatcatcher                
  Clay-colored Thrush                  
  Curve-billed Thrasher                
  Long-billed Thrasher                 
  Northern Mockingbird                 
  Black-and-white Warbler              
  Yellow Warbler                        
  Canada Warbler                       
  Olive Sparrow                        
  Northern Cardinal                    
  Dickcissel                           
  Red-winged Blackbird                 
  Great-tailed Grackle                 
  Bronzed Cowbird                      
  Orchard Oriole                       
  Hooded Oriole                        
  Altamira Oriole                      
  Baltimore Oriole                     
  Lesser Goldfinch                     
  House Sparrow