3/19/21
Rich
and Mary were fellow southern Californians, here to give South Texas a try
after visiting Southeast Arizona for so many years! As a result, almost everything was new
(except for our “western” birds and a few eastern backyard birds at their
daughter’s place in Tennessee)! We
started at Estero Llano Grande State Park where a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and
several Orange-crowned Warblers greeted us in the parking lot. Their first Golden-fronted Woodpecker was
attached to a power pole near the brick walk, while a Long-billed Thrasher faaaad
from the undergrowth and actually gave decent views! The other shocker was an Olive Sparrow that
hopped by practically at our feet – boy, was I glad to get that one
under their belt!
Visibility
from the deck wasn’t the greatest, of course, first thing in the morning (as it
would turn out to be a beautiful, sunny day), so we headed for the boardwalk,
but not before bagging their first Chachalacas at the “restroom” feeders! Purple Martins were back in force, and out on
the boardwalk the main players were Shovelers, Mottled Ducks, and a few
Blue-winged Teal, but a flock of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks came sailing in,
which was very exciting for them! Two
Soras whinnied, but only one gave us a brief butt shot… Kiskadees played on a dead log in the water,
along with several Red-winged Blackbirds.
Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, along with Mottled Ducks and a single Shoveler in the foreground.
Mottled Ducks
From
there we headed towards Alligator Lake, making a quick stop at Dowitcher Pond
to see what was there. A pair of Avocets
was nice (one coming into breeding plumage) and we enjoyed their antics as they
chased around a Black-necked Stilt! The
same set of ducks were joined by two male Cinnamon Teal, plus Coots and some
wheeling Least Sandpipers.
Grebe
Marsh actually had a little pod of Least Grebes, but no kingfishers L. A couple of Common Gallinules were new for
the day list, however. A Harrier flew by
close (sending a few things scattering), and a Couch’s Kingbird pupped and
finally showed himself; a little later a pair of Tropical Kingbird tittered
near the same place! It looked as though
most of the night herons had fled Alligator Lake, as we only spotted three
Yellow-crowned Nighties (although that’s the rare one in southern
California). A close Neotropic Cormorant
gave us a good view of its gular pouch, but sadly we couldn’t local the
Pauraque or the McCall’s Screech Owl (which is par for the course once
they start breeding).
Least Grebes
Yellow-crowned Night Heron
Rich and Mary view a close night heron
We made a brief
scan at the big overlook, and not finding anything (even an alligator) we
headed back to the visitor’s center, picking up some Long-billed Dowitchers in
their namesake pond on the way. A quick
second look at Ibis Pond added its namesake White Ibis (we had seen White-faced
earlier), and while I was in the restroom Mary got her first Altamira Oriole
and a Black-chinned Hummingbird at the feeder!
As we were checking in Mary noticed that a Roseate Spoonbill had been
seen, which I knew was hit or miss, but a quick look at Avocet Pond across the
way bagged the spoonbill!
Dowitcher Pond
Shoveler
Purple Martins (and House Sparrows) at the apartments!
Black-bellied Whistling Duck thinking about jumping up on the feeder...
After
that we headed to the Tropical Zone. At
the foot of the brick walk a White-eyed Vireo was singing, which would have
been another lifer, so I cringed and started looking (they can be tough to pull
out), but lo and behold this guy came right out in the open (albeit
briefly)! He was chasing another bird,
which frankly made it easier…
White-eyed Vireo
We
then headed to Steve and Sue’s (the park hosts) feeders! At the time we were the only visitors, but
were immediately treated to several Altamira Orioles and the female Hooded
Oriole (the male came in later)! A pair
of Golden-fronted Woodpeckers came in, along with a pair of Ladder-backed, and
eventually a Buff-bellied Hummingbird visited his own feeder. The Clay-colored Thrush put on a very good
show, and several Lincoln’s Sparrows bounced around, but unfortunately almost
immediately after Rich left to use the restroom, the Audubon’s Oriole came in! L (Mary and I made a pledge not to break the
news to him when he returned… J) While Rich was gone birding buddy Huck showed
up, who volunteers a lot at the park, shortly to be joined by Ranger John, and
even Steve! When Rich returned Mary
caved and told him about the Audubon’s J, but thankfully
he came back several times and Rich was able to get his pictures!
Hooded Oriole
Audubon's Oriole
Clay-colored Thrush
Huck
had offered to show us where two staked out screech owls were, so we followed
him back into the Zone, and had he not pointed this thing out way up in the
tree I never would have found him!
But we explained how this was a good bird to put in the “bank” as it
might be split off from Eastern Screech in the future! He showed us the second stake-out, but he
wasn’t home… He then showed us the
general area where the lady trogon had been hanging out, then tried to spot the
“other” Pauraque in its well-guarded patch, but we couldn’t find him, either… L
Huck confers with another birder while we wander on
After
that he left us to explore on our own, so we and another couple wandered back
behind Ben Basham’s old trailer, not finding much of anything, really, so we
meandered over to the Indigo Blind.
Giving that spot 15 minutes finally bagged us a White-tipped Dove, and
the Carolina Wrens were coming in to one of the grapefruit feeders! Rich was finally able to get a picture of a
Green Jay (we had had fleeting looks all morning), and titmice would light but be
off in a flash. The Buffbellies rattled
but never came in to the feeder…
A special app correctly ID's a mystery plant as an Anacua!
Great Kiskadee
Lincoln's Sparrow
About
that time a lady came in with her doggie and announced that she had seen the
trogon! So we all hightailed it over to
the area to which she directed us (which was right where Huck had told us she
was hanging out), but couldn’t find a thing.
We then saw three other birders, one of whom was Sue the Park Host, and
they had just glimpsed the bird, who flew off to the other side of the
patch! Rich decided to take that back
road (might have been Kingbird Trail – I get all confused back there) while
Mary and I stayed on the main road. I
shortly got a phone call from Rich saying he had the bird! But she had flown back towards us, and when
Rich finally caught up with us, we got a decent view of her shooting from the
tree she had been and into another tree, where we lost her totally. Rich had gotten a decent “dorsal” photograph,
however, and since they had seen trogons in Arizona before, the quick look was
good enough for Mary!
Female Elegant Trogon (Photo © 2021 Richard Castillon)
After
taking a second look at the screech owl (he was actually in a better position)
we decided to head to Quinta Mazatlan, taking the back way to avoid the
construction on I-2. Heading south on FM
1015 we had a lovely White-tailed Kite hovering over the spillway! Once on US 281, we made a quick stop to check
the Burrowing Owl’s standpipe, but he wasn’t there and had presumably headed
back north. When we got to Quinta, the
parking lot was stuffed, and they were actually taking payment in the little
“private office” there just past the gate; we asked if an event was going on,
and in addition to Spring Breakers, they were having a special kid’s book event
(it had to do with a Dr. Seuss book, as they had kid-sized pages from the book
all along the trails), so needless to say the place was packed! We managed good looks at a Curve-billed
Thrasher (another potential split from the one in Arizona), but the trails were
so crowded that we decided to sit at the amphitheater feeders for 15 and then
head on. I unfortunately had to play the
“mean ol’ lady” by asking a bunch of kids who were having a big time to come
out of the feeder area! L We
bumped into Ryan who had seen the Dusky-capped Flycatcher earlier, but
he was nowhere to be found now (the flycatcher, not Ryan)…
Otherwise (after the kids vacated the feeders) we enjoyed Chachalacas,
Inca and White-winged Doves, and of course lots of House Sparrows, but nothing
unusual came in.
"McCall's" Screech Owl
Rich enjoying a thrasher at Quinta Mazatlan
Inca Doves
Joined by two larger White-winged Doves
Curve-billed Thrasher
After
checking out the mansion (read: restrooms) we headed to Bannworth Park in
Mission for a shot at the Fulvous Whistling Duck. The park wasn’t nearly as packed (with birds or
people) as I’ve seen in the past, but there were still lots of Black-bellied
Whistling Ducks, a couple of stilts, some Double-crested Cormorants, a nice
golden-slippered Snowy Egret, and plenty of domestic-type waterfowl. (The Soft-shelled Turtles and Red-eared
Sliders plastering the entire far shore were pretty amazing as well!) We almost got ready to leave when I decided
to walk up to the bank to get some pictures, and there was the Fulvous, peeking
his head up! They all meandered out into
the water of course, but what a way to get a life bird!
Rich and Mary at Bannworth Park
Red-eared Sliders and Softshell Turtles hauled out on the opposite bank
Black-necked Stilts
Black-bellied Whistling Duck
The target: Fulvous Whistling Duck!
We
still had some time, so consulting Bird’s Eye, Mary said she’d really like to
see a Caracara, so the closest spot where one was seen recently was Anzalduas
County Park, so down we went! Thankfully
it was open (I warned then that sometimes they close it if there’s “activity”
across the border), and they were duly impressed with the Rio Grande and the
humble little park across in Mexico! We
added Pied-billed Grebe on the fly, and since Mary and Rich were game to try
for Sprague’s Pipit, we hiked across the field but with nothing to show for it
except three presumed Western Meadowlarks.
Over in the river was the requisite raft of coots and Lesser Scaup, plus
a complaining Osprey on a dead tree. A
flock of Gadwall wheeled in while we were there, which was nice, and a pair of
Laughing Gulls was another lifer for Rich and Mary (they even laughed a little
for us)!
I play the Sprague's Pipit flight call so Mary will know what to listen for!
(Photo © 2021 Richard Castillon)
Laughing Gulls
Continuing
on, Rich spotted a Scissor-tailed
Flycatcher on a fence wire (they said people are always mistaking their feral
Pin-tailed Whydahs for Scissortails)! We
stopped at the “corner” and checked the river again, only adding a Least Grebe
to the birds already seen. Crawling
along we added Loggerhead Shrike and Kestrel to the list, and even stopped to
try for the Rock Wren at the dam; he was a no-show, but we at least picked up
Rough-winged and Cliff Swallows. But the
best bird was in a dead tree on the other side of the levee: an adult Gray Hawk!
Loggerhead Shrike
Gray Hawk
Blue-winged Teal
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Nothing
else popped up except a little mob of Cardinals under a picnic table, but after
some consultation on where to bird the remainder of their week here, we headed
home the back way, with a total of 75 species for the day! Bird list:
Black-bellied
Whistling-Duck
Fulvous
Whistling-Duck
Blue-winged
Teal
Cinnamon
Teal
Northern
Shoveler
Gadwall
Mottled
Duck
Lesser
Scaup
Plain
Chachalaca
Least
Grebe
Pied-billed
Grebe
Rock
Pigeon
Inca
Dove
White-tipped
Dove
White-winged
Dove
Mourning
Dove
Black-chinned
Hummingbird
Buff-bellied
Hummingbird
Sora
Common
Gallinule
American
Coot
Black-necked
Stilt
American
Avocet
Killdeer
Least
Sandpiper
Long-billed
Dowitcher
Laughing
Gull
Neotropic
Cormorant
Double-crested
Cormorant
Snowy
Egret
Yellow-crowned
Night-Heron
White
Ibis
White-faced
Ibis
Roseate
Spoonbill
Turkey
Vulture
Osprey
White-tailed
Kite
Northern
Harrier
Gray
Hawk
Eastern
Screech-Owl
Elegant
Trogon
Golden-fronted
Woodpecker
Ladder-backed
Woodpecker
American
Kestrel
Great
Kiskadee
Tropical
Kingbird
Couch's
Kingbird
Scissor-tailed
Flycatcher
White-eyed
Vireo
Loggerhead
Shrike
Green
Jay
Black-crested
Titmouse
Northern
Rough-winged Swallow
Purple
Martin
Cliff
Swallow
Blue-gray
Gnatcatcher
Carolina
Wren
European
Starling
Curve-billed
Thrasher
Long-billed
Thrasher
Northern
Mockingbird
Clay-colored
Thrush
House
Sparrow
Olive
Sparrow
Lincoln's
Sparrow
Western
Meadowlark
Hooded
Oriole
Altamira
Oriole
Audubon's
Oriole
Red-winged
Blackbird
Brown-headed
Cowbird
Great-tailed
Grackle
Orange-crowned
Warbler
Common
Yellowthroat
Northern
Cardinal
