Hi, all!
My last day with Gary and Sons was spent trying to clean up on some missing
targets, so we started at Estero Llano Grande hoping to catch one of the
Screech Owls peeking out of their box. The Bufflehead showed well on
Dowitcher Pond on the way to the Alligator Lake area, but the owls were not
there (we DID manage to spot a White-tipped Dove for the boys, and Gary
found one of the Pauraques right next to the trail!). We figured the
reported Sage Thrasher was a long shot, but we hiked up to the levee and
then took the Camino de Aves Trail back, and back at the headquarters ran
into Park Hosts Doug and Huck, who offered to take us back to the Tropical
Zone to try for THAT owl! He wasn't there, either, but we at least got a
glimpse of the Beardless Tyrannulet and a cracking view of the Altamira
Oriole!
On the way to Santa Ana we checked out Border Road and miraculously picked
up the Burrowing Owl AND a visual on the Sprague's Pipit, then headed over
to Santa Ana for a try at the Olive Sparrow, Cave Swallow, and a long shot
at Fulvous Whistling Duck. Dipped on both accounts (although we heard the
sparrow lisping), but another birder reported Cave Swallows down the tour
road, so the guys ended up climbing the Tree Tower and getting a flyover
Cave while I checked the butter action (which was nuts today - I may have
photographed a Pale-green Darner and Purplish-black Skipper, but I need to
examine the photos.). We then headed to Bentsen for a last ditch effort at
the Olive Sparrow and got a nice look at a Clay-colored Thrush instead
(along with the ubiquitous Green Jays and Chachalacas.).
Bird List (species seen by the guys are in brackets):
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna autumnalis
Greater White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons
Gadwall Anas strepera
Mottled Duck Anas fulvigula
Blue-winged Teal Anas discors
Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata
Northern Pintail Anas acuta
Green-winged Teal Anas crecca
Bufflehead Bucephala albeola
Ruddy Duck Oxyura jamaicensis
Plain Chachalaca Ortalis vetula
Pied-billed Grebe Podilymbus podiceps
Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias
Great Egret Ardea alba
Snowy Egret Egretta thula
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron Nyctanassa violacea
White-faced Ibis Plegadis chihi
Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
White-tailed Kite Elanus leucurus
[Northern Harrier]
Sharp-shinned Hawk Accipiter striatus
Harris's Hawk Parabuteo unicinctus
White-tailed Hawk Geranoaetus albicaudatus
Red-shouldered Hawk Buteo lineatus
Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis
American Coot Fulica americana
Black-necked Stilt Himantopus mexicanus
American Avocet Recurvirostra americana
Spotted Sandpiper Actitis macularius
Greater Yellowlegs Tringa melanoleuca
Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes
Least Sandpiper Calidris minutilla
Long-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus scolopaceus
[Wilson's Snipe]
Rock Pigeon Columba livia
Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura
Inca Dove Columbina inca
Common Ground-Dove Columbina passerina
White-tipped Dove Leptotila verreauxi
Burrowing Owl Athene cunicularia
Common Pauraque Nyctidromus albicollis
Buff-bellied Hummingbird Amazilia yucatanensis
Ringed Kingfisher Megaceryle torquata
Belted Kingfisher Megaceryle alcyon
Green Kingfisher Chloroceryle americana
Golden-fronted Woodpecker Melanerpes aurifrons
Ladder-backed Woodpecker Picoides scalaris
Crested Caracara Caracara cheriway
American Kestrel Falco sparverius
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma imberbe
Black Phoebe Sayornis nigricans
Eastern Phoebe Sayornis phoebe
Vermilion Flycatcher Pyrocephalus rubinus
Great Kiskadee Pitangus sulphuratus
Couch's Kingbird Tyrannus couchii
[Scissor-tailed Flycatcher]
Loggerhead Shrike Lanius ludovicianus
White-eyed Vireo Vireo griseus
Green Jay Cyanocorax yncas
Horned Lark Eremophila alpestris
Tree Swallow Tachycineta bicolor
[Northern Rough-winged Swallow]
Cave Swallow Petrochelidon fulva
Black-crested Titmouse Baeolophus atricristatus
Verdin Auriparus flaviceps
House Wren Troglodytes aedon
Carolina Wren Thryothorus ludovicianus
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Polioptila caerulea
Ruby-crowned Kinglet Regulus calendula
Clay-colored Thrush Turdus grayi
Curve-billed Thrasher Toxostoma curvirostre
Long-billed Thrasher Toxostoma longirostre
Northern Mockingbird Mimus polyglottos
European Starling Sturnus vulgaris
American Pipit Anthus rubescens
Sprague's Pipit Anthus spragueii
Orange-crowned Warbler Oreothlypis celata
Common Yellowthroat Geothlypis trichas
Yellow-rumped Warbler Setophaga coronata
Olive Sparrow Arremonops rufivirgatus
[Lincoln's Sparrow]
Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis
Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus
Great-tailed Grackle Quiscalus mexicanus
Altamira Oriole Icterus gularis
Lesser Goldfinch Spinus psaltria
House Sparrow Passer domesticus
87 SPECIES (all inclusive)
Mary Beth Stowe
Alamo, TX
www.miriameaglemon.com <http://www.miriameaglemon.com>
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