[texbirds] Birder Patrol trip to Brownsville Dump
- From: MiriamEagl@xxxxxxx
- To: texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 23 Feb 2014 13:50:24 -0500 (EST)
Hi, all!
Well, we managed to find five of the reported 20-plus Lesser Black-backed
Gulls at the dump (including two beautiful adults), thanks in part to Todd
McGrath's sharp eyes! Also, thanks to a very nice employee named Robert,
we were led to several areas that had gobs of gulls that were out of the way
of the machinery! (I think we had at least six car-loads of people in
there...) Actually, the main spot he led us to was the "old hangout" up the
hill on the north side, where you could also look down on the wetlands, but
this time the garbage fence (and hence the birds) was flush with the parking
area as opposed to across a huge chasm, as it was the last time I was
there! Aside from gulls, the wetlands had a nice selection of ducks and
shorebirds, and every telephone pole was occupied by either a young
White-tailed
Hawk or a Turkey Vulture! And several people commented that even the smell
wasn't all that bad!
There was some discussion about whether to try for the SPI Thayer's Gull,
but in the end we went to Boca Chica Beach, which was dicey to say the
least: one of our cars (a little green VW) got lodged on a submerged log, but
thanks to the valiant efforts of several "diggers" (the younger ones...
;-)), the group finally freed the car! One car full (a jeep) decided to go
all the way to the mouth, but there wasn't much beach to drive on at that
point (and it was obvious that we were the only ones crazy enough to drive it
period), and all we added for the days were some sea-shorebirds and graceful
strings of pelicans.
Joyce and I had to head back, but I think the rest of the group continued
on to Sabal Palm for the becard; don't know if they were successful...
Mainly people pictures this time, viewed here:
http://miriameaglemon.com/photo_gallery/2014%20Field%20Trips/February/Browns
ville%20Dump.html
or here:
http://tinyurl.com/qb32qv9
Bird List:
Mottled Duck Anas fulvigula
Blue-winged Teal Anas discors
Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata
Green-winged Teal Anas crecca
Brown Pelican Pelecanus occidentalis
Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias
Great Egret Ardea alba
Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis
Black Vulture Coragyps atratus
Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
Harris's Hawk Parabuteo unicinctus
White-tailed Hawk Geranoaetus albicaudatus
Black-necked Stilt Himantopus mexicanus
American Avocet Recurvirostra americana
Black-bellied Plover Pluvialis squatarola
Killdeer Charadrius vociferus
Willet Tringa semipalmata
Long-billed Curlew Numenius americanus
Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres
Stilt Sandpiper Calidris himantopus
Sanderling Calidris alba
Least Sandpiper Calidris minutilla
Long-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus scolopaceus
Laughing Gull Leucophaeus atricilla
Ring-billed Gull Larus delawarensis
Herring Gull Larus argentatus
Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus
Royal Tern Thalasseus maximus
Eurasian Collared-Dove Streptopelia decaocto
Common Pauraque Nyctidromus albicollis
Crested Caracara Caracara cheriway
American Kestrel Falco sparverius
Great Kiskadee Pitangus sulphuratus
Loggerhead Shrike Lanius ludovicianus
Chihuahuan Raven Corvus cryptoleucus
Horned Lark Eremophila alpestris
Verdin Auriparus flaviceps
European Starling Sturnus vulgaris
Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus
Great-tailed Grackle Quiscalus mexicanus
40 SPECIES
Mary Beth Stowe
McAllen, TX
_www.miriameaglemon.com_ (http://www.miriameaglemon.com/)
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