Yesterday (Thursday, 12/24/15) my wife (Birgit) and I birded Brushline Road
(Hidalgo Co.) heading north from FM-2812 to TX-186. (In that stretch
Brushline briefly joins FM-490 along about a quarter-mile stretch of an
FM-490 dog leg segment.) The first few miles (paved segment) of Brushline
after one turns north from FM-2812 were substantially residential and
unproductive for our birding objectives. Here we provide highlights of our
finds (and selected others). It was a bit after Brushline becomes unpaved
that the birding picked up greatly. AMERICAN COOT, as expected, was,
usually in substantial numbers, in virtually every watery place seen on
this trip and will not be noted further here. NORTHERN PINTAIL, although
not as plentiful as the coots, were found in most of the watery areas and
also will not be further noted here. The great numbers of the latter in no
way, though, diminished our appreciation of their outstanding grace and
beauty!
The first productive stop was the first large flooded field/pasture area on
the east side of Brushline. Here we found our personal first-of-season
(FOS) SNOW GOOSE flock (at least 28 birds, including two blue-phase
individuals). At times they stood about at the margin of the flooded area,
but they eventually wandered northward, on foot, onto a somewhat vegetated
area. Ducks found: LESSER SCAUP (dozens); RUDDY DUCK (several); REDHEAD (2
males/2 females); and CANVASBACK (2 males/2 females).
At a second east-side pond we found: RING-NECKED DUCK (est. 15-20, but
widespread, moving and not easy to count reliably); LESSER SCAUP (1);
GADWALL (numerous); BLUE-WINGED TEAL (est. 20-25); AMERICAN WIGEON (2); and
NORTHERN SHOVELER (several). A third east-side pond yielded: KILLDEER (8);
AMERICAN AVOCET (20, at least); and GREATER YELLOWLEGS (6, at least). A
short distance northward, where grassy/wooded areas were beside the road we
found NORTHERN BOBWHITE (10, at least).
At the next pond (east side) were: GREEN-WINGED TEAL (2, highly partial to
tall-grass areas standing in the water and sometimes disappeared into
them); BLUE-WINGED TEAL (est. 30, at least); RUDDY DUCK (1; odd to find one
alone, and we likely missed some); MOTTLED DUCK (2, also hanging out in the
tall-grass water); and GADWALL (several, but no counting effort or solid
estimate).
As regular birders of this stretch will know, there are some west-side
flooded areas and farm ponds, but they generally are obscured by trees or
other vegetation, and what is probably the largest such area, near the
north end of the Brushline segment covered here, was not easily visible
over tall grass growing atop the dirt pushed up beside the road. These are
the reasons that our reports are mainly for east-side ponds or flooded
areas. Near the north end of our Brushline Road traversal we were, though,
able to spot, through a break in the west-side vegetation, our first and
only LEAST GREBE of this trip. In the flooded area that has multiple Retama
trees on the east side and flooded Mesquites (etc.?) on the west side, we
found on the west side a single BELTED KINGFISHER (male). There was much
deep water in that area.
At the south edge of a tall-grass area that joins an east-side plowed field
we found SANDHILL CRANE (18), and we greatly enjoyed the rolling, guttural
conversations of this eminently social species. Our final stop on this tour
was close to dusk. At a still somewhat wet west-side area along Brushline
just south of TX-186 we again found SANDHILL CRANE (2) as they wandered
about slowly (and seemingly wistfully), hardly foraging, in this now rather
dry rise above what had been in recent weeks a liberally flooded swale. On
our two most recent visits earlier this season we had found 3 of this
species in this area, and we expected we would find three this time, but,
despite a careful visual search, we found only two. We do not, of course,
know whether the two this time were part of the trio just mentioned, but,
if so, the third of their group now was missing.
This stretch often can be exciting, and yesterday was no exception.
Bird-wise, the only major disappointment was an absence of raptors other
than an occasional HARRISâS HAWK. We, though, were pleased with our finds,
appreciated the more so on account of two recent very-low-yield, but
long-distance, visits to coastal sites.
Wishing everyone enjoyable holidays and a happy, healthy 2016 with the best
of birding!
Rex Stanford
Weslaco
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