Hi, all!
The Birder Patrol trip was a roaring success as the Collared Plover was even
closer to us than last time, and was visible for most of the two hours we
were there - lots of folks got crippling looks! The white morph Reddish
Egret also made an appearance, along with Dan Jones' Least Terns from the
previous week, and swimming Black-crowned Night Herons that provided comedy
relief. A stunning breeding-plumaged Avocet was a life bird for one of the
participants, and also had lots of Gull-billed and Black Terns along with
singleton Snowy and Wilson's Plovers. Roseate Spoonbills were nice to get,
and Tim Brush found a Western Sandpiper in amongst the Leasts, but I was too
busy shooting the plover and missed it. J
We then headed over to Brushline Road in hopes of spotting the Purple
Gallinules. Norma took us north on FM 493 to show us a wet spot, but the
wet spot had dried up, so we hung a left on SR 186, then another left on
Brushline. The wetlands are hard to miss and full of gallinule-friendly
vegetation, and we did indeed hear them (along with coots and Common
Gallinules and Pied-billed Grebes), but only a handful of us happened to be
looking in the right place when one of them briefly chased another out of
the "stuff", and then back in again. L After logging a Swainson's Hawk
acting very much like a harrier, we then headed up to the very north end of
Brushline, and while the water-lily-filled wetlands looked great, no
gallinules were to be had (plus we had to cut things short a couple of times
so that the locals could get through.). We made a brief stop in the area
where I've had Botteri's Sparrows in the past, but no go; had a Summer
Tanager singing at the intersection, however.
Pictures can be seen here:
http://miriameaglemon.com/photo_gallery/2015%20Field%20Trips/July/Hargill%20
Part%202.html
.or here:
http://tinyurl.com/njyjojo
Bird List:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna autumnalis
Fulvous Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna bicolor
Northern Bobwhite Colinus virginianus
Wild Turkey Meleagris gallopavo
Least Grebe Tachybaptus dominicus
Pied-billed Grebe Podilymbus podiceps
Neotropic Cormorant Phalacrocorax brasilianus
Great Egret Ardea alba
Snowy Egret Egretta thula
Reddish Egret Egretta rufescens
Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis
Green Heron Butorides virescens
Black-crowned Night-Heron Nycticorax nycticorax
White-faced Ibis Plegadis chihi
Roseate Spoonbill Platalea ajaja
Black Vulture Coragyps atratus
Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
White-tailed Kite Elanus leucurus
White-tailed Hawk Geranoaetus albicaudatus
Swainson's Hawk Buteo swainsoni
Purple Gallinule Porphyrio martinicus
Common Gallinule Gallinula galeata
American Coot Fulica americana
Black-necked Stilt Himantopus mexicanus
American Avocet Recurvirostra americana
Collared Plover Charadrius collaris
Wilson's Plover Charadrius wilsonia
Killdeer Charadrius vociferus
Greater Yellowlegs Tringa melanoleuca
Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes
Least Sandpiper Calidris minutilla
Long-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus scolopaceus
Wilson's Phalarope Phalaropus tricolor
Laughing Gull Leucophaeus atricilla
Least Tern Sternula antillarum
Gull-billed Tern Gelochelidon nilotica
Black Tern Chlidonias niger
Rock Pigeon Columba livia
Eurasian Collared-Dove Streptopelia decaocto
White-winged Dove Zenaida asiatica
Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura
Yellow-billed Cuckoo Coccyzus americanus
Greater Roadrunner Geococcyx californianus
Groove-billed Ani Crotophaga sulcirostris
Common Nighthawk Chordeiles minor
Golden-fronted Woodpecker Melanerpes aurifrons
Ladder-backed Woodpecker Picoides scalaris
Crested Caracara Caracara cheriway
Brown-crested Flycatcher Myiarchus tyrannulus
Great Kiskadee Pitangus sulphuratus
Couch's Kingbird Tyrannus couchii
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Tyrannus forficatus
Horned Lark Eremophila alpestris
Cave Swallow Petrochelidon fulva
Black-crested Titmouse Baeolophus atricristatus
Verdin Auriparus flaviceps
Bewick's Wren Thryomanes bewickii
Curve-billed Thrasher Toxostoma curvirostre
Northern Mockingbird Mimus polyglottos
European Starling Sturnus vulgaris
Olive Sparrow Arremonops rufivirgatus
Lark Sparrow Chondestes grammacus
Summer Tanager Piranga rubra
Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis
Painted Bunting Passerina ciris
Dickcissel Spiza americana
Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus
Great-tailed Grackle Quiscalus mexicanus
Bronzed Cowbird Molothrus aeneus
Lesser Goldfinch Spinus psaltria
House Sparrow Passer domesticus
71 SPECIES
Mary Beth Stowe
McAllen, TX
www.miriameaglemon.com
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