Hi, all!
Pat Heirs joined me this frigid morning (by South Texas standards) as I
wanted to try and bag a couple of birds I needed for the year, so we started
at the little FM 1015 Pond in hopes that the goose flocks would fly overhead
early, which they did - not in huge flocks, but a small mixed group
contained the coveted Ross' Goose, so I was glad to bag that! We then
revisited a flooded field we had passed on the way up (now in better light);
the two White Pelicans we saw had left, but there were still lots of ducks
and shorebirds in there. We made our way to Delta Lake (bagging a Peregrine
on the way), where cruising the park added an Osprey eating a strange fish
with a long "whisker", a brilliant Vermilion Flycatcher, and a surprise
Black Phoebe, which I thought was a little north for them! A feeding flock
in the back part of the park produced a Yellow, Pine, and "Audubon's"
Warbler in addition to the regulars, and a couple of Solitary Sandpipers fed
in a muddy area. A Merlin was at the restrooms, and a Kestrel posed on the
way out. After a quick look at the lake itself, we checked out Nittler Road
(as far as we could go), and bagged two needed Sprague's Pipits while
checking some ducks that included a Canvasback! Having gotten my two
reasonable targets (Pat agreed that driving all the way to Boca Chica to try
for a Gannet was a little much), we then headed over to Hargill, where the
big surprise at the playa was a pair of Hooded Mergansers! A couple who was
just "exploring" crawled by and told us about another wetland to the west,
so we checked it out and found about a dozen Fulvous Whistling Ducks (among
other things)! We then headed up Brushline Road and had a nice selection of
sparrows, including Black-throated and Vesper, along with a handful more
cranes and water birds. Brushline north of 183 actually had a water hazard
nasty enough to make me turn back (which was a first on that road), so we
called it quits and headed home with a whopping 103 species for the morning!
(Oh, and I can't forget about the White-striped Longtail that went batting
by right in front of the car along Brushline!!)
Some pictures and a video of the Solitary Sandpiper are on my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/marybeth.stowe
Bird List:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna autumnalis
Fulvous Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna bicolor
Greater White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons
Snow Goose Chen caerulescens
Ross's Goose Chen rossii
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
Canvasback Aythya valisineria
Lesser Scaup Aythya affinis
Hooded Merganser Lophodytes cucullatus
Ruddy Duck Oxyura jamaicensis
Northern Bobwhite Colinus virginianus
Least Grebe Tachybaptus dominicus
Pied-billed Grebe Podilymbus podiceps
Neotropic Cormorant Phalacrocorax brasilianus
Double-crested Cormorant Phalacrocorax auritus
Anhinga Anhinga anhinga
American White Pelican Pelecanus erythrorhynchos
Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias
Great Egret Ardea alba
Snowy Egret Egretta thula
Tricolored Heron Egretta tricolor
Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis
White-faced Ibis Plegadis chihi
Roseate Spoonbill Platalea ajaja
Black Vulture Coragyps atratus
Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
Osprey Pandion haliaetus
White-tailed Kite Elanus leucurus
Northern Harrier Circus cyaneus
Harris's Hawk Parabuteo unicinctus
White-tailed Hawk Geranoaetus albicaudatus
Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis
Sora Porzana carolina
Common Gallinule Gallinula galeata
American Coot Fulica americana
Sandhill Crane Grus canadensis
Black-necked Stilt Himantopus mexicanus
American Avocet Recurvirostra americana
Killdeer Charadrius vociferus
Spotted Sandpiper Actitis macularius
Solitary Sandpiper Tringa solitaria
Greater Yellowlegs Tringa melanoleuca
Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes
Long-billed Curlew Numenius americanus
Least Sandpiper Calidris minutilla
Long-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus scolopaceus
Wilson's Snipe Gallinago delicata
Laughing Gull Leucophaeus atricilla
Ring-billed Gull Larus delawarensis
Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia
Eurasian Collared-Dove Streptopelia decaocto
Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura
Inca Dove Columbina inca
Belted Kingfisher Megaceryle alcyon
Golden-fronted Woodpecker Melanerpes aurifrons
Ladder-backed Woodpecker Picoides scalaris
Crested Caracara Caracara cheriway
American Kestrel Falco sparverius
Merlin Falco columbarius
Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus
Black Phoebe Sayornis nigricans
Eastern Phoebe Sayornis phoebe
Vermilion Flycatcher Pyrocephalus rubinus
Great Kiskadee Pitangus sulphuratus
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Tyrannus forficatus
Loggerhead Shrike Lanius ludovicianus
Green Jay Cyanocorax yncas
Horned Lark Eremophila alpestris
Tree Swallow Tachycineta bicolor
Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica
Black-crested Titmouse Baeolophus atricristatus
Verdin Auriparus flaviceps
House Wren Troglodytes aedon
Marsh Wren Cistothorus palustris
Bewick's Wren Thryomanes bewickii
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Polioptila caerulea
Ruby-crowned Kinglet Regulus calendula
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 Warbler Setophaga petechia
Pine Warbler Setophaga pinus
Yellow-rumped Warbler Setophaga coronata
Vesper Sparrow Pooecetes gramineus
Lark Sparrow Chondestes grammacus
Black-throated Sparrow Amphispiza bilineata
Savannah Sparrow Passerculus sandwichensis
Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis
Pyrrhuloxia Cardinalis sinuatus
Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus
Western Meadowlark Sturnella neglecta
Great-tailed Grackle Quiscalus mexicanus
Lesser Goldfinch Spinus psaltria
House Sparrow Passer domesticus
103 SPECIES
Mary Beth Stowe
Alamo, TX
www.miriameaglemon.com
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