Hi, all!
Was up (relatively) late last night with the Syvertsens and Pat Heirs
enjoying her baby Screech Owls coming to her bird bath J, so decided to go
bug hunting today at Estero, just keeping a mental note of the birds, but
had some nice things: ran into Tim and Ki Brush who were checking up on the
Beardless Tyrannulet nest, and I did indeed hear him back in the Tropical
Zone, but also had a singing Painted Bunting at the intersection of Camino
de las Aves and the Alligator Lake Trails.
But also had a puzzling peep at Dowitcher Pond: there were oodles of
Black-necked Stilts and Killdeer, and this peep (either a Least or a Baird's
due to the brown breast) looked good-sized next to the Killdeer, plus it had
a rather longish bill and spotty-looking back as Baird's is shown to have.
However, even though it looked tapered overall, I couldn't discern wingtips
that exceeded the tail, and in the pictures I was able to get could not
discern that trait, either. The thing stayed frustratingly in the grass so
I couldn't get a good look at the legs, but when I DID see them, sometimes
they looked black, and sometimes they looked pale brown, so who knows.
Arvin's checklist shows them showing up as "uncommon" about now and Leasts
not until September in any numbers (and "Scarce" in August), but Ebird DOES
list Least and not Baird's, so I wouldn't mind some comment on what photos I
was able to get, which are here (scroll down a bit when you get in):
http://miriameaglemon.com/photo_gallery/2015%20Field%20Trips/July/Estero%20L
lano%20Grande%20SP.html
.or here:
http://tinyurl.com/nzuxhy8
I went ahead and entered it in EBird as a Least until further notice. Bug
of the morning was a brilliant White-striped Longtail in the gardens at the
far end of the Tropical Zone! J
EBird List:
Estero Llano Grande SP WBC (LTC 054), Hidalgo, Texas, US Jul 10, 2015 9:21
AM - 12:21 PM
Protocol: Traveling
3.0 mile(s)
Comments: Was mainly butterflying & was joined by Mike and Ginny Rickard
later
40 species
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 20
Plain Chachalaca 6
Snowy Egret 1
Little Blue Heron 1
Green Heron 2
Turkey Vulture 1
Killdeer 15
Least Sandpiper 1
Common Ground-Dove 1
White-tipped Dove 2
White-winged Dove 30
Mourning Dove 4
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 3
Groove-billed Ani 2
Buff-bellied Hummingbird 2
Green Kingfisher 1
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 5
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 1
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet 1
Great Kiskadee 3
Couch's Kingbird 4
Western Kingbird 2
White-eyed Vireo 2
Purple Martin 12
Black-crested Titmouse 2
Carolina Wren 1
Bewick's Wren 1
Clay-colored Thrush 3
Long-billed Thrasher 1
Northern Mockingbird 5
European Starling 2
Common Yellowthroat 1
Olive Sparrow 4
Northern Cardinal 2
Painted Bunting 1
Great-tailed Grackle 15
Bronzed Cowbird 1
Brown-headed Cowbird 1
Lesser Goldfinch 1
House Sparrow 5
Mary Beth Stowe
McAllen, TX
www.miriameaglemon.com
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