[texbirds] Estero Llano Grande SP
- From: MiriamEagl@xxxxxxx
- To: texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 31 Aug 2013 17:17:44 -0400 (EDT)
Hi, all!
Spent the morning at Estero Llano Grande SP, where I started along the dirt
road and levee south of the park. Estero Llano itself had three Roseate
Spoonbills and a Wood Stork to start with, along with Long-billed Dowitchers
and Avocets that I didn't have elsewhere. Several Tricolored Herons fed,
and a couple of Black-crowned Night Herons were hiding in the trees. The
sky was filled with White-winged Doves, blackbirds, and rude-sounding
Dickcissels, along with lots of Barn Swallows and a few Banks and Roughwings.
A
shrike was down at the turnaround point, along with a Green Heron and a
flyover Upland Sandpiper.
Back at the park, the Tropical Zone had several Groove-billed Anis along
the back side, and a Question Mark posed! More Whitewings were all over,
and a Clay-colored Thrush mewed down by Pauraque Hall. A Chachalaca family
poured on the cuteness on the way out.
Ran into Huck on deck, along with Sheri and Ana, so after enjoying some
Fulvous Whistling Ducks sailing in and a Spotted Sandpiper bobbing away, we
headed on the official bird walk after ticking a male Ruby-throated Hummer at
the feeders. Lots of Least Sandpipers were at Dowitcher Pond, and my
heart got to racing when I thought I heard the repeated upward squeal of a
female Wood Duck, but it turned out to be one of the flyover Fulvous Whistlers
doing that!! A male Green Kingfisher showed off at Grebe Marsh, and along
the canal a waterthrush kept playing hide-and-seek that "felt" like a
Louisiana to me (had nice thick striping below and very pink legs), but EBird
only had Northern down for this time of year, and a look at John Arvin's
checklist confirmed that Louisiana should have passed through by now, and the
Northerns have shown up, so I changed my mind! Back along the trail to
Alligator Lake we heard a Least Bittern, and Huck worked his magic and found
us
a snoozing Pauraque right away, along with a Screech Owl in one of the owl
boxes! A female Anhinga was at the overlook, and we also had a few
Neotropic Cormorants fly over.
The gang was gonna climb the levee, so I left them at that point and headed
onto Camino de los Aves. It was hot to beat all, but added Bewick's Wren
back there, along with some good looks at the Common Ground Doves and a
cooperative Yellow Warbler (one of several passing through). A White Angled
Sulphur batted around in one of the trees, which was pretty exciting! Tons
of odes were buzzing around Dowitcher Pond, including a pretty Rambur's
Forktail and Spot-tailed Dasher. A pair of Swainson's Hawks rose from the
levee area and squealed, and a rest at the shelter at the intersection of the
Spoonbill Trail and Ibis Pond yielded a Solitary Sandpiper in with several
Lesser Yellowlegs and Black-necked Stilts. A pair of Least Grebes trilled
and trumpeted closer to the VC.
I was pretty shot after that, but still perused the parking lot and had a
few interesting butters, such as a White-patched Skipper and Gulf Frit. A
nice female Blue Dasher posed before I finally called it quits.
Pictures and recordings are posted here:
http://miriameaglemon.com/photo_gallery/2013%20Field%20Trips/August/Estero%2
0Llano%20Grande%20SP.html
Bird List:
Estero Llano Grande SP WBC (LTC 054), Hidalgo, US-TX
Aug 31, 2013 7:07 AM - 11:20 AM
Protocol: Traveling
5.0 mile(s)
Comments: Camino del Aves and Ibis Pond done on my own
69 species (+1 other taxa)
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 15
Fulvous Whistling-Duck 12
Mottled Duck 8
Blue-winged Teal 8
Plain Chachalaca 10
Northern Bobwhite 4
Least Grebe 2
Wood Stork 1
Neotropic Cormorant 12
Anhinga 1
Least Bittern 2
Great Blue Heron 2
Snowy Egret 4
Tricolored Heron 8
Green Heron 1
Black-crowned Night-Heron 2
Roseate Spoonbill 3
Swainson's Hawk 2
Killdeer 10
Black-necked Stilt 20
American Avocet 3
Spotted Sandpiper 2
Solitary Sandpiper 1
Greater Yellowlegs 1
Lesser Yellowlegs 7
Upland Sandpiper 2
Least Sandpiper 20
Long-billed Dowitcher 12
White-winged Dove 4000
Mourning Dove 30
Inca Dove 1
Common Ground-Dove 5
White-tipped Dove 5
Groove-billed Ani 9
Eastern Screech-Owl 1
Common Pauraque 1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
Ruby-throated/Black-chinned Hummingbird 1
Buff-bellied Hummingbird 4
Green Kingfisher 2
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 10
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 3
Brown-crested Flycatcher 2
Great Kiskadee 8
Couch's Kingbird 6
Loggerhead Shrike 1
White-eyed Vireo 2
Green Jay 2
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 2
Bank Swallow 2
Barn Swallow 30
Black-crested Titmouse 2
Bewick's Wren 3
Carolina Wren 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 3
Clay-colored Thrush 1
Northern Mockingbird 6
Long-billed Thrasher 5
Curve-billed Thrasher 2
European Starling 7
Northern Waterthrush 1
Yellow Warbler 5
Olive Sparrow 5
Northern Cardinal 4
Dickcissel 20
Red-winged Blackbird 1000
Great-tailed Grackle 200
Orchard Oriole 1
Lesser Goldfinch 1
House Sparrow 15
Mary Beth Stowe
McAllen, TX
_www.miriameaglemon.com_ (http://www.miriameaglemon.com/)
Edit your Freelists account settings for TEXBIRDS at
//www.freelists.org/list/texbirds
Reposting of traffic from TEXBIRDS is prohibited without seeking permission
from the List Owner
Other related posts:
