Hi, all!
Note to self: next time stay at the La Quinta (or whichever hotel it is
that's closest to the cutover)! That's a long drive down Seawall (even
early in the morning when there's hardly any traffic)! And skip Settigast
Road - there really wasn't anything new on that route (except a Summer
Tanager on the wire), and I had to cut my time at the state park short in
order to spend quality time at Dos Vacas (providing I could find it this
time)! But Sportsman Road was good (and always is): it had good numbers of
waders, and was even able to record some White Ibis fussing with each other
and a spoonbill that was muttering to himself as he fed! I was still
surprised by the lack of Seaside Sparrows (although I may have heard one,
but wasn't sure), and only picked up two Clapper Rails, whereas last year
they were very vocal! I noticed they have No Parking signs down at the end
now; last year I was able to park myself there predawn and watch stuff wake
up! (Maybe that's why they put those signs up.) Some Marbled Godwits were
nice to see, and picked up Reddish Egret for the trip here, as hoped.
Well, I lied a little: as I look at my list, Settigast did have the day's
only Sedge Wren, Bank Swallow, and Least Tern (along with someone's pet
Helmeted Guineafowl J)! And while it wasn't the only White-tailed Kite, a
handsome bird posed for me at the end of the road!
As expected, Lafitte's Cove was the best place, even though it was rather
quiet; a rail did a deep double note that I assume was King in this fresh
water stuff, and a little White-eyed Vireo greeted me before the boardwalk.
Blue-winged Teal monopolized the ponds, and the Narrowmouth Toads were
replaced by something else I didn't recognize (they had all moved over to
Brazoria NWR. J). A pair of Orchard Orioles sat up nicely, along with a
female Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and once again the Wood Thrush was singing
tentatively from the woods! As I approached the "T" in the sidewalk, I
recalled that this was where the Kentucky Warbler popped up for me last
year, and whaddaya know - in he zipped for the briefest of looks before
darting away again! Then there was a scuffle, and apparently someone
trespassed on an Ovenbird's turf, as he posed a little longer with his beak
open! The drip was really quiet (bird-wise, anyway - they were cutting up a
tree that had fallen over): another Magnolia Warbler finally showed itself,
and the Swainson's Thrush was still singing off to the side, but new for me
was a Black-and-white Warbler that came in close! Continuing on the trail I
heard Hooded Warbler and Yellow-breasted Chat, along with flyover
Dickcissels, and on the open grass trail a Baltimore Oriole came screaming
into someone's bottlebrush bush! The trail was closed after the pond
crossing due to flooding, but it was just as well as I was being eaten by
mosquitoes, despite the Off wipes.
As mentioned, just made a quick run-through of the state park, where even
before I reached the entrance kiosk there was a female Indigo Bunting and
Blue Grosbeak in the field for good comparisons! A beautiful male
Rose-breasted Grosbeak posed on a wire while I was filling out my pass, and
while pulling over about a half mile in I almost ran over a Sora that was
feeding in the grass! (The Sora fled, but the cowbird stayed put.) The
wetlands had the usual suspects, but a lone Greater Yellowlegs was good for
the day, and down at the kayak launch a nice Black-throated Green Warbler
responded to pishing! There was also a little woodlot where a male Indigo
Bunting posed.
Around 11:00 I headed out, and Joe had told me to look for a blinking yellow
light before getting to San Luis Pass, but I knew I had the wrong yellow
light when I pulled into a development with a guard shack! The kid was very
nice, but miraculously just happened to be a birder and knew exactly where
Dos Vacas was, and advised me to look for the dirt road (Seabird Drive) just
before the next blinking yellow light, and was able to find the place fine!
I was the only one there, and again you needed your Off wipes! Not
surprisingly it was rather quiet as well, but I can see the potential: they
have two drips running, and have just built an observation blind looking
into an open field. While giving each drip 15 minutes, I had a definite
Acadian Flycatcher come in, but also something that seemed to scream "Alder"
to me as it looked so similar to the Alder I had at South Padre years ago
that was so expertly discussed by so many people! But apparently it's also
a bit early (I don't know if the 23rd counts as "very late April" or not),
and the thing didn't talk, so it's gonna hafta go down as "empid sp." A
Red-eyed Vireo and a Yellowthroat came in to the more open drip, and on the
way out a Lark Sparrow flushed from the road!
It was time to head to Quintana to scout it out for tomorrow, and I thought
for sure I had gotten lost at first, but it's really one of those places
where you have to go around the block and then some (and you go through a
heavily industrialized area to boot)! But finally found the place, and a
nice man from the GCBO greeted me and signed me in, pointing out a
Swainson's Hawk that was circling overhead, and letting me know a
frigatebird had been soaring around! We couldn't refind it L, so I wiped
myself down with more Off and took off for the trail, which wasn't very long
but had several benches and drips. You could hear buntings all over, but
stuff wasn't coming out (except a grackle that attacked one of the oranges).
But while giving one of the drips a chance, what should come swinging by but
the female frigatebird!! I was thrilled!
The guy told me how to get to the "other" bird sanctuary, but I wound up in
the county park by mistake (they had a great warning sign about the
mosquitoes J), but the nice lady in the office told me how to get there; the
entrance she pointed me to looked a little worse for wear, so I went around
the block to the fence where the guy told me migrants often sit, and there
was a Bobwhite down in the grass! I found a better parking lot for the
xerescape, but like the two guys already in there, I didn't stay long due to
the skeeters!
I wanted to check out Brazoria NWR with what time I had left, so I blasted
up there, and that was a delightful place (although loaded with mossies as
well); added Yellow-crowned Night Heron to the list, and in one little
wetland had a nice selection of shorebirds including a pretty Avocet,
Semipalmated Plover and Sandpiper, a Stilt Sandpiper, a Baird's in with the
Leasts, and a big flock of Pectorals that came wheeling in and calling! I
couldn't help but wonder which part of the tour route had the Black-tailed
Godwit years ago!
It was time to head to Lake Jackson after that, but I really got lost trying
to find the Best Western (and they were so new they weren't even in the AAA
book yet)!
Bird List:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna autumnalis
Fulvous Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna bicolor
Mottled Duck Anas fulvigula
Blue-winged Teal Anas discors
Northern Bobwhite Colinus virginianus
Pied-billed Grebe Podilymbus podiceps
Magnificent Frigatebird Fregata magnificens
Neotropic Cormorant Phalacrocorax brasilianus
Brown Pelican Pelecanus occidentalis
Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias
Great Egret Ardea alba
Snowy Egret Egretta thula
Little Blue Heron Egretta caerulea
Tricolored Heron Egretta tricolor
Reddish Egret Egretta rufescens
Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron Nyctanassa violacea
White Ibis Eudocimus albus
White-faced Ibis Plegadis chihi
Roseate Spoonbill Platalea ajaja
Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
Osprey Pandion haliaetus
White-tailed Kite Elanus leucurus
Swainson's Hawk Buteo swainsoni
Clapper Rail Rallus longirostris
King Rail Rallus elegans
Sora Porzana carolina
Common Gallinule Gallinula galeata
American Coot Fulica americana
Black-necked Stilt Himantopus mexicanus
American Avocet Recurvirostra americana
Black-bellied Plover Pluvialis squatarola
Semipalmated Plover Charadrius semipalmatus
Killdeer Charadrius vociferus
Greater Yellowlegs Tringa melanoleuca
Willet Tringa semipalmata
Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes
Marbled Godwit Limosa fedoa
Stilt Sandpiper Calidris himantopus
Dunlin
Baird's Sandpiper Calidris bairdii
Least Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper Calidris melanotos
Semipalmated Sandpiper Calidris pusilla
Short-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus griseus
Laughing Gull Leucophaeus atricilla
Least Tern Sternula antillarum
Forster's Tern Sterna forsteri
Royal Tern Thalasseus maximus
Sandwich Tern Thalasseus sandvicensis
Rock Pigeon Columba livia
Eurasian Collared-Dove Streptopelia decaocto
White-winged Dove Zenaida asiatica
Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura
Common Nighthawk Chordeiles minor
Chimney Swift Chaetura pelagica
Ruby-throated Hummingbird Archilochus colubris
Belted Kingfisher Megaceryle alcyon
Eastern Wood-Pewee Contopus virens
Acadian Flycatcher Empidonax virescens
Eastern Kingbird Tyrannus tyrannus
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Tyrannus forficatus
Loggerhead Shrike Lanius ludovicianus
White-eyed Vireo Vireo griseus
Red-eyed Vireo Vireo olivaceus
American Crow Corvus brachyrhynchos
Northern Rough-winged Swallow Stelgidopteryx serripennis
Purple Martin Progne subis
Bank Swallow Riparia riparia
Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica
Sedge Wren Cistothorus platensis
Marsh Wren Cistothorus palustris
Swainson's Thrush Catharus ustulatus
Wood Thrush Hylocichla mustelina
Gray Catbird Dumetella carolinensis
Northern Mockingbird Mimus polyglottos
European Starling Sturnus vulgaris
Ovenbird Seiurus aurocapilla
Black-and-white Warbler Mniotilta varia
Kentucky Warbler Geothlypis formosa
Common Yellowthroat Geothlypis trichas
Hooded Warbler Setophaga citrina
Magnolia Warbler Setophaga magnolia
Black-throated Green Warbler Setophaga virens
Yellow-breasted Chat Icteria virens
Lark Sparrow Chondestes grammacus
Lincoln's Sparrow Melospiza lincolnii
Summer Tanager Piranga rubra
Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis
Rose-breasted Grosbeak Pheucticus ludovicianus
Blue Grosbeak Passerina caerulea
Indigo Bunting Passerina cyanea
Dickcissel Spiza americana
Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus
Eastern Meadowlark Sturnella magna
Common Grackle Quiscalus quiscula
Boat-tailed Grackle Quiscalus major
Great-tailed Grackle Quiscalus mexicanus
Bronzed Cowbird Molothrus aeneus
Brown-headed Cowbird Molothrus ater
Orchard Oriole Icterus spurius
Baltimore Oriole Icterus galbula
House Sparrow Passer domesticus
103 SPECIES
So Far: 266 SPECIES
Mary Beth Stowe
McAllen, TX
miriameaglemon.com
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