Hi, all!
Took visiting birders Dick and Mako from the UK out birding today to pick up
some South Texas targets; we started by driving the levee between Bentsen
and Anzalduas, where the best bird was a very cooperative Gray Hawk!
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and Orange-crowned Warbler was also new, but the House
Wren was being stubborn. After Anzalduas opened we cruised around there,
picking up brilliant Eastern Bluebirds and Vermilion Flycatchers, along with
a tittering Tropical Kingbird and peeping Black Phoebe. By the river had
nice looks at a Neotropic Cormorant and Mottled Ducks while a Ringed
Kingfisher rattled well but only gave fleeting looks. The crop-dusters were
done so we finished up by scouring the field for Sprague's Pipits; several
popped up and called, but wouldn't land and give us a look. Both kinds of
meadowlarks showed, however.
We swung by Hidalgo for the Monk Parakeets and some back roads in Alamo for
Burrowing Owl and American Pipits (doing the same thing the Sprague's did
:(), and several White-tailed Hawks were very cooperative for photos! We
then headed over to Frontera where things were a little more cooperative for
looks: a show-off Green Kingfisher got lunch from the boardwalk railing
while a group of White Ibis fed in the shadows. An Altamira Oriole called
but only allowed a fleeting glimpse for Mako, but at the feeder areas we got
great looks at Chachalacas, White-tipped Dove, Green Jay, Black-crested
Titmouse, and a Buff-bellied Hummingbird (along with the fat resident Fox
Squirrel.).
At Estero Ranger John arranged for us to take a tram as one of our guests
had limited mobility, and after getting our fill of the many great ducks and
grebes off the deck (including a pair of Cinnamon Teal), we headed back to
the Tropical Zone where we looked in vain for the Perching Saliana (probably
got blown south), then headed over to the levee where we saw lots of
goodies, including oodles of Stilt Sandpipers and Long-billed Dowitchers
hanging out, as well as Black-necked Stilts, Avocets, Spoonbills, gobs of
White Pelicans, and a mob of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks. A nice Ringed
Kingfisher perched for everyone, but the star was a hovering White-tailed
Kite right in front of us! A swing around Dowitcher Pond produced two
female Buffleheads in addition to more Cinnamon Teal and other ducks, and
finally back at Alligator Lake we nabbed the Yellow-crowned Night Heron and
Pauraque (John was making a statement about how "difficult" it was to get
;-)).
We had to head home after that, but it was a very fun and successful day!
Bird list:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna autumnalis
Gadwall Anas strepera
Mottled Duck Anas fulvigula
Blue-winged Teal Anas discors
Cinnamon Teal Anas cyanoptera
Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata
Northern Pintail Anas acuta
Green-winged Teal Anas crecca
Bufflehead Bucephala albeola
Ruddy Duck Oxyura jamaicensis
Plain Chachalaca Ortalis vetula
Least Grebe Tachybaptus dominicus
Pied-billed Grebe Podilymbus podiceps
Neotropic Cormorant Phalacrocorax brasilianus
Double-crested Cormorant Phalacrocorax auritus
American White Pelican Pelecanus erythrorhynchos
Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias
Great Egret Ardea alba
Snowy Egret Egretta thula
Little Blue Heron Egretta caerulea
Tricolored Heron Egretta tricolor
Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis
Black-crowned Night-Heron Nycticorax nycticorax
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron Nyctanassa violacea
White Ibis Eudocimus albus
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
Harris's Hawk Parabuteo unicinctus
White-tailed Hawk Geranoaetus albicaudatus
Gray Hawk Buteo plagiatus
Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis
American Coot Fulica americana
Black-necked Stilt Himantopus mexicanus
American Avocet Recurvirostra americana
Killdeer Charadrius vociferus
Spotted Sandpiper Actitis macularius
Stilt Sandpiper Calidris himantopus
Long-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus scolopaceus
Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia
Rock Pigeon Columba livia
Eurasian Collared-Dove Streptopelia decaocto
White-winged Dove Zenaida asiatica
Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura
Inca Dove Columbina inca
White-tipped Dove Leptotila verreauxi
Burrowing Owl Athene cunicularia
Common Pauraque Nyctidromus albicollis
Buff-bellied Hummingbird Amazilia yucatanensis
Ringed Kingfisher Megaceryle torquata
Belted Kingfisher Megaceryle alcyon
Green Kingfisher Chloroceryle americana
Golden-fronted Woodpecker Melanerpes aurifrons
Ladder-backed Woodpecker Picoides scalaris
Crested Caracara Caracara cheriway
American Kestrel Falco sparverius
Monk Parakeet Myiopsitta monachus
Black Phoebe Sayornis nigricans
Eastern Phoebe Sayornis phoebe
Vermilion Flycatcher Pyrocephalus rubinus
Great Kiskadee Pitangus sulphuratus
Tropical Kingbird Tyrannus melancholicus
Loggerhead Shrike Lanius ludovicianus
Green Jay Cyanocorax yncas
Horned Lark Eremophila alpestris
Tree Swallow Tachycineta bicolor
Black-crested Titmouse Baeolophus atricristatus
House Wren Troglodytes aedon
Carolina Wren Thryothorus ludovicianus
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Polioptila caerulea
Ruby-crowned Kinglet Regulus calendula
Eastern Bluebird Sialia sialis
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-rumped Warbler Setophaga coronata
Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis
Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus
Eastern Meadowlark Sturnella magna
Western Meadowlark Sturnella neglecta
Great-tailed Grackle Quiscalus mexicanus
Altamira Oriole Icterus gularis
House Sparrow Passer domesticus
90 SPECIES
Mary Beth Stowe
Alamo, TX
www.miriameaglemon.com <http://www.miriameaglemon.com>
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