[texbirds] Re: How in the hell does one bird Kenedy County?
- From: Jay Packer <jay@xxxxxx>
- To: Texbirds <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 1 Jan 2013 19:32:58 -0600
Well, after a day and a half of birding Kenedy County (Dec 30 and Dec 31),
I thought that I would make a quick report. We managed 75 species, which
isn't too shabby for a county with almost no public access. Here's how we
did it.
Perhaps the best spot that we found for birding was Olmos Creek, the county
line between Kleberg and Kenedy. You can exit Highway 77 and park under the
overpass. You can then walk for some distance along the creek. You're on
the Kleberg County side, but it's a very short distance to look across the
creek into Kennedy County. In fact, it was fun to get new birds in both
counties at the same time, like the Common Ground-Dove that flew from one
side to the other. Shorebirds were the main attraction however. We had
Black-necked Stilt; Spotted, Least, and Stilt Sandpipers; Wilson's
Phalarope; Dunlin; Willet; and Lesser Yellowlegs. Other highlights included
Anhinga, Lesser Scaup, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, Laughing and
Ring-billed Gulls, Bewick's Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, American Pipit,
and Pyrrhuloxia.
The second gem that we discovered was a place to look across the Laguna
Salada into Kenedy County. We took FM 771 east from Riviera, then dropped
south on FM 2510 which turns into CR 1120. This hits the laguna and there's
a long peninsula that you can walk out on to get closer to the opposite
shore. The birding here was a little tough because of the distance, but
after an afternoon and a few hours the next morning, we added birds we're
unlikely to find anywhere else in Kenedy County from Hwy 77. Highlights
included Redhead, Horned Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, American White
and Brown Pelicans, Great Blue Heron, Great and Reddish Egret, Osprey,
Sandhill Crane, Long-billed Curlew, Herring Gull, Forster's Tern, and
Belted Kingfisher.
We then came down to the town of Sarita and birded the city as thoroughly
as we could. We didn't have a ton of things that were unexpected.
Highlights included Harris's Hawk, White-winged and Inca Doves, Vermilion
Flycatcher, Blue-headed Vireo, and Eastern Bluebird.
La Parra Ave to the east of Sarita had few birds and was extremely arid. In
fact, we saw almost nothing on the way down the road but had a few nice
birds on the way back towards Sarita including White-tailed Hawk, Lark
Sparrow, and a flock of American Goldfinches coming into a watering trough.
The rest stop south of Sarita had a large flock of Brewer's Blackbirds
though not a lot else.
The last nugget that we found was a large flock of Snow and a few Ross's
Geese just across the county line in Willacy. We drove back and put
ourselves on the Kenedy/Willacy county line at a nice little pull off at a
railroad crossing. And there we waited until a few Snow Geese and a single
Ross's finally flew across the county line. We also got a bonus flock of
Greater White-fronted Geese.
We drove north a short ways on Hwy 77 looking for a turn around to head
south when we came across a little pond - the only surface water we had
seen anywhere along Hwy 77. It held a single Mottled Duck and a Least
Sandpiper.
So, with another trip or two, especially if we came in migration, we'd
likely get to 100. It can be done! It just takes some effort and
determination.
Thanks for all the advice and comments people sent my way.
--
Jay Packer
(sent from my phone)
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