Hi, all!
Was on my way to southeast Arizona today, but made a quick stop at Lake
Balmorhea first thing. Stopped under the overpass long enough to confirm
Cave Swallow and record the Rock Pigeons making a bunch of noise. Got to
the lake, stuck my five bucks in the door, and delighted to the calls of
both Western and Clark's Grebes and their chicks! And I relished in
something else I hadn't experienced since leaving San Diego: the smell of
the wet desert! Crawling around to the back side of the lake, a
goofy-looking Pyrrhuloxia popped up on a bush, and along the back side of
the lake was a nice assortment of water birds: what I'm presuming to be
Blue-winged Teal (they were all in eclipse plumage and were quite distant -
and of course flew the minute I got the scope out L), a dowitcher, a Greater
Yellowlegs, a Great Blue Heron, and even a Black Tern batting by in the
distance! Coming around the corner a pair of Scaled Quail were down by the
water, and on the west side of the road was another little wetland with
several Black-necked Stilts and a couple of Ruddy Ducks. Down at the end of
the road a Yellowthroat was singing, and a brilliant Blue Grosbeak sat right
up on a mesquite! While enjoying this a night heron, White-faced Ibis, and
Green Heron all sounded off somewhere. On the way out a Black-throated
Sparrow sang in the distance, and Western Kingbirds were patrolling. I
think I mentioned the last time I came out here how much this place reminds
me of the fresh-water wetlands near the Salton Sea!
Mary Beth Stowe
McAllen, TX
www.miriameaglemon.com
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