Hi, all!
Pat Heirs and I birded the above areas this morning, and didn't get any
further than the usual "bad" spot on OPIR, not because it was wet, but
because whatever they were doing to the road made it look like some of these
treacherous desert canyon roads I was nuts enough to go down in my younger
years, so we turned around there. But it was a gorgeous morning, very
slight breeze, and that pond near the south end has water in it again! Best
bird was a male Redhead (!), but also had families of both grebes, BB
Whistling Ducks, and in addition a Fulvous flyover and a Green Heron, which
was new for my OPIR list. At the very start of the road we had a nice pair
of White-tailed Hawks, and at the next stop some squealing Harris' Hawks.
Near the turnaround point we had a couple of Botteri's Sparrows sit on the
fence (Cassin's were also singing), and Pat spotted the day's only Caracara
WAY down on a big power structure! We also had a Long-billed Curlew coming
back, and picked up the usual Bewick's and Cactus Wrens that you get here.
No Aplomados today.
Because we couldn't make it all the way through we took SR 48 up to Port
Isabel and stopped at the boat ramp on the way; the Oystercatcher was really
working on something in the water, and we had several Wilson's Plovers and a
single Black-bellied. Other than that just the usual gulls and terns,
including several Least (oh, we had a single Ring-billed.)
The beach on the bay access at South Padre was the best we'd ever seen it!
(We figured the city had to have come in and cleaned and graded it or
something.) Anyway, Sandwich and Black Terns were out the yin yang, and we
had a few Royals as well, along with more Least Terns. Shorebirds were
pretty sparse: we did have a pair of Marbled Godwits and a couple of
Willets, but that was about it. The star of the show here was a piebald
Reddish Egret dancing so vigorously that he was worth making a video of!
We didn't expect to see much at the Convention Centre, but we did scare up a
female Hooded Oriole, and a very cool Saucy Beauty moth! The boardwalk had
cackling Least Bitterns and Clapper Rails, but not much visible (even the
ever-reliable Common Gallinule at the end of the marsh leg almost didn't
show)! We did have a nighthawk batting away and several Barn Swallows.
Had a great lunch at Parrot Eyes after that, then headed home, picking up
Chihuahuan Ravens along 100 along with a White Ibis. Pictures are here:
http://miriameaglemon.com/photo_gallery/2015%20Field%20Trips/July/Old%20Port
%20Isabel%20Road.html
.or here:
http://tinyurl.com/oe5js7x
Bird List:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna autumnalis
Fulvous Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna bicolor
Mottled Duck Anas fulvigula
Blue-winged Teal Anas discors
Redhead Aythya americana
Northern Bobwhite Colinus virginianus
Least Grebe Tachybaptus dominicus
Pied-billed Grebe Podilymbus podiceps
Neotropic Cormorant Phalacrocorax brasilianus
Brown Pelican Pelecanus occidentalis
Least Bittern Ixobrychus exilis
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
Green Heron Butorides virescens
White Ibis Eudocimus albus
White-faced Ibis Plegadis chihi
Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
Harris's Hawk Parabuteo unicinctus
White-tailed Hawk Geranoaetus albicaudatus
Clapper Rail Rallus longirostris
Common Gallinule Gallinula galeata
American Coot Fulica americana
Black-necked Stilt Himantopus mexicanus
American Oystercatcher Haematopus palliatus
Black-bellied Plover Pluvialis squatarola
Wilson's Plover Charadrius wilsonia
Killdeer Charadrius vociferus
Willet Tringa semipalmata
Long-billed Curlew Numenius americanus
Marbled Godwit Limosa fedoa
Least Sandpiper Calidris minutilla
Laughing Gull Leucophaeus atricilla
Ring-billed Gull Larus delawarensis
Least Tern Sternula antillarum
Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia
Black Tern Chlidonias niger
Forster's Tern Sterna forsteri
Royal Tern Thalasseus maximus
Sandwich Tern Thalasseus sandvicensis
Eurasian Collared-Dove Streptopelia decaocto
Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura
Common Ground-Dove Columbina passerina
Common Nighthawk Chordeiles minor
Golden-fronted Woodpecker Melanerpes aurifrons
Ladder-backed Woodpecker Picoides scalaris
Crested Caracara Caracara cheriway
Great Kiskadee Pitangus sulphuratus
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Tyrannus forficatus
White-eyed Vireo Vireo griseus
Chihuahuan Raven Corvus cryptoleucus
Horned Lark Eremophila alpestris
Purple Martin Progne subis
Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica
Verdin Auriparus flaviceps
Bewick's Wren Thryomanes bewickii
Cactus Wren Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus
Curve-billed Thrasher Toxostoma curvirostre
Northern Mockingbird Mimus polyglottos
Olive Sparrow Arremonops rufivirgatus
Botteri's Sparrow Peucaea botterii
Cassin's Sparrow Peucaea cassinii
Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis
Dickcissel Spiza americana
Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus
Eastern Meadowlark Sturnella magna
Great-tailed Grackle Quiscalus mexicanus
Hooded Oriole Icterus cucullatus
House Sparrow Passer domesticus
72 SPECIES
Mary Beth Stowe
McAllen, TX
www.miriameaglemon.com
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