[texbirds] Parrots and such

From: jgstudio@xxxxxxx
To: texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Sun, 14 Jul 2013 20:46:01 -0400 (EDT)
Yesterday evening 10 of us El Pasoans ventured forth in 100 degree heat on a 
field trip of the local Audubon chapter ably led by Mark Perkins. We started 
shortly before 6:00 pm. to bird the Upper Valley area from Keystone Wetlands to 
the canonical parrot location. It was good to see some new faces as well as 
some I haven't seen in a while. 
Keystone was woefully low on water. Our area is devastated by drought. 
Nevertheless, we had Common Gallinule, Wood Ducks, Mexican Mallards, a single 
Ruddy Duck (spanking plumage) and a few more things. We all got great looks at 
a perched juvenile Mississippi Kite, and a parent and fledgling Swainson's Hawk 
right by their nest (late?) and Bullock's Oriole on Frontera at Emory. From 
there we looked in vain for the Red-headed Woodpecker near the Country Club but 
did see two of the Acorn Woodpeckers which have recently colonized the area. 
Next was the main event: watching our resident Lilac-crowned Parrots fly in to 
roost. I counted somewhere north of 20 but am fairly sure there were several 
more in small noisy groups. They tend to roost in several groups lately, in 
fairly close proximity. I counted 39 in one group before our catastrophic 
freeze a couple of years ago.

One of the new faces in the group turned out to be a long-time birder in the 
Upper Valley. She mentioned that several years ago she spoke with one of the 
residents of the parrot neighborhood who had found a couple of nestlings on the 
ground in her yard--evidence of breeding. I don't think this population is ABA 
countable, but it certainly should be. They have been around of at least  20 
years and are certainly breeding.

Anyway, a fine end to the trip and kudos to Mark.



John Groves
El Paso



 

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[texbirds] Parrots and such

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