Hi, all!
Was very surprised to find a Philadelphia Vireo hanging with a few songbirds
in the nice little thornscrub forest along Jara Chinas Road, just south of
the "T" with Mile 14 (and north of those noisy turbines). It didn't stick
around long enough for a photo, but the quick impression was like a Warbling
Vireo with entirely yellowish underparts. I know some Warblings can show
SOME yellowish on the underparts, but never this extensive, to my
understanding. Other highlights today included lots of Baltimore Orioles
moving through, a Caracara trying to steak something from a young
White-tailed Hawk, and my FOS Kestrel.
I now have enough data to create a webpage for this route for the Hidalgo
County Birding Pages; this is a fun route, being so close to Starr County
(and actually sneaks into it for about a tenth of a mile or so), and can
hold some real surprises, especially along the barren, ugly stretch of Jara
Chinas before you hit FM 490 (remember, this is where the Mountain Plovers,
Ferruginous Hawk, Prairie Falcon, and Golden Eagle all showed up last
winter). That particular field is all overgrown with dead corn, it looks
like... And it's the only place in Hidalgo County I've ever logged Scaled
Quail and Chihuahuan Raven (although the latter was a one-time wonder).
EBird list below:
Hidalgo Co.- FM 2221 'sparrow road', Hidalgo, Texas, US Sep 13, 2015 7:12 AM
- 11:47 AM
Protocol: Traveling
25.0 mile(s)
Comments: 74 - 83 degrees, mostly sunny to mix of sun and clouds, calm
to breezy. Route includes NB FM 2221, cont on Jara Chinas, westbound Mile
14 to County Line, then continuing n on Jara Chinas to FM 490.
58 species (+4 other taxa)
Northern Bobwhite 81
Great Egret 3
Cattle Egret 20
heron sp. 40 Could have been some Snowies in the flock, but they were
right in the sun.
Turkey Vulture 6
Harris's Hawk 5
White-tailed Hawk 2
Killdeer 4
Upland Sandpiper 5
Long-billed Curlew 2
Eurasian Collared-Dove 12
Common Ground-Dove 4
White-tipped Dove 1
White-winged Dove 112
Mourning Dove 102
Greater Roadrunner 7
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 19
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 5
Crested Caracara 18
American Kestrel 2
Olive-sided Flycatcher 1
Alder/Willow Flycatcher (Traill's Flycatcher) 1
Least Flycatcher 1
Empidonax sp. 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 3
Brown-crested Flycatcher 1
Great Kiskadee 9
Couch's Kingbird 6
Eastern Kingbird 2
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 15
Loggerhead Shrike 15
White-eyed Vireo 10
Philadelphia Vireo 1 Size and shape of Warbling, but with darker lores
and almost entirely yellow below. Gray-greenish above, no wing bars. Heavy
vireo bill, pale supercilium (as opposed to spectacles). Seen in little
thornscrub woodland just south of intersection with Mile 14.
Green Jay 4
Horned Lark 7
Purple Martin 1
Barn Swallow 39
Cave Swallow 11
Verdin 11
Bewick's Wren 13
Cactus Wren 11
Curve-billed Thrasher 17
Long-billed Thrasher 4
Northern Mockingbird 28
European Starling 7
Yellow Warbler 3
Cassin's Sparrow 1
Olive Sparrow 3
Black-throated Sparrow 2
Lark Sparrow 34
Northern Cardinal 17
Pyrrhuloxia 14
Blue Grosbeak 1
Painted Bunting 1
Dickcissel 47
Red-winged Blackbird 50
Eastern Meadowlark 3
Great-tailed Grackle 113
Bronzed/Brown-headed Cowbird 20
Baltimore Oriole 19
Lesser Goldfinch 4
House Sparrow 3
Mary Beth Stowe
McAllen, TX
www.miriameaglemon.com
Edit your Freelists account settings for TEXBIRDS at
//www.freelists.org/list/texbirds
Reposting of traffic from TEXBIRDS is prohibited without seeking permission
from the List Owner
