[texbirds] Port Aransas (longish)
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- To: texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2014 22:23:00 -0400 (EDT)
Hi, all!
For the last day of this "Big Week" I actually got to sleep in, as Paradise
Pond was only five minutes away! I still got lost: according to the
little map I had, it was off Channel Vista Drive, but could find nothing but
houses, so decided to go ahead and go to the Turnbull Birding Center (since I
knew where that was). No crowds at all (in fact, there was only one other
car there), and since it was still early it was still quiet, but I sat at
the drip for five, enjoying a Catbird and a Swainson’s Thrush softly
singing from the reeds. Headed out on the boardwalk where I ran into the
other
birder, and asked her where Paradise Pond was, and she told me to look for
the “Pepto Bismol pink” Mexican restaurant, and it’s right behind it! I
thanked her and continued to bird the marsh, and I have to say I’ve never
seen so many Nutria in my life!! Had to admit they were cute, though… Lots
of Common Gallinules and Coots around, with the occasional Sora sounding
off. Blue-winged Teal and Shovelers were tame, and male Ruddy Ducks were
doing their cute little courtship display. A Marsh Wren popped right out in
the open, and a little brown birds near the reeds turned out to be a Northern
Waterthrush. In the shorebird department, Least and Pectoral Sandpipers
had their little skirmishes, and all three Threskiornithids flew over at one
point or another.
Back at the trees, more people had arrived, and so had more birds! A
feeding flock of Tennessee Warblers dominated the scene, but shortly other
goodies showed themselves, such as Chestnut-sided, Black-and-white, and
Nashville Warblers, a Northern Parula, and a very friendly Black-throated
Green!
But the star for many was a knockout male Blackpoll Warbler that was very
cooperative (unlike the one at Lafitte’s Cove)! Just before I left a male
Baltimore Oriole swooped in and posed on the top of a tree!
Finally tearing myself away I headed over to Paradise Pond, where I got
the last parking spot! Here the volunteers put out oranges, but nothing was
coming in to them at the moment (someone said a cat had gotten into one).
There were a few little puddles where birds were coming in to drink, and
this one had a Veery who seemed to like all the attention and came out in the
open to pose repeatedly! Folks came and went, but I stayed put for five
minutes at a time, and seemed that something new came in with every time
segment! After the Veery a Blue Grosbeak came in to drink, followed shortly
by a Gray-cheeked Thrush! One lady had been enjoying a female Hooded
Warbler that occasionally came out and flipped her tail, and even though I had
it
for the trip already, I was very pleased to see a Swainson’s Warbler come
in to drink (as were several other folks)!
Headed on and staked out the end of the boardwalk for awhile; several
Indigo Buntings popped up along with a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Chatted
with a couple of photographers (the guy was a dead-ringer for Russell Crowe
:-)), and smiled at what was probably the same Veery showing off
practically at their feet!
It was tempting to return to the Birding Center to see if anything else had
dropped in, but the morning was half over and I really wanted to try and
pad the list with some coastal stuff. It was hard deciding where to go, but
I finally decided on Mustang Island SP and Padre Island NS, as those
beaches were usually in pretty good shape from my experience. And I had also
forgotten that Aplomado Falcons occur along that stretch; didn’t see any, but
did pick up a couple of White-tailed Hawks and a Caracara. What I didn’t
count on was a Clean Up Day at the state park (bless those kids for doing
that :-)), but then saw that the beach was way too soft to drive on (at
least for Baxter—he may look like Bippy, but I have no idea whether he’s AWD
or not)! So I decided to head for Padre Island, which had always had a
nice, wide, hard-packed beach—not today! So I parked and walked down to the
edge (seaweed was all over as well) and picked up Ruddy Turnstones,
Sanderlings, Black-bellied Plovers, a few Willets, and the usual Laughing
Gulls for
the day.
From there decided to check out Bird Basin, and noticed a van stopped by
the side of the road: I’m assuming it was an ABA van as it was full of
birders looking at something out in the grassland! Couldn’t see anything
myself, so I headed on and swung around the boat ramp and day use area, only
picking up some White Pelicans and a couple of Reddish Egrets. On the way out
a Sedge Wren was singing, then spotted a bright orange blob out in the
middle of the grasslands: a brilliant Baltimore Oriole! Have no idea if that’
s what the guys in the van were looking at, but it was an attention-getter!
Swung into the Visitor Center parking lot to check out the tern flock
(lots of mating Royals and observing Sandwiches), then headed down to another
beach access that I could actually drive on this time; picked up a pair of
Least Terns, but otherwise it was just more turnstones, Sanderlings, and
Black-bellied Plovers. But on the way out when I pulled over onto a dirt spot
to drain the cooler, a dark bird was in the bush by the road that turned
out to be a pretty Orchard Oriole!
Since it about noon I decided to call it a day and head on in to the
Valley, taking US 77 through the King
Ranch and then SR 187 over to US 281. Everything was still here, and I
was thankful to make it home in once piece! :-) Final tally for the trip was
217 species. Have lots of pictures and recordings to process yet, so will
send out another post when everything's up on the website!
Bird List:
Mottled Duck Anas fulvigula
Blue-winged Teal Anas discors
Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata
Ruddy Duck Oxyura jamaicensis
Pied-billed Grebe Podilymbus podiceps
Neotropic Cormorant Phalacrocorax brasilianus
Double-crested Cormorant Phalacrocorax auritus
American White Pelican Pelecanus erythrorhynchos
Brown Pelican Pelecanus occidentalis
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
Black-crowned Night-Heron Nycticorax nycticorax
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron Nyctanassa violacea
White Ibis Eudocimus albus
White-faced Ibis Plegadis chihi
Roseate Spoonbill Platalea ajaja
Black Vulture Coragyps atratus
Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
White-tailed Hawk Geranoaetus albicaudatus
Sora Porzana carolina
Common Gallinule Gallinula galeata
American Coot Fulica americana
American Avocet Recurvirostra americana
Black-bellied Plover Pluvialis squatarola
Killdeer Charadrius vociferus
Willet Tringa semipalmata
Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes
Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres
Sanderling Calidris alba
Least Sandpiper Calidris minutilla
Laughing Gull Leucophaeus atricilla
Ring-billed Gull Larus delawarensis
Least Tern Sternula antillarum
Gull-billed Tern Gelochelidon nilotica
Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia
Royal Tern Thalasseus maximus
Sandwich Tern Thalasseus sandvicensis
Black Skimmer Rynchops niger
Rock Pigeon Columba livia
Eurasian Collared-Dove Streptopelia decaocto
Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura
Common Nighthawk Chordeiles minor
Chimney Swift
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Crested Caracara Caracara cheriway
Western Kingbird Tyrannus verticalis
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Tyrannus forficatus
Purple Martin Progne subis
Sedge Wren Cistothorus platensis
Marsh Wren Cistothorus palustris
Veery Catharus fuscescens
Gray-cheeked Thrush Catharus minimus
Swainson's Thrush Catharus ustulatus
Gray Catbird Dumetella carolinensis
Brown Thrasher Toxostoma rufum
Northern Mockingbird Mimus polyglottos
European Starling
Northern Waterthrush Parkesia noveboracensis
Black-and-white Warbler Mniotilta varia
Swainson's Warbler Limnothlypis swainsonii
Tennessee Warbler Oreothlypis peregrina
Nashville Warbler Oreothlypis ruficapilla
Common Yellowthroat Geothlypis trichas
Hooded Warbler Setophaga citrina
Northern Parula Setophaga americana
Chestnut-sided Warbler Setophaga pensylvanica
Blackpoll Warbler Setophaga striata
Black-throated Green Warbler Setophaga virens
Savannah Sparrow Passerculus sandwichensis
Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis
Rose-breasted Grosbeak Pheucticus ludovicianus
Blue Grosbeak Passerina caerulea
Indigo Bunting Passerina cyanea
Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus
Eastern Meadowlark Sturnella magna
Great-tailed Grackle Quiscalus mexicanus
Orchard Oriole Icterus spurius
Baltimore Oriole Icterus galbula
House Sparrow Passer domesticus
84 SPECIES
For the trip: 217
Mary Beth Stowe
McAllen, TX
www.miriameaglemon.com
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