[texbirds] Resaca de la Palma & Boca Chica Beach
- From: MiriamEagl@xxxxxxx
- To: texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 9 Jun 2013 17:11:01 -0400 (EDT)
Hi, all!
Pat Heirs and I decided to take a crack at the Yellow-green Vireo hanging
out at Resaca de la Palma; long story short, it was seen by Ranger Reuben
this morning and Bob Becker yesterday, but neither Pat nor I could refind the
bird (he said it would often dive out from the bottom canopy of a huisache
tree and dip up into the next one). Although we dipped on the vireo, we
had great looks at some of their signature butterflies, including a very
cooperative Boisduval's Yellow! The little slough near the Visitor's Center
now had water in it, so a Little Blue Heron was fishing. On the way into
the park we had stopped at a little wetland and picked up stilts and
Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, while an Avocet called unseen from another
resaca.
We knew of a report of another YG Vireo in "urban Brownsville", and hoping
it was the same area where Pat had seen it during previous years, we headed
out to that neighborhood, but trying to pull out a House Sparrow-like song
from dozens of real House Sparrows was a challenge! So we left it at
that, enjoying the feral Muscovy Ducks (one seemed to show all the
characteristics of a truly "wild" bird)!
From there we decided to do Boca Chica Boulevard in hopes of kicking up an
Aplomado Falcon, but nada; we added several expected grassland birds such
as Botteri's and Cassin's Sparrows, and at least got a White-tailed and
Harris' Hawk out of it! At Dan's little Rio Grande access spot we watched a
Willet chase a Laughing Gull away from its nest/chicks, enjoyed a Skimmer
that came sailing in, a Least Tern fishing, and a fly-by Long-billed Curlew.
Further down on the playas were several shorebirds, including a lingering
White-rumped Sandpiper in with a flock of Westerns, four kinds of plovers
(including some ADORABLE Snowy Plover chicks), and several Ruddy Turnstones
along with the requisite Reddish Egrets of both flavors dancing away. We
didn't get very far down the beach before it was time to go home, but we
enjoyed a big flock of Sanderlings and a Wilson's Plover, picked up Brown
Pelican and Royal Tern for the day, and pondered over a breeding-plumaged
Sterna
tern that we settled on Forster's.
Pictures are posted here:
http://miriameaglemon.com/photo_gallery/2013%20Field%20Trips/June/Resaca%20d
e%20la%20Palma.html
Ended up with 76 species for the day. Bird List:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna autumnalis
Muscovy Duck Cairina moschata
Plain Chachalaca Ortalis vetula
Northern Bobwhite Colinus virginianus
Brown Pelican Pelecanus occidentalis
Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias
Little Blue Heron Egretta caerulea
Reddish Egret Egretta rufescens
Green Heron Butorides virescens
Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
Harris's Hawk Parabuteo unicinctus
White-tailed Hawk Geranoaetus albicaudatus
Black-bellied Plover Pluvialis squatarola
Snowy Plover Charadrius nivosus
Wilson's Plover Charadrius wilsonia
Semipalmated Plover Charadrius semipalmatus
Killdeer Charadrius vociferus
Black-necked Stilt Himantopus mexicanus
American Avocet Recurvirostra americana
Willet Tringa semipalmata
Long-billed Curlew Numenius americanus
Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres
Sanderling Calidris alba
Western Sandpiper Calidris mauri
White-rumped Sandpiper Calidris fuscicollis
Laughing Gull Leucophaeus atricilla
Least Tern Sternula antillarum
Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia
Forster's Tern Sterna forsteri
Royal Tern Thalasseus maximus
Black Skimmer Rynchops niger
Rock Pigeon Columba livia
White-winged Dove Zenaida asiatica
Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura
Inca Dove Columbina inca
Common Ground-Dove Columbina passerina
White-tipped Dove Leptotila verreauxi
Yellow-billed Cuckoo Coccyzus americanus
Greater Roadrunner Geococcyx californianus
Common Nighthawk Chordeiles minor
Common Pauraque Nyctidromus albicollis
Chimney Swift Chaetura pelagica
Buff-bellied Hummingbird Amazilia yucatanensis
Golden-fronted Woodpecker Melanerpes aurifrons
Ladder-backed Woodpecker Picoides scalaris
Brown-crested Flycatcher Myiarchus tyrannulus
Great Kiskadee Pitangus sulphuratus
Couch's Kingbird Tyrannus couchii
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Tyrannus forficatus
White-eyed Vireo Vireo griseus
Green Jay Cyanocorax yncas
Horned Lark Eremophila alpestris
Purple Martin Progne subis
Cave Swallow Petrochelidon fulva
Black-crested Titmouse Baeolophus atricristatus
Verdin Auriparus flaviceps
Carolina Wren Thryothorus ludovicianus
Bewick's Wren Thryomanes bewickii
Cactus Wren Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus
Northern Mockingbird Mimus polyglottos
Long-billed Thrasher Toxostoma longirostre
Curve-billed Thrasher Toxostoma curvirostre
European Starling Sturnus vulgaris
Olive Sparrow Arremonops rufivirgatus
Botteri's Sparrow Peucaea botterii
Cassin's Sparrow Peucaea cassinii
Lark Sparrow Chondestes grammacus
Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis
Blue Grosbeak Passerina caerulea
Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus
Eastern Meadowlark Sturnella magna
Great-tailed Grackle Quiscalus mexicanus
Bronzed Cowbird Molothrus aeneus
Brown-headed Cowbird Molothrus ater
Altamira Oriole Icterus gularis
House Sparrow Passer domesticus
76 SPECIES
Mary Beth Stowe
McAllen, TX
_www.miriameaglemon.com_ (http://www.miriameaglemon.com/)
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