Hi, all!
Headed to River Road this morning, and it was quite foggy and sultry;
Cardinals, Mockers, and Carolina Wrens were the main songsters at first, but
then I heard a woodpecker "song" with a rather flat tone, and figured I must
be back in Golden-fronted country! But later on I heard the more musical,
two-toned "song" of a Red-bellied, and wondered if I was losing my mind!
Nope - according to the TOS Handbook, they both occur here! And what really
threw me was the accelerating laugh of a Pileated Woodpecker! Come to find
out that a few do occur in this part of the Guadeloupe River Delta (it was
even on the EBird list)!
There are a couple of river accesses, but lemme tell ya, you donated two
gallons of blood to check it out! L I must have gone through six of those
Off wipes; they work for awhile, but after the "juice" evaporates (or
whatever), the beasties are back on ya! Got a Green Heron out of it, and a
great look at a chickadee (sad to think that I'll be out of their territory
soon)!
Swallows were all over the place, of course; unless they were calling, it
was hard to ID some of them against the backlight, but on the way out
several of them sat on a wire, and the photos reveal mostly Barn, but also a
few Bank and Cliff (had Roughwings, but not on the wire), but what surprised
me was a Tree that I hadn't noticed! Add one to the list total! J
At one point a feral hog bolted across the road right about where I needed
to stop, and as I was listening I heard some grunting off to the side, so I
was hoping I wouldn't get charged or something! Two Brahma cows with a calf
were in the road, and on the way back they had been joined by a bunch of
Cattle Egrets!
Was pleased to hear several Yellow-billed Cuckoos singing, as I was dubious
about that one up in the Pineywoods (but at the same time, I don't know what
else would have been making a sound like that)! We're also back into
Brown-crested Flycatcher country, and Painted Buntings were singing and
showing themselves nicely (one was even singing while sitting in the middle
of the road)! Only a few migrant songbirds showed themselves (a single
Indigo Bunting and Blue Grosbeak, Yellow and Nashville Warblers, some
Baltimore Orioles and Catbirds, and a couple of Black-and-white Warblers),
but out in the open area added a whole new set of birds, including
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Eastern Meadowlarks, Upland Sandpipers overhead,
some cormorants and a whistling duck, and best of all, a big flock of
Franklin's Gulls! They were so pretty with their white "bracelets" and pink
breasts!
An Osprey was trying to eat breakfast as I approached, but I got distracted
by a little brown bird that shot into the bush, which turned out to be a
Vesper Sparrow! I would have thought they'd be long gone by now! The
Dickcissels that had been flying over earlier with their brat calls were now
sitting up singing, and just before hitting the highway was a wetland with a
bunch of yellowlegs, a stilt, a Solitary Sandpiper, a Tricolored Heron, and
some White Ibis!
That didn't take me all morning, so I decided to check out Magnolia Beach
and Magic Ridge. The beach had some nice birds for the day, including what
I'm assuming was a really ratty-looking first-year Herring Gull unless
someone wants to try and turn it into a Lesser Black-backed! J A Reddish
Egret was a nice addition, but there weren't many shorebirds besides
turnstones and Sanderlings. Over at Magic Ridge there was a little more
action, with both Baltimore and Orchard Orioles, a female Scarlet Tanager,
several more buntings (mainly Indigo), a brief look at a Magnolia Warbler,
and a Curve-billed Thrasher singing his heart out! (In perusing the TOS
Handbook I'm noticing that a lot of these things are on the very edge of
their range here.) Over on the other side where the observation deck is,
two Lincoln's Sparrows popped up to pishing.
Had lunch watching the beach, then headed on down to Aransas. I really do
love this place - the trees are great for migrants to hide in, and the big
old oaks are so majestic! After paying my fee the first place I stopped was
the Birding Trail #1 (as I was hearing loud chirping that I suspected was a
Swainson's Warbler), and that turned out to be a very productive stop: a
rather robust call was competing with the chirp, and after a bit of pishing
the perp showed himself to be an Ovenbird! Shortly after that the
Swainson's Warbler confirmed himself and came in for pictures (skulkily, of
course), along with a Black-and-white, Tennessee, and Black-throated Green!
A little further on the trail was a Great Crested Flycatcher, and driving
down the road were two hen Turkeys!
Thankfully the mosquitoes weren't bad along that trail, but I didn't get far
on Dagger Point as I was being swamped with the little buggers (although I
picked up a Ground Dove on the way in)! The Big Tree Trail wasn't too bad
(or else my wipe was working), and ran into a few feeding flocks in there
that included more orioles and Black-and-whites, plus a Blue-gray
Gnatcatcher. White-eyed Vireos were all over, but I did hear a
Yellow-throated singing. There was a pewee catching bugs (including a Red
Admiral, of which there were many), but silhouetted against the sky was an
Olive-sided Flycatcher! On the back side of the trail that opens up into
the wetland was a mixed flock of buntings and Chipping Sparrows. I thought
I had something really great when I stumbled upon this bright orange damsel,
but it was just a female Rambur's Forktail.
I didn't expect to see a whole lot on the auto tour, but did pick up another
Olive-sided, and a Western Kingbird to boot. A little flock of Lark
Sparrows was nice, but that was about it for the loop. A stop at the Bay
Overlook was enjoyable, but what shocked me was a Common Loon out in the bay
- in breeding plumage yet! I never expected to see that now!
Had to wrap it up and head for Rockport for the night.
Bird List:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna autumnalis
Northern Bobwhite Colinus virginianus
Wild Turkey Meleagris gallopavo
Common Loon Gavia immer
Neotropic Cormorant Phalacrocorax brasilianus
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
Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis
Green Heron Butorides virescens
White Ibis Eudocimus albus
White-faced Ibis Plegadis chihi
Roseate Spoonbill Platalea ajaja
Black Vulture Coragyps atratus
Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
Osprey Pandion haliaetus
Red-shouldered Hawk Buteo lineatus
Black-necked Stilt Himantopus mexicanus
Killdeer Charadrius vociferus
Solitary Sandpiper Tringa solitaria
Greater Yellowlegs Tringa melanoleuca
Willet Tringa semipalmata
Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes
Upland Sandpiper Bartramia longicauda
Long-billed Curlew Numenius americanus
Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres
Sanderling Calidris alba
Laughing Gull Leucophaeus atricilla
Franklin's Gull Leucophaeus pipixcan
Ring-billed Gull Larus delawarensis
Herring Gull Larus argentatus
Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia
Forster's Tern Sterna forsteri
Royal Tern Thalasseus maximus
Eurasian Collared-Dove Streptopelia decaocto
White-winged Dove Zenaida asiatica
Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura
Inca Dove Columbina inca
Common Ground-Dove Columbina passerina
Yellow-billed Cuckoo Coccyzus americanus
Common Nighthawk Chordeiles minor
Chimney Swift Chaetura pelagica
Ruby-throated Hummingbird Archilochus colubris
Golden-fronted Woodpecker Melanerpes aurifrons
Red-bellied Woodpecker Melanerpes carolinus
Ladder-backed Woodpecker Picoides scalaris
Pileated Woodpecker Dryocopus pileatus
Crested Caracara Caracara cheriway
Olive-sided Flycatcher Contopus cooperi
Eastern Wood-Pewee Contopus virens
Great Crested Flycatcher Myiarchus crinitus
Brown-crested Flycatcher Myiarchus tyrannulus
Western Kingbird Tyrannus verticalis
Eastern Kingbird Tyrannus tyrannus
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Tyrannus forficatus
White-eyed Vireo Vireo griseus
Yellow-throated Vireo Vireo flavifrons
Northern Rough-winged Swallow Stelgidopteryx serripennis
Purple Martin Progne subis
Tree Swallow
Bank Swallow Riparia riparia
Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica
Cliff Swallow Petrochelidon pyrrhonota
Carolina Chickadee Poecile carolinensis
Sedge Wren Cistothorus platensis
Carolina Wren Thryothorus ludovicianus
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Polioptila caerulea
Swainson's Thrush Catharus ustulatus
Gray Catbird Dumetella carolinensis
Curve-billed Thrasher Toxostoma curvirostre
Northern Mockingbird Mimus polyglottos
European Starling Sturnus vulgaris
Ovenbird Seiurus aurocapilla
Black-and-white Warbler Mniotilta varia
Swainson's Warbler Limnothlypis swainsonii
Tennessee Warbler Oreothlypis peregrina
Nashville Warbler Oreothlypis ruficapilla
Common Yellowthroat Geothlypis trichas
Magnolia Warbler Setophaga magnolia
Yellow Warbler Setophaga petechia
Black-throated Green Warbler Setophaga virens
Yellow-breasted Chat Icteria virens
Chipping Sparrow Spizella passerina
Vesper Sparrow Pooecetes gramineus
Lark Sparrow Chondestes grammacus
Lincoln's Sparrow Melospiza lincolnii
Scarlet Tanager Piranga olivacea
Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis
Blue Grosbeak Passerina caerulea
Indigo Bunting Passerina cyanea
Painted Bunting Passerina ciris
Dickcissel Spiza americana
Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus
Eastern Meadowlark Sturnella magna
Boat-tailed Grackle Quiscalus major
Great-tailed Grackle Quiscalus mexicanus
Bronzed Cowbird Molothrus aeneus
Brown-headed Cowbird Molothrus ater
Orchard Oriole Icterus spurius
Baltimore Oriole Icterus galbula
House Sparrow Passer domesticus
105 SPECIES
So Far: 270 SPECIES
Mary Beth Stowe
McAllen, TX
miriameaglemon.com
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