[texbirds] Sacahuistale Flats & Port Mansfield

  • From: "Mary Beth Stowe" <mbstowe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: "Texbirds" <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 18:04:58 -0500

Hi, all!
 

Sorry for the late report, but The Crud kept me down the last couple of
days.  Sunday made a run out to Port Mansfield and Sacahuistale Flats, and
despite the dreary weather (and even misty rain at times) came away with a
decent list!  Lots of water out there, of course, so a Pied-billed Grebe
along the Flats portion was nice, along with my FOS Kestrel.  The highlight
was not only the recurring Altamira Orioles but a singing Audubon's as well;
it might have been a dispersing bird from further north.  Pulling into town,
one of the flooded fields was stuffed with White-faced Ibis and a couple of
Whites; one that I photographed looked like a possible candidate for a
Glossy, but I'd covet input on that one.

 

My brother Dave would have been terribly jealous as cruising around Port
Mansfield a ten-point buck was leading the pack of stags!  Around town there
were several Eastern Kingbirds and Scissor-tailed Flycatchers hanging out
together, and the Bay Access road was still closed, but even if it wasn't I
wasn't willing to attempt it considering the condition of the roads.  Fred
Stone was wondrously productive, however, with a white morph Reddish Egret
at the end of the road, plus a group of Semipalmated Plovers, and gobs of
Western Sandpipers feeding along the shoreline with Sanderlings and a few
Least Sandpipers for good comparisons!  The Nature Trail was too muddy
(except for the paved portion, of course), and didn't hold any migrants, but
I had to laugh:  when I pulled up there wasn't a living thing around, but by
the time I got my gear together, closed the door and turned around, I was
surrounded by deer looking hopeful!

 

Pictures and recordings are here:

 

http://miriameaglemon.com/photo_gallery/2014%20Field%20Trips/September/Port%
20Mansfield.html

 

Bird List:

 

  Blue-winged Teal                      Anas discors

  Northern Bobwhite                     Colinus virginianus

  Pied-billed Grebe                     Podilymbus podiceps

  Brown Pelican                         Pelecanus occidentalis

  Great Blue Heron                      Ardea herodias

  Little Blue Heron                     Egretta caerulea

  Reddish Egret                         Egretta rufescens

  Cattle Egret                          Bubulcus ibis

  Green Heron                           Butorides virescens

  White Ibis                            Eudocimus albus

  White-faced Ibis                      Plegadis chihi

  Black Vulture                         Coragyps atratus

  Turkey Vulture                        Cathartes aura

  Osprey                                Pandion haliaetus

  Harris's Hawk                         Parabuteo unicinctus

  White-tailed Hawk                     Geranoaetus albicaudatus

  Black-necked Stilt                    Himantopus mexicanus

  Black-bellied Plover                  Pluvialis squatarola

  Semipalmated Plover                   Charadrius semipalmatus

  Killdeer                              Charadrius vociferus

  Willet                                Tringa semipalmata

  Long-billed Curlew                    Numenius americanus

  Ruddy Turnstone                       Arenaria interpres

  Sanderling                            Calidris alba

  Least Sandpiper                       Calidris minutilla

  Western Sandpiper                     Calidris mauri

  Short-billed Dowitcher                Limnodromus griseus

  Laughing Gull                         Leucophaeus atricilla

  Eurasian Collared-Dove                Streptopelia decaocto

  Mourning Dove                         Zenaida macroura

  Inca Dove                             Columbina inca

  Common Ground-Dove                    Columbina passerina

  Golden-fronted Woodpecker             Melanerpes aurifrons

  Ladder-backed Woodpecker              Picoides scalaris

  Crested Caracara                      Caracara cheriway

  American Kestrel                      Falco sparverius

  Great Kiskadee                        Pitangus sulphuratus

  Tropical Kingbird                     Tyrannus melancholicus

  Couch's Kingbird                      Tyrannus couchii

  Eastern Kingbird                      Tyrannus tyrannus

  Scissor-tailed Flycatcher             Tyrannus forficatus

  Loggerhead Shrike                     Lanius ludovicianus

  Green Jay                             Cyanocorax yncas

  Horned Lark                           Eremophila alpestris

  Barn Swallow                          Hirundo rustica

  Black-crested Titmouse                Baeolophus atricristatus

  Bewick's Wren                         Thryomanes bewickii

  Cactus Wren                           Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus

  Curve-billed Thrasher                 Toxostoma curvirostre

  Long-billed Thrasher                  Toxostoma longirostre

  Northern Mockingbird                  Mimus polyglottos

  European Starling                     Sturnus vulgaris

  Olive Sparrow                         Arremonops rufivirgatus

  Northern Cardinal                     Cardinalis cardinalis

  Blue Grosbeak                         Passerina caerulea

  Dickcissel                            Spiza americana

  Eastern Meadowlark                    Sturnella magna

  Great-tailed Grackle                  Quiscalus mexicanus

  Altamira Oriole                       Icterus gularis

  Audubon's Oriole                      Icterus graduacauda

  House Sparrow                         Passer domesticus

 

61 SPECIES

 

Mary Beth Stowe

McAllen, TX

miriameaglemon.com

 



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