[texbirds] Santa Ana Back Road Survey
- From: MiriamEagl@xxxxxxx
- To: texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 3 Aug 2013 15:55:14 -0400 (EDT)
Hi, all!
This month's survey was surprisingly productive, as the predicted wind
never came (although a cool breeze was nice when it got warm), and there was
water in Cattail Lakes, adding some water birds to the list! I pulled in
about a half-hour before dawn where I was able to add a singing Pauraque and a
sad-sounding Clay-colored Thrush before friend and co-worker Bob Rivera
joined me for his first-time birding experience, and I was very pleased that
we had great looks (and listens) at some specialty birds!
At our very first stop I had to impress upon Bob that visiting birders
would kill to see what he was seeing: two Olive Sparrows playing around right
in the open on the road! :-) Groove-billed Anis also performed well,
giving great roadside looks, and at one stop (post-sunrise yet) two Eastern
Screech Owls trilled back and forth! One of Dan's Least Flycatchers gave a
soft "whit", but we weren't as fortunate with the becard. A young Altamira
Oriole bounced around in a tree and was chased by a Long-billed Thrasher, and
a nice adult flew across the road later. Yellow-billed Cuckoos also
showed off nicely and gave us both their calls, and a distant Beardless
Tyrannulet called at the Resaca Trail parking spot. Doves were out by the
gazillions, of course, and a male Cardinal, while "common and widespread",
nevertheless put on a great show, alternately singing and scratching in the
sun!
It was getting pretty warm by the time we hit the trails: the Resaca
Trail was pretty quiet (I was surprised we got no Gray Hawks this time around),
but we had more action at the Rio Grande at the end of Jaguarundi with both
Tropical and Couch's Kingbirds calling for good comparison, and Bob
spotted an Alligator in the river! The Oriole Trail had more cicadas than
orioles, but we hit the jackpot at Cattail Lakes, where both Least and
Pied-billed Grebes were trumpeting and hooting respectively, and both species
of
Whistling Ducks showed off in flight. A group of four Yellow-crowned Night
Herons were hanging with a couple of Little Blues (one white and one calico),
and we scared up a couple of Green Herons sporting their "doo"! White Ibis
and Black-necked Stilts were on the return leg, but the highlight was the
adult Peregrine that came whooshing in and taking a pass at one of the
Turkey Vultures before returning and taking another pass at one of the ducks!
(Too fast for the camera, though...) I didn't take the time to scrutinize
every butter, but Snouts were out the yin yang, and we scared up a couple
of bat-like Black Witches along the trails!
None of the pics were worthy of publication, so this wordy report and EBird
list will have to suffice! :-) Wound up with 53 species for the morning.
Santa Ana NWR (LTC 059), Hidalgo, US-TX
Aug 3, 2013 6:44 AM - 11:14 AM
Protocol: Traveling
8.0 mile(s)
Comments: Tour road & parts of the Resaca, Jaguarundi, Oriole, and
Cattail Lakes Trails
53 species
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 18
Fulvous Whistling-Duck 5
Mottled Duck 1
Plain Chachalaca 6
Least Grebe 4
Pied-billed Grebe 4
Little Blue Heron 2
Green Heron 2
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 4
White Ibis 7
Turkey Vulture 20
Common Gallinule 4
Killdeer 1
Black-necked Stilt 8
White-winged Dove 92
Mourning Dove 13
Inca Dove 3
Common Ground-Dove 8
White-tipped Dove 10
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 7
Groove-billed Ani 7
Eastern Screech-Owl 2
Common Pauraque 1
Buff-bellied Hummingbird 2
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 20
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 8
Peregrine Falcon 1
Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet 1
Least Flycatcher 1
Brown-crested Flycatcher 5
Great Kiskadee 5
Tropical Kingbird 3
Couch's Kingbird 11
White-eyed Vireo 8
Green Jay 6
Purple Martin 2
Black-crested Titmouse 8
Verdin 7
Bewick's Wren 3
Carolina Wren 6
Clay-colored Thrush 2
Northern Mockingbird 9
Long-billed Thrasher 15
Olive Sparrow 22
Northern Cardinal 9
Blue Grosbeak 1
Dickcissel 4
Red-winged Blackbird 58
Great-tailed Grackle 5
Bronzed Cowbird 3
Brown-headed Cowbird 1
Orchard Oriole 2
Altamira Oriole 2
Mary Beth Stowe
McAllen, TX
_www.miriameaglemon.com_ (http://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
Other related posts:
