[texbirds] Thanksgiving NWR Loop - McAllen to Attwater PC NWR (longish)
- From: MiriamEagl@xxxxxxx
- To: texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 28 Nov 2013 19:45:33 -0500 (EST)
Hi, all!
Decided to take advantage of the four-day weekend and blast north for some
NWR birding. The trip started out great with a handful of Valley birds
bagged while packing the car (Curve-billed Thrasher, Golden-fronted Woodpecke
r, and Green jay amongst them), but as I stepped into the car I thought I
heard a Sprague’s Pipit flying overhead! On second "listen" I realized it
was an excited American Robin calling from behind the building! That was
fun to pick up, as they can sometimes be tough to get in the Valley!
Headed north without incident, resisting the temptation to stop at the
Falfurrias Rest Stop to try for the redstart and instead continued over to
Riviera (tons of Red-tailed Hawks, but that was about it) and making the
traditional rest stop there at the Stripes, which was packed! Laughing and
Ring-billed Gulls were wheeling around, so added them to the day list while I
was there.
After two more potty stops at Refugio and El Campo, from there it was a
short drive to the refuge (after getting lost in Eagle Lake)! I wanted to
see if I could design a nice BBS-style road birding route that included other
roads besides just the refuge drive (I had heard of other birders exploring
the "surrounding roads" while there), so I started the trip meter right at
the entrance road and started crawling! Savannah Sparrows were out the
yin yang, and later a couple of Vespers popped up as well. Sedge Wrens were
scattered about, giving their bright little calls (but wouldn’t come out,
of course…) I kept leap-frogging with another nice gentleman (I actually
caught up with him at the new observation blind), but he apparently missed
the American Bittern that was sticking his head up right next to the road!
He ducked once he saw me (the bittern, not the gentleman), but then came out
on a little ridge and slowly walked along the thing with his neck
outstretched and bill pointed towards the sky! Then he figured I wasn’t
falling
for the ruse and went scrambling into the grass…
While sorting through all the sparrows near the Pipit Trail, I was
surprised to see a mess of Cave Swallows swooping around (and a few sat on the
wire fence)! I would have thought they’d be gone by now, especially after
that last cold front! I stopped briefly at the grove by the headquarters just
to see if there were any good songbirds about, but it was pretty dead, so
I continued on, and ironically as I rounded the corner and had a view of
the back side of said grove, that’s when all the action started! A
Red-bellied Woodpecker chunged from one of the trees along with an excited
Carolina
Chickadee, and a little pishing brought up an Eastern Phoebe, several
Lincoln’s Sparrows, and the real prize, a nice Harris’ Sparrow! A stunning
adult White-crowned also posed on the fence, and a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
swooped across the road after I continued on my way. My first American
Goldfinch of the season also "potato chipped" overhead.
As previously mentioned, there’s an observation blind that’s new since I
was here last, so I was anxious to check it out! Picked up Song Sparrows
at the bridge, and the blind overlooks a wonderful little lake with trees all
along its banks that were turning all shades of reds and yellows! Both
Orange-crowned and Myrtle Warblers were in the trees around the blind, and
several Pied-billed Grebes were out in the water. Continued on and had a
Killdeer and young White Ibis in perfect light at one little pond, but it was
pretty quiet overall; disappointingly there were no ducks or geese at all
(although I heard some cranes in the distance early on). The requisite
Caracara and White-tailed Hawks did make a showing, and Harriers were all over
the place!
After finishing the loop I made a right on FM 3013 and made the first left
I could on Spalinger, which was a good dirt road. The habitat looked great
for Sprague’s Pipits, and after all the rain there were a lot of flooded
fields; one little pond had both species of yellowlegs. Once again I was
leap-frogging with a big ol’ pickup (they were poking along as well, and I
kinda suspect they were hunters checking things out…), and at one point I
stepped out to photograph a distant "bird-nado", when I suddenly realized I
was looking at swarms of geese and ducks! Then I could hear the Snows and
Whitefronts for sure, but they were too far away to pick out anything else.
Spalinger dumped out on FM 1093, so I took a right and then another right
on Beal Road (another good caliche road), and that took me to the other side
of the goose mob, but they were still too distant to really see well.
Adding those roads brought the route up to about 14 miles, so that’s a good
length!
Headed on in to Sealy where the receptionist said that most of the
restaurants around here had closed early, so I got the cooler iced up, got some
water and snacks, and settled down with some noodles, which really tasted
pretty good! Bird list:
Greater White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons
Snow Goose Chen caerulescens
Northern Bobwhite Colinus virginianus
Pied-billed Grebe Podilymbus podiceps
American Bittern Botaurus lentiginosus
Great Egret Ardea alba
White Ibis Eudocimus albus
Black Vulture Coragyps atratus
Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
Northern Harrier Circus cyaneus
White-tailed Hawk Geranoaetus albicaudatus
Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis
Sandhill Crane Grus canadensis
Killdeer Charadrius vociferus
Greater Yellowlegs Tringa melanoleuca
Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes
Laughing Gull Leucophaeus atricilla
Ring-billed Gull Larus delawarensis
Rock Pigeon Columba livia
Eurasian Collared-Dove Streptopelia decaocto
Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura
Golden-fronted Woodpecker Melanerpes aurifrons
Red-bellied Woodpecker Melanerpes carolinus
Crested Caracara Caracara cheriway
American Kestrel Falco sparverius
Eastern Phoebe Sayornis phoebe
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Tyrannus forficatus
Loggerhead Shrike Lanius ludovicianus
Green Jay Cyanocorax yncas
American Crow Corvus brachyrhynchos
Cave Swallow Petrochelidon fulva
Carolina Chickadee Poecile carolinensis
House Wren Troglodytes aedon
Sedge Wren Cistothorus platensis
Ruby-crowned Kinglet Regulus calendula
American Robin Turdus migratorius
Curve-billed Thrasher Toxostoma curvirostre
Northern Mockingbird Mimus polyglottos
European Starling Sturnus vulgaris
American Pipit Anthus rubescens
Orange-crowned Warbler Oreothlypis celata
Common Yellowthroat Geothlypis trichas
Yellow-rumped Warbler Setophaga coronata
Vesper Sparrow Pooecetes gramineus
Savannah Sparrow Passerculus sandwichensis
Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia
Lincoln's Sparrow Melospiza lincolnii
Harris's Sparrow Zonotrichia querula
White-crowned Sparrow Zonotrichia leucophrys
Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus
Eastern Meadowlark Sturnella magna
Western Meadowlark Sturnella neglecta
Great-tailed Grackle Quiscalus mexicanus
Brown-headed Cowbird Molothrus ater
American Goldfinch Spinus tristis
House Sparrow Passer domesticus
56 SPECIES
Mary Beth Stowe
McAllen, TX
www.miriameaglemon.com
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