Hi, all!
Took visiting birders Carol, Mary, and Deb out yesterday to study
shorebirds, ducks, and raptors; first stop was Estero Llano Grande which
gave great comparisons of Stilt Sandpipers and Long-billed Dowitchers, along
with many duck species (including Cinnamon Teal) and a Sora right off the
deck. Unfortunately the Pauraque and Screech Owls were no-shows, but we had
a Green Heron on the nest, a very cooperative Broad-winged Hawk flying low
overhead, and a gorgeous Roseate Spoonbill! The Weaver Road Sod Farms (I
guess the official name is Superior Turf) were once again providing a show
with Baird's and Upland Sandpipers right next to the road, and several
American Golden Plovers a little further out (at least until a young
Peregrine spooked them all)! A Sprague's Pipit was also a highlight, along
with several close looks at Horned Larks. Visits to Sugarhouse Pond and
Delta Lake were anticlimactic (except for the Black Vultures dropping in
just as we were leaving, a life bird for one of the gals), and things were
definitely slowing down once we got to Brushline Road and the La Sal del Rey
Route, but we did have many cooperative Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, a nice
Lark Sparrow, good looks at Caracaras and Harris' Hawks, and a distant
White-tailed Hawk, along with many different plumages of Swainson's Hawks.
A Turkey exploded from the side of the road at one point, and a van coming
from the opposite direction scared up a Nilgai, which we only got a brief
glimpse of. Ended up with 89 species for the day! A few pictures (and a
video of the Uppy Sand) can be seen on my Facebook page, and a full trip
report on our blog will be posted soon.
https://www.facebook.com/marybeth.stowe
Bird List:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna autumnalis
Fulvous Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna bicolor
Gadwall Anas strepera
Mottled Duck Anas fulvigula
Blue-winged Teal Anas discors
Cinnamon Teal Anas cyanoptera
Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata
Green-winged Teal Anas crecca
Ruddy Duck Oxyura jamaicensis
Plain Chachalaca Ortalis vetula
Wild Turkey Meleagris gallopavo
Least Grebe Tachybaptus dominicus
Pied-billed Grebe Podilymbus podiceps
Neotropic Cormorant Phalacrocorax brasilianus
Great Egret Ardea alba
Snowy Egret Egretta thula
Little Blue Heron Egretta caerulea
Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis
Green Heron Butorides virescens
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron Nyctanassa violacea
White-faced Ibis Plegadis chihi
Roseate Spoonbill Platalea ajaja
Black Vulture Coragyps atratus
Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
Harris's Hawk Parabuteo unicinctus
White-tailed Hawk Geranoaetus albicaudatus
Broad-winged Hawk Buteo platypterus
Swainson's Hawk Buteo swainsoni
Sora Porzana carolina
Common Gallinule Gallinula galeata
American Coot Fulica americana
Black-necked Stilt Himantopus mexicanus
American Avocet Recurvirostra americana
American Golden-Plover Pluvialis dominica
Killdeer Charadrius vociferus
Spotted Sandpiper Actitis macularius
Solitary Sandpiper Tringa solitaria
Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes
Upland Sandpiper Bartramia longicauda
Stilt Sandpiper Calidris himantopus
Baird's Sandpiper Calidris bairdii
Least Sandpiper Calidris minutilla
Long-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus scolopaceus
Laughing Gull Leucophaeus atricilla
Rock Pigeon Columba livia
Eurasian Collared-Dove Streptopelia decaocto
White-winged Dove Zenaida asiatica
Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura
Inca Dove Columbina inca
White-tipped Dove Leptotila verreauxi
Buff-bellied Hummingbird Amazilia yucatanensis
Green Kingfisher Chloroceryle americana
Golden-fronted Woodpecker Melanerpes aurifrons
Ladder-backed Woodpecker Picoides scalaris
Crested Caracara Caracara cheriway
Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus
Red-crowned Parrot Amazona viridigenalis
Great Kiskadee Pitangus sulphuratus
Tropical Kingbird Tyrannus melancholicus
Couch's Kingbird Tyrannus couchii
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Tyrannus forficatus
Loggerhead Shrike Lanius ludovicianus
White-eyed Vireo Vireo griseus
Green Jay Cyanocorax yncas
Horned Lark Eremophila alpestris
Northern Rough-winged Swallow Stelgidopteryx serripennis
Purple Martin Progne subis
Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica
Black-crested Titmouse Baeolophus atricristatus
Verdin Auriparus flaviceps
House Wren Troglodytes aedon
Marsh Wren Cistothorus palustris
Carolina Wren Thryothorus ludovicianus
Bewick's Wren Thryomanes bewickii
Curve-billed Thrasher Toxostoma curvirostre
Northern Mockingbird Mimus polyglottos
Sprague's Pipit Anthus spragueii
Common Yellowthroat Geothlypis trichas
Olive Sparrow Arremonops rufivirgatus
Lark Sparrow Chondestes grammacus
Savannah Sparrow Passerculus sandwichensis
Lincoln's Sparrow Melospiza lincolnii
Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis
Pyrrhuloxia Cardinalis sinuatus
Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus
Eastern Meadowlark Sturnella magna
Great-tailed Grackle Quiscalus mexicanus
Lesser Goldfinch Spinus psaltria
House Sparrow Passer domesticus
89 SPECIES
Mary Beth Stowe
Alamo, TX
www.miriameaglemon.com
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