This morning (08/28/16) my wife (Birgit) and I birded in both Hidalgo and
Cameron counties, mainly in sites that could attract shorebirds and,
especially, the âgrasspiperâ species. This report lists the highlights of
our finds in the temporal sequence or our visits to the sites where they
were found.
HIDALGO COUNTY:
FM-88 (west side) about 0.5 mi. north of intersection with US-281 in
Progreso (10:10 AM): WHITE-TAILED KITE (1), a splendidly handsome
individual sitting on a utility line in the bright morning light. A special
treat and an invigorating start for what turned out to be a successful, if
short, birding trip due to the very hot weather. This particular FM-88
stretch often yields some nice raptor sightings, with the raptor either on
a utility line or atop a pole.
PROGRESO SOD FIELDS (10:15 â 10:50 AM): The place on these particular
fields that provided all of our birds of special interest today was the
long sod field that, when one enters the fields from US-281, is found,
traveling northward on the dirt north/south traversal road, along its east
side beginning (if my memory serves) immediately north of the second
irrigation standpipe along the road. This morning the place was teeming
with shorebirds, thanks to the large amount of standing irrigation water,
especially from mid-field to the north end (but we did find a few
shorebirds south of that). We found 11 shorebirds species: BLACK-BELLIED
PLOVER (2); KILLDEER (18); BLACK-NECKED STILT (65, an estimate and may be
conservative); GREATER YELLOWLEGS (20, an estimate, as they were widespread
and, as usual, moving about with some vigor while foraging); LESSER
YELLOWLEGS (5); LONG-BILLED CURLEW (1; very long bill, probably female);
SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER (2); LEAST SANDPIPER (3; quite a few may have been
missed due to small size amidst grass); PECTORAL SANDPIPER (4);
BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER (6); and LONG- BILLED DOWITCHER (6). Birding this
area was very difficult this morning due to high heat and resulting heat
convection (aka heat waves), high sun in the wrong direction for optimal
viewing, and almost no wind. I would be dishonest if I did not tell you
that that we probably under-counted a number of the species due to these
circumstances, and we might have missed species that were present. A couple
of GREAT EGRETS decorated the background, and dozen so ducks of various
species were present, but we were close enough to some troublesome heat
sickness that this time we did not attempt to identify and count the ducks,
but decided to move on and get to the Weaver Road sod fields while the heat
and heat convection were, hopefully, still bearable. SURPRISE MISSES AT THE
PROGESO SOD SITE: Wilsonâs Phalarope, given the abundance of water, and
Upland Sandpiper, which often is found along with Buff-breasted Sandpipers,
but not this time. Nonetheless, we were delighted to have found at this
site 11 shorebird species.
CAMERON COUNTY
WEAVER ROAD SOD FIELDS (11:40 AM â 12:00 noon): The birds were few at this
site this morning: KILLDEER (5, a surprisingly low number, but then this
just was not a very birdy site today, probably due to largely dry fields);
UPLAND SANDPIPER (3, a most welcome sight, which we had regretted to have
missed at Progreso); LEAST SANDPIPER (7); and BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER (24).
It was a rewarding sight to see two dedicated grasspiper species
(Buff-breasted and Upland Sandpiper), foraging in the same field for the
first time this season. The field where we found all of the aforementioned
birds today was the third sod field north of the south end of the sod
fields along Weaver Road. Despite this third field looking dry, it seemed
to pose no problem for these species. Of course, âbuffiesâ and âuppiesâ
are
known not to require standing water. I think it was good, though, that the
grass had NOT been recently cut. The field immediately south of this one
had recently had the grass cut, and brown grass cuttings were widespread.
We found no shorebirds there. The recently cut grass probably meant fewer
insects than in the field immediately north of there where we today found
the birds mentioned above. GREEN HERON was also present today and seemed to
be seeking some watery areas, especially in the shallow ditches along the
road.
RESACAS EAST AND WEST OF RANGERVILLE ROAD JUST NORTH OF JIMENEZ ROAD: Tall
vegetation made difficult the spotting of birds at both sites, but it was
relatively easy to spot SNOWY EGRET (10) decorating the bases of the tall
trees along the west side of the resaca to the west of the highway and
ROSEATE SPOONBILL (2, with minimal color) in the shallow water along the
south shore of the east-side resaca.
After lunch we broke off our birding activity, knowing that the afternoon
would only be more punishing than the morning in regard to withering heat
and vision-obscuring heat waves. Under more favorable conditions we might
well have made return visits to both sod-field sites.
Wishing everyone the best of fall-migration birding,
Rex Stanford (Weslaco).
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